[NEohioPAL] People of the Book

[Ensemble Theatre]

James, thank you for your soapbox. 
 
There will be no boycotting of Hollywood, except to NOT attend the pulp
that is being spewed out daily from La La Land. There has always been a 
crisis in critical thinking since the "People of the Book" are now evolving into 
"People of the Image." - but now on a world wide scale unprecedented in 
human history.
 
Don't forget one small detail - literature, that is , Shakespeare,
Dante, G.B. Shaw, James Joyce,Schiller, Spinoza, Pascal - 
these writers are known throughout the world but they are only
READ by . .maybe. .one percent (if that) of the population. Human nature
is instantly attracted to images - it is instinctive, not acquired as in 
CULTURAL. . ..built up, studied, pored over, discussed, and then read again. 
 
High culture has always been in the smallest minority and that will become 
more evident as the advance of technology inundates the world with
image-making devices. It is a small consolation that the Kindle, a techno
advance that may finally save all the world's trees, is still out of reach 
for even the middle class-let alone the poorest, but holds great promise if, 
like a computer for every child,the Kindle will bring true literacy to the poorest and smallest. 
 
All of those rotten cliches come pouring out - 'garbage in, garbage out'
"As the twig is bent, so grows the tree." trash words make trash minds"
Just make sure that the libraries of the world keep the respect and admiration
as repositories of all that is good, and bad, about us.    

Martin Cosentino

--- On Wed, 1/13/10, James Kosmatka <jkosmatka at gmail.com> wrote:


From: James Kosmatka <jkosmatka at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NEohioPAL] time to boycott Hollywood
To: neohiopal at listserve.com
Date: Wednesday, January 13, 2010, 11:05 AM








Whereas the Golden Age of cinema was rife with thoroughly original stories, like Cleopatra, Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and Double Indemnity, right?
 
I really have to wonder: who cares?  If you don’t like it, don’t go see it. But the fact of the matter is, lots and lots of great films are remakes or updates or adaptations. Scarface with Al Pacino is a remake. Take a look at the highest grossing films (adjusted for inflation) in North America. Top ten: Gone with the Wind (novel), Sound of Music (musical), Ten Comandments (book), Titanic (historical event), Jaws (novel), Doctor Zhivago (novel), Exorcist (novel), and Snow White (folk tale).  That’s eight of the top 10 (the other two are ET and Star Wars, and you’d be hard pressed to find an element in Star Wars that George Lucas doesn’t acknowledge adapting from Kurosawa or Shakespeare or the moon Mimas.) Hell, Romeo and Juliet was an adaptation and that was 400 years ago.  The quality of films coming out of Hollywood may be declining, I can hardly blame the executives. There was clearly a time when literate scripts and character development
 drew audiences (The Graduate, Gone with the Wind, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), but people obviously do not, by and large, have a problem with one-dimensional escapist pablum. If anything, this points to a drastic shift in the way we perceive the world. Critical thinking skills, an appreciation of the way we speak and write, the ability to focus for long periods of time, these things have all been sacrificed. I say we boycott parents who don’t read to their children, who use the TV and video games as babysitters, who don’t take an active interest in their children’s learning.  It’s the same reason someone like Sarah Palin can be considered an authority on anything, or why people can be bullied and blindsided into making economic decisions counter to their own best interests.  We’re given the culture (and economy and government) we as a society deserve. 
  
/soapbox 
  
James 
  


From: neohiopal-bounces at listserve.com [mailto:neohiopal-bounces at listserve.com] On Behalf Of Brian Del Bianco
Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 8:12 AM
To: NeOhio List
Subject: [NEohioPAL] time to boycott Hollywood
  
I've been long aware of the rapidly declining lack of imagination in Hollywood (turning Bewitched into a movie?!?) but THIS....
  

Broderick approves 'Bueller' remake

Jan. 12, 2010, 4:53 PM EST
Matthew Broderick has given Hollywood bosses the green light to remake his classic movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," but doesn't want any involvement in it. 
Rumors have swirled for months suggesting studio chiefs are nursing plans to bring the cult 1980s comedy back to the big screen in either a sequel or a remake. 
Broderick has now commented on the reports, insisting he would be "happy" with plans to bring back rebellious teen Ferris, as long as the project is handed to a completely new cast. 
He tells Cinematical, "(A remake) would be fine. I would be perfectly happy for somebody to do that. I probably wouldn't enjoy (having a role in the film). I would rather leave what we did as our thing." 
 
 
 
What is next??  Perhaps a Star Wars remake?  Maybe "The Muppet Movie" with an all human cast??  I overheard talk at work about somebody seeing a trailer for an A-Team movie-when will the madness end?
 
 
-Brian

  

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