Disappointing State
of Movies
When it comes to the overall selection of movies being
created and marketed to the general public over the past few years, I have been
disappointed. Many of the past family/ kid movies include blah options such as Minions,
Dreamworks pictures (of late), and Dr. Seuss based movies that are all just color,
noise, and annoying humor. Comedies have become so focused on what is called
“adult” humor (which in reality is immature humor) that you’d think the only
things people find funny are sexual awkwardness, physical pain, and alcohol/ drug-related
situations. Christian movies, meaning the genre that stars and focuses on
Christianity in a positive way, have become so safe and stale that even
positive Christian movies are not top quality pieces of art.
For every good
movie in the general market, there seems to be ten more in the theatres ready
to waste my time, energy, and money. I assume the movie industry has not always been this way. I
personally cannot speak to the quality of movies since the beginning of film.
The only way I can evaluate movies of the past is based on what has remained
within public knowledge as well as looking at the lists of best movies of all
time. I am no film connoisseur, I just enjoy watching movies. I enjoy watching
good movies. What I don’t enjoy is having to search and dig around online in
order to find good movies while a plethora of bad movies are easily accessible.
Definitions: Bad vs.
Value
What do I think constitutes a bad movie? A bad movie is one
that is lacking true quality, morals, or art. When I say quality, I mean in
terms of acting, dialogue, editing, anything that involves the presentation.
Morals, obviously, means whether the movie is age appropriate for the content
or is lacking something due to immaturity, pushing-the-envelope-content, and
indecency towards the general person. Art meaning how those first two values,
quality and morals, combine into the total package of theme, purpose, and
aesthetic. So, a bad movie means the presentation is bad, the content is not
decent, and the artistry is lacking.
Is it not in the best interest of everyone in our community
to stop supporting bad movies? Why waste our time on something that dulls the
senses? Why waste brain power and money on a ‘movie’ that insults our
intelligence, insults our general code of ethics, and claims to be worth the
money people pay to sit in the cinema? Major studios will only fund movies that they
think will earn money, meaning what they think people will go see. If we
stopped seeing bad movies, maybe there would be an increase in good movies.
What is a good movie? Well, generally speaking, it is
opposite of a bad movie. A good movie is one that is not only made with
quality, but also contains either moral value or artistic value or both.
Artistic value can be judged based on the following
question: Does it look good aesthetically, whether it is an animated movie or because
of the direction and cinematography? Does the theme say something honest or
truthful about the human condition? Does it have a good reason for existing?
Moral value can be evaluated based on these levels: Can
this/ should this be seen by families? Is there a sensible reason for it to be
made for adults or teens only? If religious, does it present spiritual truths
well? Does the movie uphold natural understanding of what is good, true, and
beautiful in the world? If there is a focus on a negative subject, does the
positive good overcome in the end?
Past Models
One of the main inspirations for my categories and
definitions of moral/ artistic value is the Vatican Film List. The Vatican Film
List was assembled in 1995 and lists 45 films, organized by the categories of
Religion, Values, and Art. This is not a ‘best of’ or ‘favorite’ movies list,
but rather is just an assembly of movies that have been made during the first
100 years of film from around the world that fit a particular category. The
list includes some well-known or award winning movies in America, including The Wizard of Oz, It’s a Wonderful Life,
2001: A Space Odyssey, Gandhi, Ben-Hur, Chariots of Fire, Schnidler’s List, On
the Waterfront, Fantasia, and Stagecoach.
Each of these movies exemplifies the definitions of a good movie that I listed
above. All are made with top quality, many successful experimented with new
artistry, and many uphold positive moral messages.
Steven D. Greydanus, a Catholic film critic who wrote a
piece on the Vatican Film List, also recently wrote an article discussing how
priests and the Church have been presented in movies over the years. In the
past, starting from the 30s and especially during the 40s and 50s, movies
involving priest and the Church were positive pictures. Some, like Going My Way with Bing Crosby or The Song of Bernadette with Jennifer
Jones, were nominated for Oscars because of the quality filmmaking, positive
morality, and excellent acting, among other reasons. The article slightly goes
into the fact that around the turn between the 50s and 60s, religious life was
beginning to take a turn towards negative critiques. Today, most examples of
priests and religious in movies released to the general public involve goofy
characters, criticism of religious life or the Church, and shining a more
positive light on secular life. Can you automatically off the top of your head
think of a movie widely released these past few years starring a good priest
character that wasn’t an exorcism movie?
The Impact
One of the big reasons why I think there needs to be an
increase in good movies is because we have to become more conscious of how
movies impact us personally, on a social, mental, emotional, and spiritual
level. I think desensitization can truly happen if people view certain content
long enough. If all someone watches are immature comedies with foul language
and sexual innuendos, I can safely bet that the viewer will start using foul
language more often and use sexual innuendos as jokes more often. If someone
watches nothing but violent action movies and gory horror movies, how calm and
personable do you think that person is going to stay? If someone only watches
indie films and rare arthouse masterpieces, doesn’t it make sense that they
will turn into a snobby, arrogant, opinionated weirdo?
My point is that what we watch does have an effect on us.
Just like with food, the more we ingest bad movies, the more we absorb bad
qualities. I have written before about how the media we consume influences our
lives. If we avoided bad movies and gravitated towards good movies, movie
studios would start paying attention to the market and begin funding more
movies with moral and artistic value and release them to the general public.
Good movies may be hard to find, but they’re out there. Let’s make more!
Links to articles mentioned in this post:
P.S.-You may notice that the title says Part 1. There is a
Part 2 that I am working on releasing soon. You may be wondering what else do I
have to say on the subject? Well, Part 2 will be more focused on breaking down
elements involved in various good movies as well as provide concrete examples
of what I think are good movies that have been released to the general public
in recent years.
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