space...

it's so cold, -25*c

i watched 'the day after tomorrow' a while ago, didnt see the whole film tho, just the first 30 mins of the file.

it's not my kind of movie, i don't like hollywood films coz it's so easy to read.

anyway! i saw quite a bit of interesting hidden messages in this film.

first of all, this movie is catagorized as a 'melodrama genre'

the characteristic of 'melodrama' is 'good' versus 'evil' and good guy always win. good always conquer bad...ultimately! altho in reality things don't always work that way.

denis quaid enters his house, and we see heater right behide him. it's not only bcoz that's the way a house is constructed but the film is saying that we are surrounded by our invention that consume natural resource and destroy our planet.

that's just one example...there are a lot more to say or to interpret in this film...

anyway! what strikes me the most in the first 30 mins is a couple that are having sex got sucked up by the tornado while a hispanic cleaning guy who is standing just behind the door is safed.

the question that was raised is 'since when that hollywood films start saying that having sex is wrong?'

when looking back, we'll see patterns that there were times that films exposed all the chaos and disregarded religions, when there were too much of those, religion or beliefs were reissued onto the screen again. it's been going on like this.

this is the way media controls and manipulate its audience.

teh next question is, why hollywood films are very successful, despite the promotion, actor-actress and big production budget they have?

one quick answer here is that, most of them are melodrama films.

in melodrama, there's a gimmic that's used to create sublime. it's called 'catharsis'. it makes audience feel more satisfied when teh bad guy get punished or the good guy wins.

as the world goes round and round, we finally realized that in reality good guys not always win and bad guys are not always punushed. then, how do we maintain the society and our own behaviour in 'good' ways? how do we find a promise to our selves, based on what we have been taught for our entire lives, that do good deeds and it'll turn back to you and whoever that's bad to you, they will be punished?

that's right! hollywood films offer us this emotional release that we can access to it thru the screen.

you think about the rest, i've said enough (or too much) for today.

atomica

This is interesting, Jane, especially the part about resurgence of religious values in Hollywood films. Some of that is clearly going on, but I don't think it's universal (or maybe paramount, j/k) yet, and hope it won't become so. Although, I do think that in some respects the pendulum has swung too far towards permissiveness.

I think there are some points, though, that you should consider. First, I'm not sure you should label catharsis a gimmick. Most artists want their audience to achieve a catharsis - which is simply an emotional release, not always identifying with the triumph of good over evil. If a viewer or reader cries when a character dies, that's also a catharsis. If they scream in fright because Freddy slashes another victim, tha's also a catharsis. If the audience achieves a catharsis, then the artist has connected with them, which may be his ultimate goal, and so he has succeeded on some level. Gimmicks can be used to induce a catharsis, but a catharsis isn't necessarily a gimmick.

Also, not evey melodrama will have good triump over evil. Most will, but some of the best leave things more ambiguous. Take the movie Chinatown, for example. Have you ever seen it? It stars Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. The director shot two endings, one where good triumphs over evil, and one where evil comes out on top. After much debate, he chose the one where evil triumphs, but it could also be argued that in that happening a greater good was achieved, although not everyone would agree. The movie is regarded as an all-time classic. Had the director chosen a simple good over evil ending, it would barely be remembered. I highly recommend that film if you can get a chance to see it.

I guess most Hollywood films have good triumph over evil because that's the ideal in our Western system of cultural beliefs. Even though we know it's not always true, or true even most of the time, it's what we want to be true. So art and film are used to reinforce that cultural ideal. Most often it's the choice of the artist to do so. Sometimes, it's the choice of the money men who produce films because they are thinking first about what they believe will sell, rather than making great art, and reinforcing cultural ideals is less risky (financially) than challenging them. In the worst cases it comes about because interest groups or government has pressured or threatened the artists, producers or distributors.

Fortunately, we still have some artists and film makers who do challenge them.

a tool that helps creating a stronger emotional release, maybe?

when considering the pattern above. it is like the re-itinerary of the enlightenment...belief-reason-belief-reason-belief-reason...

DAMN IT!!! Please Jane, stop making me think. Can't you see I am most content when I've been able to deceive myself into believing that my ignorance truly is bliss.

Art is a reflection of life presented through the looking glass of the creator (artist) and interpreted through the perceptions of the receiver (viewer, listener, etc.).

Religion (and to some degree science) is a man made institution to provide explanations for that which we can not understand or comprehend...and to provide a system of controls which attempts to allow human animals to coexists and interact within societies. "Moral" and "immoral" are subjective measurements by which we can interpret and influence societal behavior. The promise of eternal peace (heavan) is the reward for "moral" behavior as is the threat of eternal pain (hell) for "immoral" behavior. But who determines what is "moral" and what is "immoral"?

"Oh look at that poor, wretched bum, he must have been really bad in a previous life."

Well I hate this Hollywood movies that some is so predictable and make the same, same stories again and again. Yesterday I saw a nonsens american movie again Ocean's Twelve . Ocean's Twelve is an actioncomedy movie with a bad master thief theme. I just get bored after 4 minutes and Ocean's Twelve had the following movie stars! George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Andy Garcia, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Carl Reiner, Bernie Mac, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Elliott Gould and even Bruce Willis. Wow.

How can they participate in that s**t! sorry...but this movie didnt give you anything for your brain to think about no message at all - maybe that the smartest guy win. So how can they be so successful? They( Holywood, US) have the power to commercilize their productions lol