Out-of-touch films
As the bright lights of Oscars 2006 fade into history, Hollywood ultimately will be remembered more for how it failed in its moviemaking ventures rather than for the awards it presented to anointed actors and movies.
Your Editorial page cartoon of March 7 captured the essence of the Oscars. One lantern-holding explorer is seen viewing ancient cave drawings, while another explorer is shown simultaneously viewing the Oscar ceremony inside the cave. An Oscar statue can be seen on the cave wall in back of the TV set. The lantern-holding explorer makes this remark about the illuminated cave drawings he is viewing: "It was a primitive culture whose sole existence was to worship the stars."
Participants in the Oscar ceremony do deserve some credit for refraining from the typical Hollywood Bush-bashing. On the other hand, the Oscars did reveal how Hollywood perceives itself and the objectives behind its moviemaking. A theme present in the Oscar ceremony was that of Hollywood patting itself on the back for producing movies, both past and in the present, that were on the cutting edge of society. Examples of topics: AIDS, civil rights and gay marriage.
Shame on Hollywood for being so out-of-touch with many in mainstream America. Hollywood regularly insults American intelligence and its values. During the heyday of moviemaking (the ’30s and ’40s), the revered moguls of that time produced movies that often portrayed a love of country and the goodness of America and its people.
Most telling is that not one movie has been made about the bravery of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq or of America’s war against Islamic radicals. Where are the movies that reflect the goodness of the American people and an America that is worth fighting and dying for?
Patriotism seems to be a concept no longer fashionable. The Hollywood of today prefers making movies that push the envelope and are rife with political bias.
The outcome: The American people are the losers and movie-going will undoubtedly continue to decline. Most worrisome, however, and detrimental to this country is that negative images of America are being sold abroad via Hollywood.
Nancy J. Thorner
Lake Bluff
Nancy, here's a clue for you. Hollywood film-making is all about what SELLS to an audience. Apparently there is very little market for movies recounting the "bravery of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq." However, if you'd like to see a great movie that used the Gulf War as a backdrop, might I suggest "Three Kings?"
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