The Magic of Hollywood
I love movies. I enjoy sitting in a dark theater and letting my imagination go as the film before me spins it tales of adventure, mystery, romance (yes, I do like some "chick flicks"), and intrigue. There's something about imagining an impossible scenario and then watching as someone else brings your story to life.
I watched a movie the other night that I hadn't seen in quite a while. It was Capricorn One, with a young James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and a pre-felony O.J. Simpson. The story line follows a projected visit to the planet Mars that is faked due to a flaw in the safety equipment that would have killed all the astronauts onboard. They are coerced into going along in order to keep the space program alive by threatening their wives and families. The entire surface walk is done on a sound stage at an abandoned Air Force Base in the middle of the Texas desert 300 miles west of Houston. The problem comes when the sensors at space control show that the heat shields fail upon reentry and all the astronauts supposedly die, when in fact they are very much alive. If they actually show up in public, the entire scam is blown and the powers that be determine that they have outlived their usefulness.
The remaining movie tells how the three astronauts escape from their captors and how one reporter figures out the truth and is determined to bring this to light. Although predictable from this point on, it still makes for an exciting movie with the hero (Brolin) finally showing up at his own funeral and memorial service.
The movie is based on the conspiracy theory that the Apollo 11 moon landing and subsequent moonwalk were fakes and actually performed on a sound stage in some remote location. I saw a documentary several years detailing all the evidence to support such a theory and it was quite compelling. The movie was made in 1978, only 9 years after that famed Apollo 11 moonwalk of Neil Armstrong and Edward "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr.
The interesting thing is how you root for the good guys in the movie taking a stand against the evil bureaucrats of an evil government. And I remember coming out of the movie theater thinking how evil the United States government was. It wasn't the first time this had happened.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor in Nazi Germany, who died in a concentration camp because of his outspoken criticism of Hitler's policies, once told a story of how his entire village was awoken early one morning and everybody was forced to come into the village square. They were kept there for hours with nothing to do, waiting for a speech from some Nazi spokesman. Without food or water or the opportunity to rest, the people were continually told that the speaker would be there soon and how great an opportunity it was that they would be enjoying.
By the time the speaker had finally arrived, a mob mentality took over and the crowd was quite receptive to the message being spoken. Even Pastor Bonhoeffer felt more inclined to accept the premise of the speech, even though he knew deep down that it went against his core beliefs. He said that once they were released to go back to their homes, he had to reflect on how deeply he had become involved in what he knew was inherently wrong.
I think the same thing happens in a movie theater. We all cheer for the good guy and want justice to come to the bad guys. The more wicked the bad guy is portrayed, the more we want to do him harm.
I was in a hotel once and saw "Private Parts", the story of Howard Stern. Now in my mind, Howard Stern is part of the problem with this country. He has made his millions from being a crude, vulgar, sensationalist. And even though a lot of his radio bits are funny, most of his radio show is a benchmark for offense and mocks the First Amendment free speech rights. However, that being said, I found myself rooting for the Howard Stern character as he continually fought with his boss, played by a weasel-like Paul Giamatti and even cheered when he eventually won the battle and earned creative control of his radio show.
Just about every Hollywood film made has is an agenda that comes along with it. Some movies, like "Milk", about the openly gay city council member Harvey Milk in San Francisco, display their agenda openly. Others are not so obvious. The Disney movie "Pocahontas" was a not-so subtle attempt at trying to shape our children's thinking about environmental issues, suggesting that western settlers were all evil exploiters while the North American Indians were all innocent and honorable and good for the environment. After all, they cherished Mother Earth and saw the bear as their brother.
This is not to say that movies should not have a message. Most literature has a bias in one shape or another. "David Copperfield" was written to bring to light the child labor exploitation in England in that day. I just need to remember that when Hollywood gets to sell its agenda, it is usually a counter cultural message that goes contrary to most traditional family values. That being said, enjoy the film like you would a chicken dinner. Eat the meat and throw out the bones. Just remember, with Hollywood, you get an awful lot of bones.
