What in the world has happened to Hollywood?

 

 

"Hollywood at one time was the true 'dream factory'..."

 

One of the conversations that happen over and over again in our household is "Why is there nothing good on television anymore?" In the 9/11 report, which was issued after the terror attacks, the most damning finding was the attack happened due to "a failure of imagination" by our intelligence resources. That phrase could also be used to describe Hollywood these days. Many shows are garbage - just plain garbage. Others are trite and shallow. Once in a while, a movie or television show will break the mold and end up being a worthwhile excuse to spend our valuable time and money on.

 

When I was a young lad living with my parents, we would often go out to see a movie on the weekend. It was a big deal. We would get somewhat dressed up and go downtown to one of the many fine movie theaters. There were not many special effects in those days, but there was acting - yes, there was very good acting. There was no profanity, no off colored jokes, no nudity, no sex and no graphic violence. In short, the movies boiled down to a very good story line brought to life by excellent acting. And that is why movies back then were so good.

 

Television is the same story. Most my age can remember every Sunday nights at 8:00 gathering as a family in front of the television. We could not wait to find out what adventures were going on at the Ponderosa. Yes, for millions of fans, Sunday night watching Bonanza was a family tradition. It was great television, pure and simple.

 

I could go on and point out other great television shows from the 50's and 60's, but I think you get the point. My parents never had to usher me up to my bedroom because what was on the tube was "inappropriate". Most of the movies we saw, we saw as a family as my parents did not have to worry about content. Probably the raciest movie we went to see was Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. By today's standards, if might pull a "PG" rating. It was then, and remains today, an excellent family movie.

One of the "summer blockbusters" this year was going to be White House Down. It has to do with a terror attack on Washington and the White House being taken over. All star cast, special effects, and so on. It opened fourth this weekend. The obits for this film are already being written. My wife said people don't want to see stuff like this movie as it is too close to reality. I agree. People like to go to movies to escape - put their minds in a lower gear or neutral for a while.

So here it is on Monday. During the regular season, the only show we liked on Monday nights was the remake of Hawaii 5.0. In the paper this morning, we found out the show was being moved from Monday to Friday as "some of the demographics were soft on Monday." What? So now after suffering through the wasteland of Sunday, we also get to suffer through the wasteland of Monday. Thank goodness for NCIS on Tuesday!

As Hollywood continues to look for its mo-jo, the rest of us continue to languish in evening boredom. It is not so bad in the summer time, as there is much to do. However, when the days get shorter and the wind turns colder, we look for the solace provided by our CRT or flat screen. Until things get back to normal, all we can do is ask that one simple question: What in the world has happened to Hollywood?