#18- Teresa: If their goal is to maximize profits, film

[srcline@noctrl.edu]

Hello,

I was wondering If I negated this right, because initially when I did this question I arrived to it by process of elimination.

Conclusion: If their goal is to maximize profits, film studios should concentrate on producing big budget films rather than small budget films.

Max profits FS prod. BB films
(+) FS do not produce BB films will not maximize profits

C: (negation) A film studio will maximize profits unless none of its films attract mass audiences. Is this the proper negation?

Thankyou
Sarah

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hi Sarah,

The logical opposite of a conditional relationship requires showing that the sufficient condition in that relationship can occur even in the absence of the necessary condition. Thus:

A film studio will not maximize its profits unless at least some of its films attract mass audiences.
Maximize profits Attract mass audiences

Negates to:

A film studio can maximize its profits even if none of its films attract mass audiences

Clearly, the logical opposite of this statement directly attacks the conclusion, proving answer choice (C) to be correct.

For more on negating complex statements, check out this blog post:

http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/negatin ... statements

Thanks!

[ataraxia10]

I chose A because the I negated the choice "Each big-budget film is guaranteed to attract a mass audience" as "Not every big-budget film attracts a mass audience." Since small-budget films NEVER attract a mass audience, the negated statement does not necessarily weaken the argument? Is that why A is incorrect or are there any other reasons?

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi Ataraxia,

Exactly correct. The negated form of answer choice (A) is that not all big budget film attracts a mass audience. That doesn't weaken the conclusion that studios should focus on big-budget films over small budget. If small budget films NEVER attract a mass audience, even if one big budget doesn't attract one either.

The main problem in the argument is exposed by answer choice (C). The stimulus says that big-budget films are more profitable than small budget ones because small budget films can't attract a mass audience. But it doesn't connect the idea of a mass audience to profit. Answer choice (C) does so by stating that a mass audience is required for studios to make a profit.

Hope that helps!
Rachael

[ataraxia10]

Hi Rachel,

Thank you for the thorough, clear response. Your explanation with regards to the correct answer C is especially helpful.

[GoldCrono]

I chose answer B because of the word “concentrate” in the stimulus. It seems to me, even after seeing the correct answer of C, that Teresa’s position is that most, if not all, a film studio’s attention should be placed on big budget films if the goal is to maximize profits.

I readily eliminated A, D, and E but still have an issue with C as the correct choice. Teresa isn’t saying film studios need to produce a big budget film here and there, maybe alongside small budget ones. She’s saying “concentrate” on big budget films, which to me reads as excluding other types of films. This seems too strong for answer C, which seems just to be talking about just producing some nonzero amount of big budget films.

[Luke Haqq]

Hi GoldCrono!

You comment,

She’s saying “concentrate” on big budget films, which to me reads as excluding other types of films.

Concentrate doesn't necessarily mean excluding all other types of films. A studio might concentrate on big films but still make smaller budget ones. For other examples, an English major might concentrate in medieval literature but also study other aspects of English as well. Or a test might concentrate on logical reasoning, but also have reading comprehension and games sections as well. In these contexts, concentrating on something does not mean excluding everything else.

Teresa is saying that studios ought to focus on big-budget films if they want to maximize their profits. In support of this, she notes that only big-budget films attract mass audiences. However, she doesn't connect mass audiences to maximizing profits. Answer choice (C) makes this connection.

To confirm it's correct, we can negate the answer choice and plug it back into the stimulus; if this weakens/makes the argument fall apart, this confirms that the answer is an assumption on which the argument depends. As Nikki notes above, a negation of (C) is "A film studio can maximize its profits even if none of its films attract mass audiences." If this were true, then the rationale that Teresa provides doesn't make sense. Their ability to attract mass audiences is what the stimulus states makes big-budget films different from smaller budget ones, but the negated answer statement severs the connection between mass audiences and maximizing profits.