Well is it?

When was the last time a film, CD or book really shook the world? Is it still possible or have we become so numbed out that nothing can penetrate the fog that has engulfed our brains?

I think everyone's to blame for this to be honest.

The production companies/editors for knowing what's tried and tested, and in the majority just going with that.

The public for lapping it up in general.

If people make money from making bland, all-been-done-before products then they will carry on making them.

If you look hard enough though there are gems in all mediums and genres, as yet unspoilt by the masses.

Yes.



I would suggest we have got ourselves to blame however, but I cannot take responsibility for it anymore as I stopped watching TV years ago.  Far too much reality TV crap. I will also not allow my kids (if and when they arrive) to watch TV either. It is just complete brain destroying garbage really. I just do not understand at all why anybody would want to sit and subject themselves to 5 hours of coffee commercials intercut with some thick ugly people singing badly and even thicker uglier people sharing a house together.

I download some TV shows, Lost, House and South Park and we just watch them whenever, we also go through periods of re-watching older programs  from the beginning which can take a couple of months which is good. Just started re-watching Season 1 of The Soprano's this week, I forgot how brilliant it was in the early days - It is genius.  And I have no doubt that within the next 2 years we would have re-watched all the West Wing again too, again.  

But yes I do sometimes think the whole industry has decided that the lowest common denominator is the target market of the future.

There is many theories of an Orwellian nature that would say this is all part of the grand plan and that a docile and brain dead population will make the perfect citizens for governments of the future (the present?). Not saying I subscribe to this but sometimes these theories  could be believed given the right amount of whiskey.

But the thing that really really gets my back up more than anything is this fucking pathetic celebrity culture that everyone seems to obsessed with at the moment, I really really hope that people start to get a grip with themselves sometime soon and put an end to it. I mean, i read the other day that Katherine Heigl is getting $11m for her next movie, $11M !!!! I mean, god, I saw 27 dresses (was forced to) and she was alright, But $11M? The world has gone stark raving mad.


** Murphy rant over, I know i shouldn't read this forum when i have come home after having a few drinks.

I would never say they are rotting our brains. Sure they make a lot of crap that nobody wants to see but you can choose not to watch it.

I don't think the industry is rotting our brains. My problem with the industry, and the same goes for professional sports, is that these people are paid way too much. There are people struggling in this country to fill up their gas tank, but someone makes $11m per movie? Are you kidding me? That's the problem with this country. Celebs and sports heroes make so much and don't give back unless it's a PR stunt.

For me, the annoying thing about entertainment today is that when something becomes popular the industry milks it for all its worth, completelty ruining the concept.  Examples are easy to find, 'Lost' anyone.  When this show arrived there was an amazing buzz but I gave up watching toward the end of the first series as episodes passed and barely movd the story forward.  I have a feeling this is due to suits dragging out the shows length for fanacial gain.  The same can be said for movies too, not long ago it was remakes of J Horror movies.  I lost count of the number of remakes of these, starting with the good Jap flicks and now we get remakes of films that were rubbish first time round.  I guess we are to blame, if we didn't go watch them they wouldn't keep making this shite!

I watched Infernal Affairs last night. The Chinese original of what The Departed was based on. Well I say based on, it was pretty much scene for scene.

It's sad when a film has to be redone in English for it to get the worldwide recognition it deserves. Both brilliant films but one was an original and the other a remake.

It's like Hitchcock's Psycho getting overlooked and the remake winning loads of Oscars.

I guess in a way it's a good thing because it opens a door to films that people might not normally see, but a lot of people will just think the English version is the original.

Not the entertainment business alone, but it certainly doesn't help things either...
Society has changed. What can movies do to shake things up? Everyone's so jaded about everything that goes on. It's better to be infamous than not being known at all these days. People will do anything to become "known", no matter what. Cup Girls anyone? What would make society shun people in the past does no longer apply. We are free to do pretty much whatever we want. Other than embrace celebreties behaving badly, I don't see how the entertainment industry can do anything to make things worse.

Pandora's box has been opened....

Hey,

What do you mean by "shake the world"?

(by my definition) When has a film or CD ever shaken the world? I guess I could name a couple books.

But getting to the core of your point(I think?). There is a lot of stuff being produced today that's at least as good if not better then what was being produced before. I even think the "crap" we produce today is at least as good if not better then the crap we produced then. For example, the cartoons I've watched compared to the cartoons my father watched. Batman the Animated series is much more sophisticated and deals with more complex issues then the horrible old Batman serials.

May I suggest that your view may be slanted because we usually only see the best of what the past has to offer, while all the garbage sinks to the bottom and vanishes.

Or do you mean there are no more revolutionary things, or things that lead to paradigm shifts? I seem to have the notion that those things are usually realized after the fact, when there is less clutter and we just look at what's important.

In my opinion, at least in America, it has more to do with our schools and our culture (I think our culture drives what gets produced as entertainment more then the other way around) then the entertainment industry. But on the other hand,  I also think our "stupidity" relative to past generation tends to get a little exaggerated.

sheepwalker  

I agree with me.
People have really changed over the years. They're spoiled. Spend way to much money on goofy things in an effort to try and make themselves happy, and end up with a load of junk in the corner and still unhappy, but they have all the latest stuff.

I think the problem with the movies is that if something good comes out, others  make something similar and it ends up being all that we see for a while...

but I've noticed a pattern lately. The everything old is new again...

