Hollywood Satanism

This morning I awoke from a bizarre crazy dream.

I sat on the edge of the bed and thought of the movie I watched the night before called The Aviator, a story about the life of Howard Hughes. According to the movie maker, the highly neurotic sometimes psychotic Hughes never married, but he did have a number of lengthy wacky intimate relationships with several famous women including Catharine Hepburn, one of of the very few Hollywood actors I looked up to...prior to watching The Aviator.

What led me to watch this movie was my perusal of a coworker's movie collection, something over 500 DVDs he kept in a big satchel.  I asked him about these movies, what types they were. He responded saying these are very popular movies. I think he has no idea what movies he has...or does he.

Anyway, looking through his list of titles:

And looking at parts of the movies themselves, I get the gist that most are…immoral (very violent and or sexually explicit.) There are a few that have redeeming qualities, are light hearted, and one or two are very good. It’s the rest that concern me.

My comrade assured me that this is a representative sample of what is produced by the movie industry; what the public pays to see…mostly sexually explicit violence. I don’t mean 70s style TV western punch-m-up, knock-m-out, make-believe sex, I am talking about very graphic, leave nothing to the imagination sadism…or Satanism. Be it “Black” hip gangster rap, “White” punk Appalachian sleaze, to corporate rape, and Oozy sex, movies are…well, I must be seriously out of touch or something.

Then there is music and video games. Oh, less we not forget the Internet…with no restrictions.

Hollywood is making beaucoup bucks off of “people’s animalistic base-level desires.” No…it’s not animalistic. It’s in a different stratum. Animals don’t kill for the sheer joy of it.

Moving along. This afternoon after returning from the store, I noticed the ... Cinemas, a 10 movie gigaplex theater showing more of the same as listed above. I also noticed the parking lot was full with cars belonging to hundreds of matinee goers.

I understand there are 15 more very lucrative theater complexes in our moderately sized metropolitan area. Along with the 3 dozen video stores, 500 cable TV channels, 1200 satellite channels, high speed web access, there is a hell-of-a-lot of Hollywood to go around. And to justify its existence, there are plenty of people to cruse, watch, and pay for it all.

Where was I during the establishment all of this…new more refined…mediaography?  Well…I guess…I was watching my vintage laser disks of old antique movies from the 30s to the 80s and rarely watching TV, the 13 channels I can get.

What happened? What is happening to people, subliminally speaking? Watching these graphic films really affect me deep inside. Watching this woman being nail gunned to a wall naked and hearing her frantically plead and scream as each nail is being shot into each hand and foot…

There is not just one or two movies like this, but bunches. Another example is Eight Millimeter (8 mm) with Nicholas Cage (which, if it didn't belong to my coworker, I would have tossed into the trash 10 minutes into it). This late 90s flick portrayed sexual violence in New York and LA beyond belief. This was supposed to be a very famous movie grossing millions at the box office when it came out.

I know; movies have their mandated facets: good, evil, violence, bad-ass rich guys, hipsters, women with big boobs, graphic sex pushing the legal envelop, visual violence illegal in most European countries, and poor story lines, all designed to get the average Joe to part with his hard earned money. Well…according to movie producers, we still live in a sexist culture where guys pay for the movie, unless he’s sleazy and the girl has .er. wants to pay.

OK… OK. The question I have, does all of this hell raising and praising have an affect on our society as a whole? For example, are the difficulties I have been having in more recent years in the workplace a reflection or result of…? Are the tensions on the roads with young crazy drivers cutting in and out of lanes…?

Yah, what about your every day living and working?  Is it the same, just as easy, just as difficult?

Maybe I’m wrong, but I just don’t remember these fears in the 70s and 80s when I was a swinging singles guy. Yes I’ll admit, I watched a lot of TV and movies then. But since then, things changed. I know, be funny, my age. But, you have to admit, the media then was a lot tamer. It was even kind of hokey.

OK, don't do this with me.  I am not stupid.  Someone's response to my spiel was, "But hey, it’s just a movie.  It’s like watching cartoons when we were kids.  Do we really not think that Road Runner wasn’t violent?  Please… "

...No!  Roadrunner and Wily Coyote never died.  I never saw graphical depictions of blood guts and killing.  It was obviously just in fun.  As for westerns, though there was a lot of shooting, it is in no way like today's TV movie killings.  Come-on, Please... 

Oh well, food for thought…

Anyway, since I have been out of touch for so long in so far as collecting movies, and I have no idea of what to collect, I would like some suggestions as to what movies are good. Thanks.

E, February 26, 2005