Bazin's "The Evolution of Film Language"

Bazin's assertion that realism is the asymptotically unobtainable ideal in film was interesting to read about as someone who lives in an era where special-effects filled action films dominate the box office. I see Bazin's point, that film should be as close of a mirror to the real world as possible, as a bit narrow-minded. Sure, a more classic Hollywood-esque film focusing primarily on human interaction and activities could be portrayed realistically according to Bazin's expectations, but any film trying to expand from that format would have trouble fitting his specifications. You're going to have to use cuts and special effects and editing techniques to create certain kinds of films, and that shouldn't detract from their value or artistic merit. I'd venture to argue that films should reflect reality, but at the same time that they each contain their own reality, and should reflect that as realistically as possible. Limiting the subject matter of films to that which reflects reality as accurately as possible limits the potential of film as an artistic medium, rather than doing any sort of good for it. Besides, computer generated imaging has allowed films to explore certain landscapes, like that of outer space or the time of the dinosaurs, with greater "realism" than would be possible without.