Wine is an example where the cost of the product creates a status-related demand. People are willing to spend exorbitant amounts of money to be seen buying, owning and drinking the wine. The same thing goes for whisky, sports cars, private planes, and art. The price point is dictated by the cost of production vs. the limited demand.
If you can generate enough buzz by, say, getting people to agree to pay $500 per seat for an exclusive screening of a movie that no one else will ever get to see, then movies that are properly an art form can break out and have success. The problem is that people will usually just wait for a release on streaming, Blu-Ray/DVD, etc., and with the high risk that someone would surreptitiously and illegally record and then stream on a Torrent, there's no way to pull it off.
Additionally, if you notice, all of the status purchases I mentioned are things, not experiences. The problem with materialism is that it creates a primacy of things. The problem with liberal democracy is that it removes the distinctions that would allow high culture to flourish.
The unwashed masses will want their bread and circuses. Iron Man X anyone?
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
