"The Widescreen Scam"

Came across an interesting article written by Guy Wright about the history of film and TV aspect ratios, the widescreen vs. full-frame debate. His thesis is that the widescreen format is simply a marketing gimmick that studios started in the 1950s to compete with television (true), even though most filmmakers and audience members prefer the full-frame 4:3 ratio (debatable).

Personally, I much prefer a widescreen aspect ratio because it is closer to recreating actual human vision. Because our eyes are placed horizontally across our face, we can see a wider range of vision horizontally than vertically.

Mr. Wright's article is very informative and entertaining, if you are interested in such things.