I doubt anyone would want to know why I wasn’t sucked in by the recent Star Wars vortex, but I will tell him or her anyway because I lack any moral bloging fiber. First I must say that this is not a statement against, or for any Star Wars movie, but only my opinion on the state of movie making today.
I can’t say exactly which movie pushed me over the edge, but I have become Hollywood-hype-weary. Unashamedly, Hollywood is more concerned with creating the market for the movie than creating the passion for making the movie. It would appear that product placement, special effects, lots of perfect skin and overdone marketing on overdone TV channels is the key to any “successful” blockbuster movie. In my opinion, by doing so it makes the movie less worthy.
I am generous to myself so I would call my attitude old fashioned and purist. On the other hand, my friends would call me a fraud, because they do know I love great special effects. But, to my friends I say, not when these effects are used to replace content and the raw passion of filmmaking. I could never support blatant commercialism substituting for artistic passion. Hollywood is now creating tons of two-hour wonders rather than a few good lifetime memories. If I had to rate any movie I would give it a 5 if I can remember most of it by the time I get home. I would give it a 6 if I can remember it the next day, a 7 the day after that and so on and so on. And I only mean remember in a positive sense.
The dollar is now the only Force to recon with, and it is being used to manipulate our minds into accepting bland canned goods instead of wholesome fresh produce. I don’t only blame Hollywood for this present fiasco. I also blame our lazy minds, which has developed an addiction for instant and temporary excitement rather than making an effort in discovering the passion behind the movie.
Hollywood is devious and have fashioned these movies to work like popcorn - one is never enough. Then the hype further says you must also have these movies on DVD, and you must also talk incessantly about them, because hollow entertainment channels constantly bombard us with petty hype.
Hopefully, I don’t stand alone with this point of view. But sadly, I will allow my self to succumb to peer- pressure and follow the masses to see empty screens full of pictures. But all is not lost, since I will be doing this while eating popcorn, the one remaining virtue of the movie-going experience.
