Well done, driftless. Agree completely.
He is saying that we need to drop any moral values we have, be like them, and get edgy.
The problem with the article is he writes in the context of this time, where we have five, Oscar nominated, little seen movies, all "cutting edge", that are really attacks on conservative values. If you go back to the golden age of Hollywood, when the Code was in effect, the movies were great in spite of the Code. Plus, people watched them.
Even after the Coded disappeared, there was still constraint on the part of Hollywood as shown by self-imposed ratings. Today, even they are a joke.
Movies can have a message and that message can be troubling and thoughtful. But that message has to be meaningful and more universal than the liberal propaganda being foisted on us.
You've noticed that too. It is very ironic that with all the so-called artistic freedom todays "artists" have, most of what is put out is garbage. If you are as old as me (fifties), you might remember years ago when all the sensitive artists railed against censorship and other strictures claiming unbridled artistic license would lead to an artistic nirvana.
In fact the opposite has happened. We are at the point where critics are claiming to see great art in urine and feces daubed on canvases or put in bottles. The artistic world today is absurd. Nobody in this century or the last one has equalled the work of the great artists, writers, and composers of the previous centuries. Even with all their wonderful artistic freedom. (smirk) Just my humble observation.