Introducing the screening of a newly developed 70mm print of Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights, a rep from Portland's Hollywood Theatre recounted a call with the director's assistant detailing Anderson's struggle with the studio to finance the development of the new print. Apparently the studio heads wanted assurances from theaters with 70mm projectors that the print would see monetary returns before shelling out the cash for the lab work. 

Fitting, as the film itself can be interpreted as a battle for quality in art and its reproduction over capital's desire for greater profits by way of reduced authenticity. The obvious manifestation of this struggle surrounds the production of the characters' porn films: Dirk wants his persona to be more cinematic, decrying the dumb hunks of other porn films and their wanton cruelty to women, instead idolizing Bruce Lee and James Bond, while Jack rebels against incoming financiers whose aims are to strip the movies of plot and acting, and, more importantly, to shoot on videotape instead of the higher-quality format, film.

Anderson inserts a few other plot points to reinforce this idea. Don Cheadle's character Buck Swope is reprimanded at his stereo store job for scaring away sales with his insistence on pushing more expensive "hi-fi" products on disinterested customers minding their wallets. Alfred Molina's iconic tweaking drug dealer rants against faithful reproduction of art, preferring his mix tapes that subvert an artist's intended track list. Hell, this character could be a stand-in for the scoffing general public, disinterested in what particular format art reaches them ("I don't like to be told what to listen to or when to listen to it or ANYTHING"). The film's climax itself could be seen as an attempt to pass the inauthentic as the authentic without the audience noticing, i.e. the baking soda passing for cocaine in the attempted drug ripoff.

As we continue through what is optimistically called late-stage capitalism, the signs of increased squeeze are all around us. Despite the promise of technological advancements, your stuff is less likely to last and the people who make it don't want you to repair it. Streaming of both film and music has subtly acclimated audiences to reduced fidelity from increased compression. Internet browsing is devolving into the annoying ad-riddled days of the pop-up era. This corner-cutting world makes your life just a little bit worse, but not enough to do anything about it.

The resurrection moment of Boogie Nights is a simple tracking shot of the remaining characters pursuing their passions as they wish without financial pressure. They casually prepare to shoot another film with Jack saying, "We have got all the time we want." It's so heavenly it calls into question its own authenticity, making the viewer wonder, as with most modern films with happy endings, if it's indeed all a fantasy.