I am a doctoral student in clinical psychology. My degree is called a PsyD, which is a professional degree. The PhD is an academic degree. PhD's love to spit on PsyD's for not having enough knowledge about research. Our retort is that we spend our time learning how to help the real world instead of researching it from ivory towers.
Experimental film requires an education and an analytic talent that is beyond many people.
This does not make them conformist stooges, although some are. Just because you happen to not like traditional storytelling doesn't necessarily make other people wrong for enjoying it. In fact, I could argue that Hollywood had done a lot more good for a lot more people than the avant-garde ever has. Two hundred years ago, Americans were about as ignorant as they come. Now, Hollywood continues to expose Americans to different ways of living and thinking.