Billy
What you say is essentially true about all religions as well as the different
sects within them, more-so today than ever. This, as bad as it is, will be said
to be people exercising their right to free speech. I suppose misinformation
under our system is also protected by the broad definition we have given to
free speech.
However, deplorable as it is, there is no way to prohibit such behavior and
Hollywood is an industry that sets out. like any other business, to make money.
One of a film's primary purposes is that it pay for itself and returns money to
its investors. If they are making money it means the film is being seen and
financially supported by viewers. Such being the case the public is as
responsible as much as the studio that produces the film. I don't watch many
Hollywood films and again if someone, say Mr. Coke, wants to make a film that
reflects what he believes to be true values then he has the right to produce
and distribute that film. What I am saying is that, for example, a couple of
decades ago many film makers were disappointed and often complaining that
Hollywood was no longer turning out films that were either artistic nor
informative. These people got together and formed, among other things,
institutions like the indie festivals and showcases for
their films like the Sundance group. Today many fine films dealing with
cultural values, less popular ideas and art have now found markets for their
work and being bought and presented to the public by both theaters and other
media outlets. No one therefore is prohibiting cinematic presentations dealing
with religious or spiritual values. If there is a big enough public the subject
will reach them because there is a desire on their part to see the film and
promote its values. The media will respond because there is enough interest
that they will deal with the film and promote it simply by presenting the
information about the film to the public.
Again we, the people, are as guilty of misrepresenting other religions in
hateful, incorrect and irresponsible ways and the purpose here is not about
business, profit and free enterprise.
Read not just this article about Catholicism but especially the evil and
derogatory commentaries that follow the article. They are as despicable as any
of the Muslim anti-Christian comments by Muslims and other anti-religious hate
groups AND they are obviously coming from Protestant Christians. The idea that
Catholicism or Mormonism are not Christian religions is as stupid as it gets.
If we, as Christians, are coming under fire for our beliefs then we should
respond but in an appropriate manner. There are a lot of negative and hateful
comments under this article that may give some credence to Gandhi's statement:
" I love you Christ but I am not greatly fond of your Christians."
Here is the link.
http://news.yahoo.com/millions-filipino-devotees-defy-terror-warning-093054988.html;_ylc=X3oDMTBtc25uZjR1BF9TAwRlbWFpbElkAzEzMjYzOTEzMjA-?bcmt_s=e
Again my purpose is not about the article but about the comments that follow it.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 12:46 PM
Subject: [RC] Why are Hollywood movies so Half-Baked ?
What would Hollywood be like if Radical Centrists were in charge ?
The following article discusses movie shortcomings as understood
from a Christian perspective ( written by someone named Mohammed ).
But it isn't just Christianity that is misrepresented by Hollywood producers.
ALL religions are misrepresented, and some, ironically Judaism included,
are not represented at all, or are only rarely represented. Plus some subjects
are represented poorly, again and again, such as history and the sciences.
Anyone have a good answer ? My feeling is that many or most of the script
writers must be "kids," young people in their 20s, say, or some equivalent,
writers who were recruited in their 20s and who have retained that mindset
despite now being in their 50s or 60s, because they are expected to create
material that has the quality of naive 20-somethings. I mean, much ( most )
Hollywood fare is juvenilia. Immaturity oozes out of every scene.
Half of everything is not thought through, and the other half
is ill-informed. Plus the morality one gets is largely nihilistic
as if the writers are mostly horny young men who don't really
have other values except any excuse that comes to mind
to seduce women. Plus young men's adventuresomeness
and putting winning some obvious prize ( a million dollars )
above all other considerations.
OK, anyone can think of exceptions. There are the best producers
and then there is everyone else. But something is horribly wrong with
the film industry and it would be nice to have a few ideas handy
as a remedy.
Billy
---------------------------------------------------------------
Christian Post
Hollywood Out of Touch, or Are Christians Expecting Too Much?
By Ravelle Mohammed
Tue, Jan. 10, 2012 Posted: 11:24 AM EDT
Has Hollywood lost touch with Middle America? According to The Christian Film &
Television Commission, the city of lights and big dreams does not know how to
appeal to the average American. Yet, other observers insist Christians may be
expecting too much from a sector controlled by "nonbelievers."
