Slapping Hollywood
On a show I did not watch, I hear that one Hollywood star smacked another Hollywood star in the face. It quickly became the slap heard ‘round the world. I am not shocked. I am not outraged. I am actually on the side of anyone who would smack Hollywood a few more times. For years their smut and ugliness has poured forth like hot lava down a volcano. Then, they dress up and give themselves big awards. An awakening of some kind is definitely in order.
I read everything and anything. It’s a bad habit of writers. We are also readers and, in desperation, will read whatever is available. My coffee cup beside me says, “Do not microwave.” I warmed it up in the microwave a minute ago, so we readers are stubborn in making our own decisions, but we see what is said.
One of the things I read is lists from places like Huffington Post and Buzz Feed, usually parents talking about their children. It is appalling how many people haven’t any word to describe life but the “F” word. It is even more appalling that they are teaching their littlest babies that life comes down to that word and little else. It is old; it is worn; and it shows a definite lack of intelligent discourse. Unfortunately, we are back to the entertainment world for giving us our idea of how-to-be-amusing. Say the “F” word, yell it, use it in front of children, sing it, rap it, whisper it, write it, and then pretend it was funny, apt, or useful. (It’s not.) Did you know that many of the singers our children listen to do not let their children hear and see their work? Polluting your home is fine and dandy but over at their house the nanny has been instructed to control what their darlings see and hear. When your four year old uses the f-word, someone should slap you into next week where you find something to teach children that will help them along their way. The f-word sets them up to fail. Teachers will not find it amusing and employers want employees who can carry on polite, or at least reasonable, conversations.
I have a streaming service. I had other streaming services to go with it, but we cancelled them. Hollywood is not inventive, interested in families, or capable of writing pithy dialogue. They would be if someone would slap them, but after seeing Will slap Chris, it is the one and only thing I have seen them object to in years. These are truly talented people with the ability to awe us. But caught up in thinking dirty language, chase scenes, and violence are drama they let themselves down over and over. I really believe they use more gun powder and explosives in Hollywood than we used to win World War II. Shakespeare packaged his violence with dialogue and art; Hollywood just swears a little and blows something up.
They have led us into a world where nastiness is king and one all-purpose dirty word is our go-to. That word was actually used with the slap. Not one thing I have read or heard objected to that.
Like flipping a bottle of water into a standing position, the Hollywood that might have been worth watching once or twice is now it is old and trite. We need an epiphany of getting back to artistic, watchable, listenable entertainment that can be enjoyed by several age groups at once. But I haven’t a clue how you would get them to see that, even if you were to walk on stage and give them a good, hard metaphoric slap.