Hollywood at rock bottom

Hollywood at rock bottom

I have ranted many times about the cultural demise of this country and today is no different. I linked an article about an upcoming movie called “Captivity”. In this movie, a young, attractive woman is abducted, imprisoned, tortured and murdered. Apparently, that is the premise of the film. Not only that, but the marketing campaign features numerous posters pasted across the city showing this woman in various stages of the abduction, imprisonment, torture and murder. This is Hollywood’s idea of quality entertainment.

I would challenge anyone to dispute the notion that our culture is on a downslope, that we are devolving into something not good for society. You can see it every day and it truly is concerning; and Hollywood holds a good deal of the responsibility for this. Things in America are not okay when people pay money to see a movie about the brutal torture and murder of a woman. To many people, that’s a good Friday night out. If that doesn’t portray serious problems in this country then I don’t know what does.

Yes, I’m aware that it is fiction. It’s only a movie. That’s what Hollywood says. And, true, most people are capable of viewing such things without having those things affect their own actions. But there are many people, namely teenagers and young adults, who simply lack the intellectual and emotional maturity to properly process these images and know that it’s wrong. Many people have grown up with little, if any, parental influence. Many people don’t understand the brutality and outright wrongness in doing these kinds of things to another human being and it’s precisely those people who enjoy this kind of entertainment – that’s the audience for these films, the ones who happen to be a few bricks shy of a load. In short, many people are capable of such things and we have to ask the question of whether or not these films are enough to push them over that line that divides bad thoughts from bad actions. I think films like this certainly hold such potential and because of that Hollywood should show some restraint.

Yes, I know Hollywood will claim their “right” to make these movies. No one disputes that right. They have the right to free expression. The question isn’t “can” they make these movies, the question is “should” they make these movies. In a culture where anything goes and personal gratification and moral relativism is now the norm, the “should” really doesn’t matter. This is just another example of freedom being abused and mistreated, dare I say tortured, by those who don’t care about the consequences of their actions. So they make movies, video games, rap albums and other things and market them to children and adolescents – clearly in hopes of perpetuating an entire generation of moral relativists who are willing to tread on others for personal gratification, damn the consequences.

The Baby Boomer mentality of free love and bra burning has exploded on our culture and we see it all over the place. There are no boundaries anymore. There is nothing inappropriate. There is nothing too violent, too sexual, too profane and our society is paying a dear price for it. This won’t stop until we use our consumer power to stop it. If no one buys a ticket for these things, or pays money for the rap album, then they’ll stop producing them. It’s that simple. But I doubt that will happen.

It will take people on BOTH sides of American society to reject this kind of stuff. That includes progressives, and we all know that progressives will not condemn anything deemed “art” (unless, of course, that art depicts the imprisonment, torture and murder of Jesus Christ). And, by the way, I won’t let my child watch “The Passion” either, it’s simply too violent.
So, this post is likely just a vain attempt at appealing to the reason in all of us. Reason says that nothing good comes from movies like this, or from gangster rap. Reason says that this reflects poorly upon us as a society and a culture. Reason says that these things threaten to corrupt our children and destroy their innocence. Reason says that these things actually put people in danger. So will we listen to reason, or take the “freedom of expression” cop out and continue to allow Hollywood the freedom to erode our moral fabric. Remember, freedom is good, but too much freedom in the wrong hands and too much freedom without any moral boundaries (imposed by religion or simple self-restraint) can be bad for ALL of us. How much longer can we tolerate this? How much longer can we SURVIVE this?