Just a while back it was Film Noir, now it's Sci-Fi a lot of people are looking for. Just watch and see if producers start asking for creature flicks or mad scientist stuff shortly, then it will spin around to slasher flicks again...

It's one way to change things up a little for them anyway.

Cindy

Maybe not an intelligent adult's brain who can see the waste of time that much of it is and is selective in how they spend their free time.

But I feel bad for the intelligent children who don't know any better and their parents might not be around enough to realize, or not perceptive enough to see the harm.

I agree with many of the remarks in this thread.  The important thing is balance in life.  Watching a little bit of "bad TV" isn't go to lead to the death of culture, but we know that a steady diet every night of passive recreation no matter what, is probably not the best thing for anyone.

Sandra

The entertainment industry is just that: an industry.

It's primary purpose is to recoup monies in a way that is more profitable than in any other form of investment. In that sense it is bound to make films that they feel will appeal to as many people as possible ie to the lowest comon demominator.

Sheepwalker has a good point though. We consume an unbelievable amount of material in this day and age. People watch a film made by a great director then expect the film they watch just an hour later to be as good.

There just aren't that many talented people around!

GM said that he doesn't watch TV anymore but then goes on to mention three modern series that are so good he is going to watch them again!

Speilberg once said that only a tiny fraction of people will ever make a film and therefore only a tiny fraction realise just how hard it is. If people realised that, then maybe they would be more appreciative of art.

The two biggest problems facing entertainment today are 1. The number of channels which mean that you need huge amounts of fill. Therefore the quality is diluted and you get a lot of reality TV because it is cheap to make and people watch it.

2. The whole entertainment industry is self -referencing. By that I mean that people get their ideas from other films so they make similar films without even realising it.

As a constructive point to this thread, I see that a lot on this site and in the writing of hundreds of scripts I get sent. Too many people look to existing films to get their inspiration when they should be reading science books, psychology reports, travelling and meeting interesting characters, researching events.

Whatver you put into your head will come out in your work.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films GM said that he doesn't watch TV anymore but then goes on to mention three modern series that are so good he is going to watch them again!

I just want to clarify my comments here, Of course I think some shows are worth watching but I will download them or watch the DVD's. Besides two of the shows I mentioned (Sopranos and West Wing) are no longer made - The West Wing was cancelled due to diminishing viewer figures. And South Park while still being made has the rare ability to appeal to both ends of the spectrum, there is enough intelligence and satire in South Park to appeal to people who like a bit of intelligence in their TV shows, but it is disguised as childish, silly humor so that even the audiences would never recognize satire even if it broke into their house and slapped them in the face still enjoy it.

When I say I do not watch TV what I mean is that I do not watch broadcast TV anymore. A typical nights viewing over here is an hour long programme following the day to day lives of Animal Rescue workers / Airport workers / Border Patrol / Police crash investigators etc..  followed by some D list celebrities doing cover version of songs / living in a house together / being smug etc.. and then "Real people" doing cover versions of songs / living in a house together / being smug etc...

That is the state of TV at the moment, In the US you are slightly better as at least you have HBO - the source of most of my TV show viewing.

But you are right, commerical television is only there to sell us coffee and new cars. TV actors, directors, producers and writers are really nothing more than highly paid salesmen. So of course they will go for the biggest audience they can get and if that means dumbing down then they will do it.

Quoted from Murphy So of course they will go for the biggest audience they can get and if that means dumbing down then they will do it.

Unfortunately, I think you are correct.  I really don't know because I don't watch them, but according to my "grown up" kids the Japanese anime and other foreign works are really good.  My one daughter actually has learned to speak a lot of Japanese and watches the subtitled shows.  I really do need to watch with her sometime.

I don't like to put down what people like to watch because I believe that everything has its place.  I just think that we need to balance our lives and that includes balancing the content of what we watch.  It's the same way I feel about music-- there's so much good music; so why should I limit myself.

Well, the important thing is people realize that they do have some choice and if TV is just a banal habit, they should consider their options.  Try asking your mate...  

Quoted from Soap Hands Hey, What do you mean by "shake the world"? (by my definition) When has a film or CD ever shaken the world? I guess I could name a couple books.

Well, The Beatles and The Sex Pistols certainly shook things up in a way that I doubt any other bands ever will. My mum was around when The Beatles toured Australia and every time the media gets in a lather about "the current big thing" she always says "this is nothing compared to Beatle mania”. Then you had The Sex Pistols number one on the charts with God Saved The Queen and it was banned from being played on the radio, not because of profanity or explicit violence, but simply because of its perceived threat to the establishment. I'd say the Quran and The Bible are two books that have shaken the world, however, I think that somewhere down the track The God Delusion will be seen as a very significant book too. But you’re probably right about no movie ever shaking the world, although quite a few of them have caused paradigm shifts in the movie business and to a lesser extent to the way society views some things.

I guess what I’m really wondering is if another band, book, or movie could come along and have the same profound effect that the Beatles and The Pistols had. I guess on a long enough time line it's possible. But the real question is, are we producing less potent art or are we just becoming more immune to it?

I agree with what you said about how some of the stuff we are producing today is as good as anything, if not better, than what was produced in the past. TV shows like" Six Feet Under, The West Wing,  The Sopranos, Oz and Deadwood have definitely raised the bar in regards to television excellence, but paradoxically reality TV has also seen television sink to new lows. What’s weird is that here in Australia more people tend to watch rubbish like, Big Brother, Australian Idol and all the CSI shows, whilst the quality shows, like the ones I mentioned, languish in late night time slots.