[durasell]

Rockwell's wife was loony as hell and spent a good portion of their marriage in and out of institutions and under the care of various therapists. In later years he turned bitter and that fact is reflected in his paintings. The painting entitled "The Problem We All Live With" is dark in the extreme.

Norman Rockwell had neither a "Norman Rockwell Family" nor a particularly Norman Rockwell outlook on life.

[durasell]

That would have been his second wife. He divorced the first. The second loony one died. And he ended up reasonably happy with a third.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Nobody likes Norman Rockwell for his personal story. Norman Rockwell captured America as many Americans knew it and, bigger still, he emphasized larger truths about God, man and family. In spite of whatever problems he may have suffered, his work is timeless and will endure. In many ways, that is one of the quintessential traits of generations past.

Spielberg, OTOH, is just another tedious boomer bringing his distorted views of God, humanity and family dysfunction to the screen. He doesn't lift anyone up through genuine morality or restate cultural truths that have guided Western civilization. No, other than wringing emotion wrought by screen stealing children or the physical relief at the end of hair raising escapades, he really doesn't have anything to say at all. In fact, if you discount the fantastic effects and the rehashing of stolen plots and proven genre, I don't know that much would be left of his work other than some Rod McKuen poetry.

Sure, the comment has already been posted that artists merely reflect their times, but that is just a tad too trite to be meaningful. We all know that 'artists' try like hell to influence people (hence the symbolism and commentary), but if they get caught in the wringer they weep like old women protesting their innocence. The truth is that in the wake of the tidal wave of social and familial disintegration (which is the true boomer legacy), the only religion, values, culture or bonding many dysfunctional people receive is through shared consumption of popular mediums. At the forefront are the best of the Pied Pipers. Spielberg is merely the reigning head clown in a circus of the bizarre.