Arts and Enter-tainment

Has the entertainment industry gotten a little lazy lately? Could that just be my own speculation? Well, if you look at it from a certain point of view, such as the summer hit Pineapple Express, where the movie is just a waste of money, then where exactly is the movie industry going?

For those who haven't seen Pineapple Express, it involves a man whose job is to serve his clients and smoke weed. Not an appropriate movie for some people, and an uncomfortable topic for others. The other character sells weed for a living. Together, these two go on an adventure to save themselves from two shady Asian killers. (That's honestly what they are!) And in the end, a building blows up and everybody dies except the pot smokers.

Believe it or not, this is the extent of the movie. The majority is filled with jokes about weed or someone getting their face thrown into a wall. This is the sad thing: This is where the movie industry is going. Movies are not focusing any longer on actual entertainment or cleverly written scripts with talented actors. Instead, we get two humor-obsessed actors striving to get that one last laugh.

This is not a new phenomenon either. This has been happening for quite a few years. If a movie is not a smash-hit in the first weekend, then its nothing. And this creates the problem with the way we as a society are living. Why is it that we idolize the actors who go out there and make fun of others for a living? Is that really something we want to be able to brag about?

When Superbad came out in 2007, it did amazing in the box office sales because it was a new type of movie, when in fact, it was just the start of a trend.

However, the actors are not always the problems. Sometimes, the director is the one making the bone-headed moves. The reason is simple: They messed up on a different film and instead of calling it quits, they have to try again. Steven Soderbergh had little luck with one film, so instead of learning from it and making changes, he creates another film that does not change his appearance to the public.

So where is the industry headed? Although 2008 had some record hits with movies such as Batman: The Dark Knight, the entire year was not as successful as they had originally predicted. If the industry relies on movies such as The Pineapple Express, then viewers are going to get tired fast.

According to Katie Hansen, she feels that the movie industry "is getting more artsy. Movies are going back to visualizations and clever stories, such as The Mysterious Case of Benjamin Button. Pixar is at its most sophisticated level yet, and Disney is going to go back to their original works. The industry as a whole is going to flourish, but the live action movies are going to get old."

Let's hope the movie industry does change, for the better, and movies are once again what they should be! Artwork as it is supposed to be; brilliant writing and actually storylines. The cheap pot-head movies are okay, but I would go for The Wizard of Oz anyday!

No shocker!

Does it really surprise anyone that the celebrities were out on January 20 for the inauguration of the 44th President. We all knew that Oprah had become a big follower of this national icon, but who else? On Tuesday night, J. Lo came out for the festivities. Not to say that it is wrong for a celebrity to support a presidential candidate. Some of them should be able to think clearly enough during an election to make a decision actually based on information rather than where their image would serve better purpose.

Basically, the question I am trying to answer is whether or not celebrities should openly announce a presidential candidate to support. For instance, in the beginning of the election, people became very aware that Oprah Winfrey supported Barack Obama. Now, is this an ethical problem, or just one that I cannot place a judgment on?

Here is the situation: Are the voters there to see Obama or Winfrey? Oprah obviously has her own stardom, and when added to Obama's stirring reputation, there is a conflict of interests. Honestly, I cannot figure out if some people supported Obama or supported Oprah.
Let's put it into perspective: If Oprah was not famous, would Obama have won? Yes, it sounds harsh, but isn't it true? There is no sure way to know, what may have happened.
For this semester, I have chosen to cover Arts/Culture as my beat (as I did in high school) and this felt like a perfect piece to start with. I have always wished that celebrities could not influence our society to make decisions just because they can pick up a script and make themselves be someone else. I can do that. So, if I said that Martin Kelly would make the perfect president, would people vote for him because I support him. I am actor, so people follow what I say.
Obama was well supported by the acting community. As was McCain, but I will not start dwelling on the republican/democrat issue. I want to focus on celebrities misusing their stardom. Don't take this as me saying that celebrities are misusing their fame by supporting a president, but do they have to do it during the election? I want to see a president elected purely on what he tells the nation.
In the long-run, celebrities have often been able to influence policy. A perfect example of this is when Angelina Jolie traveled to Iraq to visit with the troops and refugees. Would she if she were not famous? It is sad to think that celebrities may only do half the things they do for attention (Owen Wilson's attempted suicide; Britney Spears shaving her head).
Maybe I am just rambling on this, but it is something I am an advocate of, for both sides of the track. Isn't it ridiculous when celebrities have a crises but do not receive any privacy to mourn and recover.
Celebrities will always be around, whether we like them or not, but what they do with their power is not set in stone. I challenge you in four years to think for yourself. Don't let Oprah do it for you!
That's all for now! "See" you next week!

Start of a new year....

Here we go again. It seems that everytime a new year begins, everyone tries to change themself in one way or another. This year, I want to become more knowledgable on everything. The standard is high, but the task is not too hard to accomplish.
Now, at first glance, even I am thinking there is no way to accomplish this resolution. When I say everything, I am really referring to becoming a more well-rounded individual who can talk on a subject without having to make stuff up. It seems the more someone tries to convince themself they know something, the less they actually know.
For instance, the presidential campaign of 2008. I knew straight up that Barack Obama was my guy. I was newly 18 and very thrilled to vote for the first time. I felt like a true American.
However, one night, while discussing the campaign with my mom, she asked my why I liked Barack. It was hard to come up with an answer. I had never thought about it. I knew what the issues were, and I knew what side I was taking on them, but I had never stopped to figure out what position Obama was on the same issues.
Society has taken a position where, as my Communications instructor Robert Walsh would put it, "we look down on people who are intelligent. Since when is it a bad thing to be smart. I find that ridiculous!" This is true! As people, we are all guilty of trying to act smart, but in reality, we are no smarter than the kindergarten students sitting in our classrooms.
I worked at a daycare and on November 4, after I had finished voting, I had to go to work. I had a van full of kids who were all telling me how excited they were to vote for the first time too. I asked them who they voted for, and all but three kids cheered out McCain. John McCain had won the election at Jefferson Elementary School. That is when the kids began to tell me about the issues and how McCain was going to fix our country.
I was shocked! At this moment, I made the deal with myself that I would become more informed. Since then, I have been consistently visiting sites such as CNN and New Yorks Times to keep up on the information circulating around us. Even trips to the Internet Movie Database can help; it may be entertainment news, but it's news.
Okay, well I guess I will finish it up now. I was thinking a blog would be so hard to write, but this was relatively easy. I am really looking forward to the semester with my class, and hope to learn alot about all of you!

Until next time....