Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Inevitable Changes?

I just read The Transformation: A Guide to the Inevitable Changes in Humankind by George B. Leonard*.
Mass culture craves a return to life and freedom. 

Witness the popularity of two shows:

1. t.v. - Kung-Fu, about a man who is brought up in a Buddhist monastery in China; people were fascinated by this Kung-fu master's ONENESS with everything; a man of peace confronted by others whose only thoughts were violent and death-filled. 

2. movie - Rambo - a man comes home from the Vietnam war; a commando able to exist in any physical surrounding. He is hounded by violent, death-filled people - all he wanted was to be left alone. 

In both cases these were very popular programs. 

Because of this, their violence was exploited. 

The powers in the industry did not really understand their appeal. 

*Published 1972 by Delacorte Press

Looking back, it is my naivety that jumps out from the page. Now it is quite obvious that the media understood only too well the appeal of these and other programs of the time. The slow turning of the public appeal to movies and television that feature and glorify violence is only too obvious now. The heroic aspects are minimal; sometimes only hinted at in the current media. 

No comments:

Post a Comment