Prescription: Hollywood

 I've had a "Aha" moment.   Simply by looking around my own world.

Many of you know that these blog pages have included some lamentations about how depressing Hollywood movies have begun.   Dark.  Foreboding.  Sad.  I wonder what has been happening in their lives to make them this way.   And, no, you can't blame it all on Trump.

For some possible answers, I didn't have to go farther than a good friend's 17-year-old daughter.   Even at this tender age, she wants to be a film maker and, from what I have seen, she will be a damn good one.   Indeed, she has to make some short movies to get submitted and accepted by the finest film schools.  

She showed me one she just made for a college.   It was cute and whimsical and slightly comedic.   Even if I didn't know her personally, this was a smile on my face at the end.

For funsies, she showed me a You Tube Channel which houses the work of recently accepted film students for the same college.   Their shorts are uploaded for all to see.  I watched four or five of them.   Save for one which had the same kind of whimsey my friend showcased, they were all well made.  But sad.  Depressing.  Broken marriages of parents.  Delivering flowers to Mom's grade.   You name the psychosis.   It was there.

Is the world that depressing for our youth?   And who is contributing to this trend?   Parents who hate Trump?   Or is it another source?

I connect the dots back to my friend and her high school film teacher.  Last summer, he assigned a viewing list of essential movies for his students to watch over the summer.   She showed me the list which I surveyed.

Depressing.

Depressing.

Dark.

Morose.

Sad.

Of the ten movies, I only recommended one...the delightful 1963 film "Charade."

She also showed me a short film he made them watch in class.   It was allegedly an award winner at Cannes and hailed from the country of Germany.

Oh, it was well made.  But dark and sad and depressing.   A divorced dad picking up his 10-year-old daughter for a play date, although his ultimate plan was to run away with the kid all the way to Manila.  

I thought about the kids in this class.   How many of them have been involved in parental and marital struggles?  No wonder some of those images get transferred to the screen.

While not the entire reason, there is a culpability on the part of academia.  Or as I call them "Macademia" because they're all nuts.

I queried my friend about some background on her teacher.   Yes, he went through a recent divorce.  And apparently implicated his own class into the drama.

Mike drop.

Dinner last night:  Leftover pork.