Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Hollywood: Hoping We're Sheep

(I wrote this as an article response to a story about Hollywood and its agendas)

The executives and filmmakers in Hollywood use the medium to push their messages all the time; whether done so overtly or not. The article has told me nothing new. Hollywood pushed the fear of the cold war on its viewers all the time with films which told us to fear an imminent Soviet invasion. They constantly tell Americans that religion is not real and a waste of everyones time; that being Christian is a bad thing. We are told that casual sex is ok and that marriage is a thing that can be thrown aside like used piece of gum. We are led to believe that everyone who disagrees with homosexuality is a bigot who should be scorned and attacked.
Filmmakers glorify and endorse violence then feign innocence when real world crimes match those seen on film. They seem to be insulated from the very messages they spew.
In relating "made up companies" to real-life ones, the parallels are obvious and to claim innocence is just plain silly. The average American viewer is not as stupid as these people think.
But, that won't stop producers or directors from making movies awash in social commentary whether the average American viewer believes the message or not. These guys are just hoping that more and more people with a sheep-like mentality start buying into their false messages.
If you don't think these messages are in the films you watch, then you really haven't been paying attention. From the time since Birth of a Nation spewed out the goodness of the Ku Klux Klan (DW Griffith was a Klansman), to the films of today, the endorsement of social commentary has marched on unabated and will forever continue to do so.