Yeah, I can believe all that. I’m not arguing in favor of a binary where one era is pure evil and another is pure virtue. All I’m saying is that we shouldn’t romanticize the past as perfect and sweep all the ugliness under the rug. And I notice EdWest in particular, with all due respect, has a tendency to talk about the past as though it was the platonic ideal of the perfect society.
This seems a balanced view.
“platonic ideal of the perfect society” You have quite a way with superlatives.
Do you think that any “identified groups” had legitimate gripes? Do you think that some groups had a right to demand societal change?
I think its best to say that the entertainment industry, the media and society in general probably had more respect for Christian moral values and ideals. But there has never really been a Christian utopia.
Utopia? Who used that word? I didn’t. My point is this: movies have turned more and more perverse over the years. There is more advocacy for immoral lifestyles by depicting them on screen as normal or average. And the over the top violence? Like I want those images in my head? And issue advocacy. Forget about your Church or mom and dad, we, meaning the movie industry, are going to show you the way we want people to live because we want you to accept it just like we do. To love it. Or, at best, ignore it, but don’t you dare think a negative thought about what we think is THE way to live. Much less write about it in a negative way.
You’ve been very reticent to acknowledge that the society of yesteryear was in any way flawed. I’ll ask you directly again: do you think the way racial and ethnic minorities were treated then under the law was just? Do you think their demands for change were legitimate?
Uh, today’s society is not flawed? The question is: “What is wrong with movies these days?” Not social and political problems of the 1950s because we’ve got even more today.
Uh, never said today’s society was not flawed. There’s no need for such a clumsy dodge. You’ve said multiple times that society back then was pretty close to perfect. Can you acknowledge it was deeply flawed as it relates the rights of racial minorities? This is a pretty easy, straightforward question.
Ed, we know today’s society is ripe with dysfunctional families. Many sit at the table together with iPhones not acknowledging much beyond the LIKES they harness on Social Media. It’s an artificial gathering.
What do you think has lead to that? Is Media to blame.
No. Media is a prop.
I suppose what lead to that was “the fall.”
Though I do hope we can improve on the family structure in what we have today before the actual end.
Most definitely, beginning in the late 1960s. Gradually dripping poison into people’s veins every year after. I watched, year by year, as the dosage was slowly increased until about 1985 when the ratio between good to bad passed the more than 50% bad mark. The media has been getting more and more corrupted.
You are saying that there has basically been a systematic corruption of people by the media, but what would you say to those who argue that it wouldn’t sell if they didn’t like it? In which case they would say its not really the medias fault since they are simply speaking to what is already in the nature of human beings. People who once shared your values.
Though in reality the corruption was the scandals that made the media becoming compulsively focused on what was hidden (as was in past years). Especially at the highest positions (i.e. Watergate, Gods banker, Scandals, etc) The media amplified what was wrong. It then became obsessed with finding wrongdoing everywhere - since trust was lost at the highest posts. Then manufactured scandals.
Lol That part was like cheese left out in the sun for 6 months.