"They don't know how to market to the average American who is a churchgoing
Christian who believes in God, country, and family," said Dr. Ted Baehr, the
ministry’s founder and chairman, in a released statement
"Year in and year out, our statistics show that moviegoers prefer
family-friendly movies with positive Christian, wholesome, patriotic,
conservative, and traditional moral values," he stated.
Filmmaker and media consultant Phil Cooke pointed out that Hollywood does not
reflect a significant segment of what most would call "Middle America." He told
The Christian Post that many of the studio executives he has met were
"politically liberal" – adding that this could also be said about doctors,
attorneys, and most university professors.
"Perhaps the biggest issue is 'Why do we expect nonbelievers to act like
believers?'" Cooke questioned. "Why do we get so stressed out when Hollywood
doesn't reflect our values, or create movies we like?"
Cooke, co-founder of Cooke Pictures, explained that Christians get "distracted"
from the real call because so much time is spent "freaking out over not being
able to say a prayer at the start of a high school football game, or upset at
Hollywood, the gay community, or others, that we forget that our job is to
reach the world, not complain."
Pastor David Wright, CEO of DOersTV, agreed that believers should not expect
nonbelievers to act like them. According to Wright, nonbelievers are sinners
and sinners sin. "Because Hollywood is controlled by nonbelievers who love to
sin, we cannot expect a sinner to act like a saint," he told CP.
"No Christian is exempt from poisoning their mind with the filth of Hollywood –
you can’t play with fire and not get burned," Wright added.
The Numbers, a box office website, found that G-rated features grossed $34.6
million in 2011, whereas R-rated movies averaged about $10.8 million. The
typically family-oriented G-rated films also outranked more explicit-natured
films in 2009 and 2010.
Dr. Baehr noted that the results reveal that these movies made three or, as in
previous years, five times as much money as R-rated films. He noted that PG
movies also ranked far better on average.
"Middle America wants to see, rent, and buy entertaining movies with Christian,
biblical values that they can show to their whole family," he stated. "They
want to see Good triumph over Evil, Justice to prevail, Truth to defeat
Falsehood, and Purity to conquer Lust. They reject movies with explicit,
graphic sex and violence."
Pastor Wright added, "True 'Christians' crave and desire to watch Christian
themed movies not because of what’s in the movies, but mainly because of what’s
not in the movie – sin and immorality."
On the other hand, Cooke suggested that the conception that G or PG movies rake
in more money than R-rated films is inaccurate. He told CP that when you take
out high budget animated blockbusters like "Cars" or "Toy Story" the situation
changes significantly.
"We'd all like to believe that people are looking for G-rated entertainment,
but the truth is, that's not necessarily the case," Cooke said. "While
protecting children is critical, I'm not sure Christians are really called to
produce only G-rated movies and TV programming."
He pointed out that much of the Bible, if turned into a movie, would be
R-rated, if not worse. According to Cooke, God shared "real authentic stories
and the Bible doesn’t gloss over real life."
"The culture would respect our message much more if we stopped producing just
cheesy, G-rated films and started telling gritty stories about real life," he
said.
Research from The Barna Group found that Christians watched almost the exact
type of movies and TV programs as non-Christians, Cooke revealed. The original
Barna study could not be found, but researchers at the National Study of Youth
and Religion discovered that 43 percent of U.S. teens, between ages 13 and 17,
who said their faith was either extremely or very important in shaping their
daily lives reported watching mostly R-rated movies and videos.
Regardless, Cooke shared that while there is a place for Christian-themed films
that is not why he goes to the movies.
"I go to see powerful, compelling stories about all kinds of subjects," he told
CP. "If it has Christian implications like 'Blindside,' or 'The Chronicles of
Narnia,' great. But I'm just as thrilled to see a great war movie, historical
epic, or sci-fi thriller."
Cooke countered that the question is not what can Hollywood do to become more
"in touch" with Middle America, but rather what does "Middle America" need to
do to get Hollywood’s attention.
"We sometimes forget that Hollywood is a business. As a result, they pay very
little attention to boycotts and critics, but pay a lot of attention to box
office receipts," he stated. "Christians could change Hollywood tomorrow if
they would simply start showing up at films they care about."
"There are millions of evangelical Christians in America, and if we could
mobilize that power to show up at great movies that reflect our values, trust
me – Hollywood would notice and respond--
Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community
<[email protected]>
Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism
Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
--
Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community
<[email protected]>
Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism
Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
