MY FAVORITE movie by a landslide is "It's A Wonderful Life." Maybe it's because our family only watches it during the Christmas season, and it will always remind me of the holidays. Or maybe it's because the timeless story always touches a nerve in me, and will always usher in a smile.
I like to think the real reason is that "It's A Wonderful Life" reminds me of how a movie is really supposed to be made. It reminds me of an American lifestyle that I envy tremendously.
I envy it because if the movies today are any judge of our society, we've really taken a large step backwards. Many of today's films are blood-splattered flicks like "Gladiator" and "Fight Club." They're films that have completely ignored recent government recommendations to limit violence because of the effects it can have on the children who view them. These films affect adults as well.
When I'm home in Northern Virginia, my radio dial is permanently stuck on the oldies station. Musicians like Eminem and Metallica don't make me want to surf around, or even change the channel. I'm afraid of the new trash many "modern" stations may be playing.
Violence is like a narcotic. Once a person has tasted a little, they've become immune to anything less. To produce a new response, filmmakers and musicians need to up the dosage; they need to take it to a new level of absurdity to get that same level of satisfaction. It's a vicious cycle that will not end unless a conscious effort is made by society to encourage change.
The extreme levels of violence that are now ingrained in movies and music lyrics are detrimental to our society. They're detrimental to children who grow up learning them. Scenes like one from "The Cell," in which the killer protagonist fishes out the heart, a kidney and the bloody organs of a dead girl floating with her eyes open in the bathtub are more than disturbing. They've crossed a line between what's artistic and what is immoral.
It's not right to create such images and present them, even to adults. These images desensitize an individual. That kind of violence has no place anywhere in society.
Such images are created and encouraged because they are what company executives are looking for: something disturbing. "Psycho" was a disturbing film, but it didn't even compare to the gruesome images of "The Cell." What does it say about our society when we accept such images, and when we encourage them?
At the University of Illinois, a group of graduate and undergraduate students were seeking to prevent the "Anger Management Tour" from taking stage last Thursday. They've argued that the concert - whose artists include controversial rapper Eminem, and rock bands Limp Bizkit and Papa Roach - is a form of harassment. They believe that the University of Illinois is "profiting from hate masqueraded as entertainment." These students couldn't be more correct.
The lyrics of Eminem and Limp Bizkit encourage violence. They glorify it. We live in a civilized society where everyone has the freedom to say what they may and no one can tell these artists what they can and cannot voice. But their violent ravings should not be encouraged. They must not be supported.
Violence was a part of society during the days of "It's A Wonderful Life." And it's a part of society today. No one would argue that the steady increase in violence over the past generation is a good thing, but people don't really grasp the seriousness of the situation.
People need to care.
One of the things that make movies so enjoyable is that when viewers watch them, they're easily taken inside the film. What the public sees on the screen is created to appear real, and it's easy to believe that it is. When a man brags about killing his girlfriend, it's easy to forget that it's just a fictional story; it's easy to think it's real.
Every time a person experiences something like the violence Hollywood creates these days, a bit of their humanity is lost. A bit of what makes a person caring and compassionate is lost when he begins simply to watch body parts being cut up, or people being killed, and not feel the same shock he felt the first time.
This isn't right, and it shouldn't continue. The public needs to resist the urge to support the violent images the entertainment culture promotes. Violence never made a movie. It never made a song. It's the beat they're set to; it's the creative nature of the camera that produces something memorable. Eminem could be talking about walking his dog, and people would still be dancing to the beat of the song. The writer of a film could use a conversation or off-camera action to incorporate violent aspects that he feels are intrinsic to a story line.
The University Cinemathaque shouldn't show films that glorify meaningless violence. If they do, students shouldn't go. Students shouldn't support violent bands that the University Programs Council may present. They shouldn't go to Traxx or any other venue if a violent artist is performing. Violence desensitizes, and by not exposing yourself to it, you can remain a compassionate person.
(Luke Ryan is a Cavalier Daily viewpoint writer.)
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