Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Hollywood Goes To War...



Not me. And I really enjoy movies. New ones, old ones, popular ones, obscure ones, chick flicks, westerns, war movies, documentaries, martial arts, drama, comedy, silent, and movies with subtitles...movies are lots of fun and a great form of entertainment. But count me out with regard to this fresh, steaming pile of modern war movies that is about to kerplop into our local cineplexes.

First, I can't stand movies that preach at me. Even the ones whose message I agree with inevitably become grating before they are over. And I don't see any in this batch on the near horizon that even come close.

Secondly, when was the last time you saw a Hollywood movie with a controversial contemporary theme that actually got it right? I've seen the trailers for some of these movies and read enough of the pre-release info to know that the filmmakers intentions are to use their own brands of shock and awe, of blood and gore, of emotional extortion to cast America into the worst possible light. Do I really need to go see these movies to know they suck? Why do I want to spend money enriching and empowering the people that make movies like this? Guess what, I don't. And I won't.

Thirdly, as fun as movies can be and as highly artistic as they occasionally are, when they are burdened with such heavy-handed idelology and that relentless enlightened activist vibe, they just don't work. They lose the groove. The last thing I need is for Hollywood to be trying to tell me what it is I should think about anything. They don't add to our understanding or give us perspective...no, they suck it clean out of you heart and head.

I hope Hollywood loses millions of dollars on this whole batch.

I can't wait to miss these on cable, too.

2 comments:

DaveG said...

I can't stand movies that preach at me.

That's what ultimately happened to me with M*A*S*H. It got so preachy that it lost the comedic/ironic edge that made it good in the first place.

There are millions of other examples, of course, but that was my first.

Barry Pike said...

You are right, Dave, and MASH is utterly benign in comparison to the modern anti-war war movie. And I find the shameless and depraved exploitationism in these movies far more objectionable than the depictions of war violence.