The Importance of Film & Television

Some people may think that having a blog about watching movies on T.V. is a colossal waste of time, in fact, people I know personally think watching T.V. at all is a mindless, frivolous way to piss away one's life. To them, television has no value or redeeming qualities whatsoever (amazingly enough, lots of people who think this way have children who watch at least five hours of T.V. per day...ironic, don't you think?)

It is my personal opinion that sending and receiving flowers is probably one of the worst ways anyone can spend money. I'm not talking about growing flowers in your backyard, just the buying of cut flowers as the means to a gift. But that's just me. A vast majority of our country find it so gratifying that it's a multi-million dollar industry. Because of that particular definition, it cannot be wrong; if it brings happiness, jobs and prosperity to people, it absolutely has value...just like movies & television.

Think about it, television has the capacity to educate, to motivate & to raise awareness. Speaking personally, I learned how to read from a little green Muppet named Kermit when I was about 3 or 4. And think about the awareness that was raised by FarmAid, LiveAid and Comic Relief, just to name a few. In my opinion, it's not the amount of T.V. one watches that "rots your brain"...it's the quality (or lack thereof) of programming we digest. I personally watch pretty much only movies, documentaries and educational programming...I admit, I have a few guilty pleasures, like cartoons and one reality show...but since T.V. is also meant to entertain, I'll buy the ticket & take the ride.

Movies, in my humble opinion, are a valuable, accurate audio/visual account of our history...a sort of living encyclopedia, if you will. Without movies as an historical vehicle, we wouldn't still be talking about Dracula a couple thousand years after his death. Film immortalizes our heroes & villains for us & allows us to root for or against them at will.

Film also allows us a glimpse into the vernacular climate of the period in which the film was made. I'll give an example: I recently watched The Fly (1958) with Vincent Price. Now, 1958 was a pretty amazing time, technologically speaking, as voiced by Patricia Owens' character, Helene: "first television & satellites out in space...supersonic speed and now this (speaking about her husband's molecular transporter), I just don't know if I'm ready for it all to happen." Very much the climate of the times. Fast forward to the tumultuous late '60s; Night of the Living Dead, by George Romero's admission, was a highly political film with a bunch of zombies in it (it had a black hero at a time in our history when black people were demonized)...Romero was trying to prove that no matter what the color of our skin, an individual can rise above all the rest, even in the fight against zombies. Even cartoon movies aren't safe from social commentary...ever seen Wall-E? Talk about a strong message hidden in a super-cute animated feature.

If not for movies and television, I may not be inspired to read in the manner that I do. After watching The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio, I read everything about Howard Hughes I could get my hands on; after watching a documentary entitled How Bruce Lee Changed the World, I read the Tao of Jeet Kune Do, which changed my life; thanks to what I learned from Cesar Milan's show The Dog Whisperer, my dog is amazing.

My point is this: regardless of opinion, movies and television not only entertain, they're a modern art form that's more powerful than any that preceded. The Mona Lisa is an amazing painting, and the skill that went into it is apparent, but the computer generated animation in Beowulf with Ray Winstone & Anthony Hopkins is mind-boggling, and it brought a classic literary tale to life for a new generation; Morgan Sperlock's documentary Supersize Me brought awareness of the dangers of over consumption to a shocking new light...whereas, while beautiful, the Mona Lisa simply hangs on a wall in Paris, viewed by those fortunate to either live there or visit...roses sent to a loved one wither and die with time.

I'm not trying to convert anyone here. I'm also not trying to get you to let your kids watch T.V. instead of going out to play. All I'm saying is this: the next time your friend talks to you about the cool show or movie he just saw on television, indulge him or her instead of being condescending or dismissive. In fact, try to remember the last time you brought up something you were passionate about...remember, you have to give respect to get it.