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Hollywood Morality

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It used to be that every show or movie you saw had some underlying sense of morality. Some shows, like Lassie or The Andy Griffith Show, were even explicit about it: at the end of each show, you got the punch line. The moral lesson was explained. This was called the "Yousee Timmy" in the movie "Speechless" by Michael Keaton's character. At the end of each Lassie, the dad would sit down and say "You see, Timmy, you shouldn't keep a wild lion as a pet. That's a wild animal. It belongs in the forest"

Somewhere along the way, however, Hollywood gave up on the morality tales and the story became king. When I say the story became king, I mean a generation of writers were brought up to believe that anything that you could do to enhance the drama of a story was a good thing. Stuff that took away from the drama was not so good.

The problem with this philosophy is that it's not connected to reality. The real world has some underlying principles. Movies that ignore these run off into strange places. Here's a short list of Hollywood lessons vs. Real World Lessons. SPOILER ALERT: Since I'm dealing with the entire movie, I have to give out some of the plot points. Don't read on if you haven't seen these movies!

    Movie poster from the movie Born on the Fourth of July
  • Born on the Fourth of July
    • Synopsis: The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
    • Real World Lesson: Don't let bad life events define your life. The things that are good about you, that you fight for, that you believe in, will only be strengthened by adversity.
    • Hollywood Lesson: All war is bad. Fighting war is always good. Confused soldier was sucker for the man. Once he wised up, he fought for the good guys, ie, against the war. Kovic is quoted as saying ""War is not the answer. Violence is not the solution. A more peaceful world is possible." As noble as the cause of peaceful coexistance is, once you eliminate armed conflict from your menu of options in dealing with other countries, you're playing a fool's game. Anybody with more intelligence than a German Shepherd knows that.


  • scene from Into the Wild
  • Into the Wild
    • Synopsis: INTO THE WILD is based on a true story and the bestselling book by Jon Krakauer. After graduating from Emory University in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless (Hirsch) abandons his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life. SPOILER: he dies in the end. Not sure if the movie mentions it or not (probably not), but he died in the summertime in Alaska, just miles from civilization and emergency supplies. This is because he never took the time to learn how to survive in Alaska.
    • Real World Lesson: Learn something about what the heck you are doing before you do it.
    • Hollywood Lesson: It's noble to chase a dream and be bold in your life. Even worth dying for.


  • scene from the movie Titanic
  • Titanic
    • Synopsis: Boy meets girl on a ship. Girl is unreachable due to class. Boy and girl fall in love. Ship sinks, leaving all the poor folks to die while the rich get off the ship. Girl lives. Boy dies. Love endures.
    • Real World Lesson: Don't get on a ship you don't know how to get off of -- perhaps in a hurry.
    • Hollywood Lesson: The wealthy are self-obsessed, rotten people who all look down on we simpletons. They have a better life than we do, but regular people (read movie ticket payers) are far superior to the wealthy because of our homespun values and attitudes.


  • DVD jacket from the movie The Clearing
  • The Clearing
    • Synopsis: Wayne and Eileen Hayes (Robert Redford, Helen Mirren) appear to be living the American dream, until that dream becomes a living nightmare. A self-made tycoon, Wayne is seemingly invincible. But all illusions are shattered when he is kidnapped in broad daylight from their peaceful Pittsburgh estate. Under the microscope of a probing FBI investigation and her own painstaking introspection, Eileen too is a victim. Meanwhile, Wayne, with his fate resting in the hands of a kidnapper (Willem Dafoe) who has nothing to lose and everything to gain, finds himself in the most important negotiation ever - for his life.... SPOILER: They kill the rich guy in the end
    • Real World Lesson: Kidnappers are bad people. They should be punished.
    • Hollywood Lesson: Self-made tycoons are bad people. They should be punished. (Yes -- another "rich guys are evil" plot.) For once couldn't there be a poor, minority, junkie kidnapper? I'm not implying by any means that all poor minorities are criminals. I'm just saying that this PC business is making some really dumb movies. As for this movie, it was so polite and the director held the audience so far away, I'm not sure what the point was: bad rich guy gets whacked?







    • Synopsis:

    • Real World Lesson:

    • Hollywood Lesson:



I have no idea how a generation of kids are supposed to tell BS in media from the real world (see previous post), and even if they could, movies are not packaging information in as useful a format as possible. Film makers are out to make a buck. That's it. Somehow I think we've lost something important somewhere. Flaws in a hero make him more of a hero, reality in a fantasy world make it more of a fantasy. Just like corporations are accused of going for the cheap and quick profit at the expense of long-term success, I think most screenwriters are going for the cheap and quick drama at the expense of long-term values and tension.

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This page contains a single entry by DanielBMarkham published on September 11, 2007 1:44 AM.

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