I watched a movie the other night that I hadn't seen in quite a while. It was Capricorn One, with a young James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and a pre-felony O.J. Simpson. The story line follows a projected visit to the planet Mars that is faked due to a flaw in the safety equipment that would have killed all the astronauts onboard. They are coerced into going along in order to keep the space program alive by threatening their wives and families. The entire surface walk is done on a sound stage at an abandoned Air Force Base in the middle of the Texas desert 300 miles west of Houston. The problem comes when the sensors at space control show that the heat shields fail upon reentry and all the astronauts supposedly die, when in fact they are very much alive. If they actually show up in public, the entire scam is blown and the powers that be determine that they have outlived their usefulness.
The remaining movie tells how the three astronauts escape from their captors and how one reporter figures out the truth and is determined to bring this to light. Although predictable from this point on, it still makes for an exciting movie with the hero (Brolin) finally showing up at his own funeral and memorial service.
The movie is based on the conspiracy theory that the Apollo 11 moon landing and subsequent moonwalk were fakes and actually performed on a sound stage in some remote location. I saw a documentary several years detailing all the evidence to support such a theory and it was quite compelling. The movie was made in 1978, only 9 years after that famed Apollo 11 moonwalk of Neil Armstrong and Edward "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr.
The interesting thing is how you root for the good guys in the movie taking a stand against the evil bureaucrats of an evil government. And I remember coming out of the movie theater thinking how evil the United States government was. It wasn't the first time this had happened.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor in Nazi Germany, who died in a concentration camp because of his outspoken criticism of Hitler's policies, once told a story of how his entire village was awoken early one morning and everybody was forced to come into the village square. They were kept there for hours with nothing to do, waiting for a speech from some Nazi spokesman. Without food or water or the opportunity to rest, the people were continually told that the speaker would be there soon and how great an opportunity it was that they would be enjoying.
By the time the speaker had finally arrived, a mob mentality took over and the crowd was quite receptive to the message being spoken. Even Pastor Bonhoeffer felt more inclined to accept the premise of the speech, even though he knew deep down that it went against his core beliefs. He said that once they were released to go back to their homes, he had to reflect on how deeply he had become involved in what he knew was inherently wrong.
I think the same thing happens in a movie theater. We all cheer for the good guy and want justice to come to the bad guys. The more wicked the bad guy is portrayed, the more we want to do him harm.
I was in a hotel once and saw "Private Parts", the story of Howard Stern. Now in my mind, Howard Stern is part of the problem with this country. He has made his millions from being a crude, vulgar, sensationalist. And even though a lot of his radio bits are funny, most of his radio show is a benchmark for offense and mocks the First Amendment free speech rights. However, that being said, I found myself rooting for the Howard Stern character as he continually fought with his boss, played by a weasel-like Paul Giamatti and even cheered when he eventually won the battle and earned creative control of his radio show.
Just about every Hollywood film made has is an agenda that comes along with it. Some movies, like "Milk", about the openly gay city council member Harvey Milk in San Francisco, display their agenda openly. Others are not so obvious. The Disney movie "Pocahontas" was a not-so subtle attempt at trying to shape our children's thinking about environmental issues, suggesting that western settlers were all evil exploiters while the North American Indians were all innocent and honorable and good for the environment. After all, they cherished Mother Earth and saw the bear as their brother.
This is not to say that movies should not have a message. Most literature has a bias in one shape or another. "David Copperfield" was written to bring to light the child labor exploitation in England in that day. I just need to remember that when Hollywood gets to sell its agenda, it is usually a counter cultural message that goes contrary to most traditional family values. That being said, enjoy the film like you would a chicken dinner. Eat the meat and throw out the bones. Just remember, with Hollywood, you get an awful lot of bones.
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