The new Mozarts

I've been coming across more and more marketing references to this 1991 quote from Francis Ford Copolla in which he predicts that one day, "some little fat girl in Ohio is going to be the new Mozart and make a beautiful film with her father's camcorder."

In the publicity materials for Able Edwards, writer/director Graham Robertson states—“Francis Ford Coppola once said there would come a day when some little fat girl from Ohio would borrow her dad’s camcorder and become the next Mozart of moviemaking. We like to think that we are that little fat girl.”

Here's another one from the website for Jason Tomaric's CL.ONE—"Francis Ford Coppola is rumored to have remarked: 'Some little fat girl in Ohio is going to be the new Mozart and make a beautiful film with her father’s camcorder.' It turns out the girl in question is actually Jason J. Tomaric (who purchased his own camcorder)."

It's curious that the quote is used to describe two extremely effects-heavy science fiction films. It's almost as if visual effects are seen as a fusion of "beautiful" and "camcorder"—an integration of art and technological progress. It's also surprising to me that it's OK to think of oneself as the next Mozart. I would guess that calling yourself the next Newton or Einstein would be seen as unforgivably egotistical, but not so in the case of Mr. Mozart. My only guess is that perhaps Mozart has been devalued and that today, "we're all Mozarts." Or maybe they're just being silly.