Today we live in the post-consumer society.
Where the most important thing is not our responsibilities
as citizens but our rights as consumers. Where everyone
wonders how much Nike would pay them to put a swoshtike
tatoo on their arm. This is the world we live in.
Remember you are what you consume!
Todays movies no longer require the director
to illustrate a government conspiracy. It is
assummed automatically. Each high government
official is assumed to have been killed as part
of some grand plot to keep the truth from the
American people.
Never mind the fact that no administration or
special prosecutor can keep a secret for more than
five or six minutes.
Never mind the fact that a couple of hicks from
Arkansas can't even seem to pull the wool over a
few retirees and speculators in a land deal. The
conspiracy is assumed. Your denial only serves to
cement your guilt.
Some of today's best loved movies do not tap into our
feelings of love and longing. Rather they tap into the
type of stupidity that is best equated to the type of humour
most of us left behind in the sixth grade. Million dollar
movies with real production values, given to jokes about
masturbation or farting.
Why is this phenomena so prevalent. I suggest it is because
it taps into one of our worst fears, that we are indeed stupid. If
we succeed in convincing ourselves we are indeed smart then
we smugly congratulate ourselves for being better than they.
So I need to tell you that among my favorite movies, I would
list Tommy Boy, and The Blues Brothers. These movies are
silly but not stupid. The characters have a redeeming sweetness
that is far different from the dumb and dumber genre. Of
course a friend Michael Jackson III, once remarked "...not
all shows should be the Walton's but at least one of them
should be." So in conclusion, I would like to state rather
randomly that I would like less dumb movies and more silly
movies.
Thoughts