Posted on 09/07/2001 8:39:44 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
LOS ANGELES — Glitz, glamour and greatness. Hollywood at its finest. But a darkness has crept into the world of the silver screen, and there is a renewed searching among the Hollywood crowd for something to fill the void in their lives.
More than that, filmmakers are getting the general idea that the rest of America is searching for something spiritual, too. In their quest to fill the need for the spiritual, Hollywood often just serves up spirits.
"When people talk about Hollywood, they're talking about a state of mind," said author and talk show host Michael Medved.
"Hollywood definitely has a family bond, a certain way of doing things. And they take care of their own very much. There is a clubiness and there are those that are in the club and those that are not in the club," explained film producer Ken Wales.
It is a unique place, Hollywood, with a diverse population from all over the world. A myriad of languages flows through its streets. A culture that lives and dies fashionably.
But in all its many forms, Hollywood is perhaps best known for being the epicenter for a global entertainment industry.
Ted Baehr of "Movieguide," a service that offers a Christian perspective on the latest releases from Hollywood, believes that the Hollywood state of mind filters into the lives of many in America and the world today.
Through its movies, the California film business helps shape how the rest of the world views America. Indeed, how Americans view America.
And it's something Hollywood has specialized in for nearly decades.
If it seems like they "just don't make 'em like the used to," it's because they don't. Why? Among many other things, it may be partly because of the absence of a strict moral code like the one that used to be enforced by the Hayes Commission.
"Gone With the Wind" is a prime example of the moral outrage some Americans felt at swearing in movies.
One famous line, "Frankly my dear, I don’t give a d---," caused hundreds across the country to picket the movie because it contained one curse word. But Hollywood's adherence to that moral code fell by the wayside in 1952, once the popularity of television began to seriously challenge the box office for customers.
Fast-forward through 65 years of cinematic history, and you'll find quite a different scene where even mature cartoons are loaded with words that used to make the cliched sailor blush with shame. And while the proliferation of cursing may be the focus on many people’s radar screens, a largely unnoticed macabre spirituality has crept into many popular movies.
"Today you continue to have sort of a new-agey, weird, sort of sensibility that creeps into films. What is striking is how infrequently — even in films that refer very specifically to religious themes and images — you get anything that could be even vaguely traditional," said Medved.
Perhaps the key to this transformation in the entertainment industry lies within the Hollywood culture itself.
The differences between life on Rodeo Drive and Main Street USA may be obvious, but perhaps the biggest difference is something that you can't see with the naked eye. In fact, it's something that goes much deeper than the mask of success worn by so many here.
"I think what you find in Hollywood is there is a general sense that people in America are interested in spirituality, but very often Hollywood answers that craving for spirituality by giving people spirits," Medved said.
Recent movies like "The Sixth Sense," "Cell," and "Stigmata" blend spiritual and mystical themes.
According to many conservative experts on film, these themes merely reflect the spiritual journeys of some of the movies’ key decision makers.
"I don't think there is any question that there is a great deal of spiritual hunger, spiritual searching going on in the entertainment industry," Medved said. "What's so peculiar about all this is that so many people in the entertainment industry who have all the power and all the wealth and all the glory in the world are drawn to these very marginal religious faiths. Some of them very new and very controversial religious faiths."
And some deny God all together.
"I think the greatest difficulty with the lives of those persons is that they refuse to acknowledge the existence of God not only in their own life, but on earth. And they are unwilling to acknowledge that there is someone greater than they are. Their egos are so strong that there is no room for God or anyone else, when it comes right down to it. Therefore they are god. They can see no freedom or value in submitting to a God who created this incredible world," said Wales.
These spiritual decisions made in Hollywood affect those who watch its movies.
Rev. Alan Meenan of Hollywood Presbyterian Church said, "Because of the idol worship that one sees all across America for Hollywood stars, if Hollywood stars begin to say or do something, it must be all right. My sense is that most people need to have some kind of idol in their lives. Something, someone, some concept to look up to. Something to embrace. Something that is bigger than they are. And often in European countries, they have a royal family to take that place. And we have our royal family now in America and it's the stars of Hollywood."
The growing reverence Americans are giving Hollywood can be seen by looking at how much money is going into the industry. According to the Motion Picture Association of America, since 1990, the U.S. box office has grown by 55 percent to reach $7.5 billion in 1999.
A third of the population goes to at least one movie a month.
Of those films, R-rated movies are not as financially successful as movies with lower ratings. But it seems there is little difference between Christians and non-Christians when it comes to watching those R-rated films.
The Barna Research Group finds that Christians are only a little less likely than non-Christians to report they have watched an R-rated movie in the past 7 days. That’s 30 percent of born again Christians, compared to 40 percent of non-Christians.
"Does people's faith influence the kinds of movies they see? Typically we find that it doesn't make a big difference. Part of that, of course, is because if you were to say my faith is going to determine what movies I go to, you wouldn't be watching too many movies. And millions and millions of Christians simply love to be entertained. And so if the option is, I am going to have to accept the entertainment that's available or I am going to refuse to be entertained, they'll accept the entertainment that's available," said pollster George Barna.
"We have an insidious culture that is pervasive, that after a while is difficult to resist, I think. And many Christians are not disciplined enough, and are not in fellowship enough or do not keep company with other believers who will hold them to account enough. And as a result, standards tend to fall," Rev. Meenan explained.
With the good family-based movies in Hollywood getting better and the objectionable movies getting worse, Christians seem to be caught in the middle.
Ted Baehr, who is a noted author and chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, sees a positive way to make sense of it all.
"You do have a wheat and chaff situation. When you get that situation, the primary need is for the people of good faith to get out and support the good. To get out there and support [movies like] ‘Left Behind,’ ‘The Amati Girls,' 'Mercy Street,’ 'Remember the Titans,' and to not get so preoccupied with the bad that they allow themselves to be defeated, either spiritually or psychologically," Baehr said.
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