Could there be a good side to Hollywood's influence?

How about the good things that Hollywood does. I think there are good things. First, some of the movie/documentaries we see offer a different perspective. Some movies make us think about things that we may otherwise may not have known about. Movies about war show us how things are or were for soldiers and others involved. They might not be entirely accurate, but Saving Private Ryan definitely gave me perspective on how it was for soldiers in WWII. I could not get that without having gone to that movie. Even the movie, Juno, which was up for an Academy Award this year, gives a different perspective. This movie was about a pregnant teenager, which is a touchy subject in our culture. However, the movie gave a different slant to the teen pregnancy situation. It wasn't glorified, yet it wasn't vilified either (you'll have to see it).

Even if you do not believe the whole "global warming" thing (and right now, in Minnesota, it is hard to jump on board with that), Al Gore's documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, brings up some interesting and important issues. At the least, it should make people think about what we're doing to the environment, and possibly get us to care more about it, which is the right thing to do.

Movies, like books, let you glimpse how others live, and I think that's a good thing.

Music Videos

How about the influence of music videos on the public? Not only are the words to songs an influence on our culture, but they now have a secondary influence in the form of music videos. Hip-hop videos, in particular, have been called on how they portray both men and women. They portray men as tough and violent. Women are portrayed as being worthless and less than men. Violent Hollywood movies are a definite influence on these music videos and support a culture of violence.

There is a video on youtube.com called Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes, which discusses this issue. The url is www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjxjZe3RhIo&feature=user. You can also view the video below called Tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity.

Disney's Influence

Have you ever really watched some of the Walt Disney movies? I mean really watched. I can still remember, before I had my own children, watching Cinderella with my nieces. I hadn't seen it in years and I was paying attention to the story line. I couldn't believe what I was seeing/hearing. First, they portrayed the "ugly" stepsisters as mean, and Cinderella, was beautiful and oh so nice. Second, the whole goal for Cinderella and the stepsisters was to marry the rich, handsome prince (isn't that every girl's dream?). Third, was that, of course, the prince picked the beautiful one. But she was nicer, and a better dancer. Oh, and she also had the smallest feet. The big, ugly stepsisters had huge feet and couldn't fit them into the glass slipper. That was an eye opener for me. However, I did have three girls of my own and, yes, we own Cinderella. I'm just planning on teaching them that marrying the rich, handsome prince is not the main objective in life.

Disney movies have had a huge effect on popular culture for decades. Disney projects the image of "innocence, magic and family fun...wholesome family entertainment." (http://www.mediaed.org/). Disney owns so much media that they influence the messages we receive and give our children a certain worldview. Disney is a transnational media conglomerate and owns "television and radio networks, cable systems, internet sites, music studios, media production companies, magazines, sports teams, theaters and theme parks." (http://www.mediaed.org/). The stories they tell are seen by generations of children and we need to think about what messages these stories are telling. Females are portrayed in certain ways, and in the past, minorities are absent or highly underrepresented.

"We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective," Michael Eisner, CEO of Walt Disney Company. (http://www.mediaed.org/).

So, once again, it's all about the money.

I want that purse! How Hollywood influences what we buy

Movies and television advertise products for us to buy, but the celebrities that are in these television shows and films also influence what we buy. These celebrities are given free clothes by designers, because they are advertising these designers' clothes. They even influence places we go (restaurants, vacation spots, etc.). Americans are consumed by celebrity.

There is a site called SeenOn.com where you can go to see what kind of jeans a celebrity was wearing in a movie, or on a certain television episode. The page says it is the place to "Shop the products seen on television, celebrities, movies." You can watch an episode ("shopisode" is what they call it) of current shows, and it will tell you what brand of clothing the celebrity is wearing, and where to buy that piece of clothing.

I'm using the word celebrity here instead of actor/actress, because some of the people that influence the trends are not actually in the television shows or movies, people such as Paris Hilton (Hilton Hotel heir). Here is a picture of Paris (from www.purseblog.com/images/paris-hilton-style.jpg). The image was obviously posted for the purse, but I'm pretty sure people were also interested in her sunglasses, dress, and probably her dog. Don't you want a dog like Paris Hilton? Of course you do. Don't you remember when her dog, Tinkerbell, was lost? Front page news, people!

Films and Advertising - Another way Hollywood influences people

Another way that Hollywood makes an influence on people is in the advertising that they do in films. The first company that would actually pay film producers to talk about or place their product in films was the DeBeers Diamond company. This was when films were still in black and white. They would request that the producers somehow fit diamonds into the script - possibly during an engagement scene.

Today advertising in movies is so ubiquitous that you probably don't even notice when it's happening. Corporate America uses movies to market, advertise and sell their product. Advertisers were looking for a new way to advertise, and they found it with films. Their are actually special companies called "placement agencies" that broker deals between advertisers and film producers. These placement agencies claim to have their fingers on "every script in Hollywood." (see youtube.com video below from Challenging Media). The following video says that the before the movie Dirty Harry, the 44 Magnum gun was not selling well. Then Dirty Harry said he used a 44 Magnum and sales of that gun skyrocketed. Companies took notice. The video also mentions the fact that Reeses Pieces' sales skyrocketed after E.T., and sales of Ray Ban sunglasses skyrocketed after Tom Cruise wore them in Risky Business. Companies pay film producers to advertise their product, and it saves the producers money.

Therefore, it's not just about the movies any more, it is about all the products that can be sold along with the movie. What does this do to creativity?

Take a look at the video.

Further Discussion of Hollywood's Influence

I found another interesting online article about Hollywood's influence on other countries. It is written by a Russian woman for Topics: An Online Magazine for Learners of English (http://www.topics-mag.com/globalization/movies-russia.htm). She states that the United States has a huge impact on her culture, and that Hollywood movies themselves have a huge impact. Her opinion is that it is a negative impact, because a lot of the movies imported from the US are movies that contain violence. She states, "In this situation, we see not just the spread of culture to another country, but also the spread of problems of that culture." Interesting.

So, we see that Hollywood movies could be influencing not only people's opinions, but also their behaviors. And this is happening in our country as well as other countries.

Taxi to the Dark Side

Taxi to the Dark Side won an Oscar for best Documentary Feature Film. This was a film about an Afghan taxi driver who was beaten to death in 2002 while in United States military custody. The film examines the abuses committed during the detainment and interrogation of political prisoners. The winner, Alex Gibney, dedicated the award to his father who was a navy interrogator and who urged his son "to make the film because of his fury about what was being done to the rule of the law."

This documentary was about the Iraq war, as was at least one other documentary. Just the making and releasing of these types of films influences public opinion. Many people probably haven't, nor will they ever, see these films. But the Academy Award program is seen by billions of people. I am pretty sure that these viewers realize (or assume) that the films are against America's involvement in the war. Therefore, does this influence their opinion on the war? Someone did a documentary which was unfavorable. Do they see the documentary and form an opinion? Or does just knowing that someone in Hollywood winning an award for this documentary, which could be be anti-war, influence people to be against the war?

Isn't it a good thing that people like documentary filmmakers are allowed to investigate government or big business? Doesn't it, at the least, get people to open their eyes to the possibility that other media arms aren't giving the full story?

Here is a trailer for Taxi to the Dark Side

source: www.taxitothedarkside.com/