They say life imitates art but Hollywood, recently it might be more appropriate to say Art imitates life. I can remember when i was a kid pretending to be Superman, running around with a blanket flowing behind me or Luke Skywalker wielding my light saber. In either case, I was the good guy battling evil, lost in the world I watched before me.
Other an pop culture references, like advertising Coke in a film or ribbing the current star, films rarely delved into current political issues. Hollywood's main foray into political issues were always based on dead presidents or fictitious political/legal dramas. It seems now that Hollywood is not satisfied with entertaining me, now they want to educate me, influence me. It is, of course, no secret that Hollywood attempts to, with great effect, manipulate us. They do so with a brilliant John Williams score or phenomenal scenery. They show us what we want to see: the good guys winning and the bad guys losing. They play to our emotions, which is exactly why we go to the movies. (at least it is for me) We, as an audience, fall for this willingly. We succumb to it like we do sleep after a 12 hour road trip with 2 kids.
Hollywood's is no longer taking us to places we have never been or dare to dream to go to. The movie theater is no longer a safe have for the realities of everyday life. Studios now see fit to insert their own political views in films and Box Office receipts reflect the trend. Revenues for 2005 are down a estimated 7.5% behind 2004's revenues of 24.1 billion dollars, which includes DVD sales and rentals.
With such a decrease in revenues, bank executives are seeking answers. The first person a banker goes after is one that seems to have no concern for money, the Artist. The executive's accuse the artist of not being creative enough, even though this year has seen far less sequels than in previous years. Lack of creativity in Hollywood does seem to be a reasonable answer... what other reason would there be to replace the imaginary with the newsworthy.
It's simple... Hollywood thinks that we are stupid, the movie-going and DVD-buying public that is. According to them, we have no more political sense for policies and quagmires than the Iraqis have for freedom and democracy. Susan Sarandon let us know how stupid we were before we went to Iraq. Since then many celebrities have used their popularity status and creative mediums to help the wold populations make informed decisions. Some have even visited foreign dictators in hopes that they might talk some sense into them that 13 UN Resolutions, sanctions, etc could not.
What recourse does someone have, without the resources or outlets of the Hollywood elite, to disagree ? The simplest way is avoid the endorsement of an idea in Hollywood is not paying for it. Audiences, are showing their discontent with op-eds in their escapist entertainment by not supporting them. DVD sales have even suffered with lack of growth in the market that was supposed to explode.
In the 30's during the depression when film was in its infancy, the escape that a movie offered is what singularly defined cinema as the outlet of choice for Americans. Film became the mainstay because it reminded them of that was good in life and that it would be again. Hollywood put your hopes and dreams on the big screen so that regular people would feel good about themselves and be able to get through this hardship.
Now, the creative forces that is Hollywood are chipping away at the very things that mad film so successful. Making money on hops and ideals as well as happy endings is just simply not enough for them. Selling us opinions is increasingly more appealing. One only needs to look at television viewership of the major networks and newspaper circulation which share the same problem: lack of paying customers. Whatever political persuasion makes up an audience, less are seeking Hollywood as an outlet that can no longer be relied upon.
Dan Munson is a father to 2 daughters and married to his wife Tammy for over 7 years. He is also proud serving in the United States Army, active duty status. He is a guest columnist for Republican Women talk Radio. To interview him please contact staff@republicanwomentalkradio.com.
Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety as long as Dan Munson is notified of the reprint and a link back to original article is provided. (http://www.republicanwomentalkradio.com/hollywood.html)
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