Hollywood’s Cake Is Good For Eating
While watching the Oscars last night I noticed there was a lot of talk about all the good Hollywood can and does do, of their positive impact on the world. The implication is that they help us see things/each other in a more simpathetic light, that they expose us to the horrible things that are going on in the world, that through their insight they can bring positive change to the world.
This is nice and all but the problem with that is they won’t ever fess up to all the bad they do too. They’ll never admit their influence on how we view our bodies, how we view love/lust/sex, how we view violence, etc. They need to either admit they are influencial, both positive and negative, or that they exist for purely entertainment purposes and have no influence whatsoever.
heh Hollywood admit to doing something negative? Ha! Pigs will fly over the Hollywood sign first!
Comment by Dan — February 26, 2007 @ 11:32 am
Yeah, but narcissists don’t “see” themselves that way!
There sure was lot’s of self-congratulatory hoopla going around- and sure they do some good, but only if you agree with their general politics and platform.
Comment by tracy m — February 26, 2007 @ 12:17 pm
There’s definitely a double standard. But come on, the Oscars are the height of navel gazing and self-congratulation. And done by a narcissistic group.
Comment by Clark Goble — February 26, 2007 @ 12:34 pm
I missed all but the last half hour or so. I don’t think I’ve seen any of the movies nominated.
Comment by Susan M — February 26, 2007 @ 1:39 pm
I’d lean in the “no influence” direction. The psychological evidence seems to suggest that people watch movies that fit with their preconceived notions of reality, more than that movies change people’s ideas of reality.
On the other hand, there’s really pretty substantial evidence that, when Hollywood puts out a really violent mainstream film, it reduces violent crime for one weekend. Because the violent criminals are watching a movie rather than hurting people. So maybe moviemakers really are a force for good….
Comment by RoastedTomatoes — February 26, 2007 @ 2:08 pm
RT,
That’s somewhere between amusing and disturbing. I suspect they’re just all going to charge up their violence batteries at those theaters…
Comment by Geoff J — February 26, 2007 @ 4:53 pm
It seems hard to believe that there is no influence. Just look at how many fads are brought out via Hollywood or the big four music labels. It’s hard to imagine it’s not having an effect.
There was an interesting show on NPR last week about a new documentary about hip hop. Glorifying violence and women as objects and/or strippers. I think that does have a social effect and it seems hard to deny many set themselves up as pseudo-gang bangers.
Comment by Clark Goble — February 26, 2007 @ 5:29 pm
Susan, I’ve not seen any of the movies either. Although I really, really want to see both the Scorsese and Eastwood movies. It’s just that I don’t see many movies except via Netflix anymore. And even with that I think they make money off me – I have a copy of Syriana that’s been sitting here since Christmas.
Comment by Clark — February 26, 2007 @ 5:41 pm
Geoff, the evidence suggests that, well, not so much. Take a look at this interesting Slate piece that reviews the relevant studies. The moral of the story is: when violent movies come out, crime rates actually decrease during opening weekend — but go back to normal levels first thing Monday morning (not above average levels, just normal levels).
Comment by RoastedTomatoes — February 26, 2007 @ 10:33 pm