Having passed my allotted three score and ten, I realise that I have spent too much time watching movies. I can only hope that come judgment a merciful Lord will forgive my frivolous wasted hours.
My excuse is that cinema has been the major literary form of my time, a powerful influence on the ideas, attitudes, values, and behaviour of a great many people. In early days that role was filled by the Bible and the classics. The 19th century was largely dominated by the novel, and for most of the 20th century it was the movies.
By default a citizen of the United States, I can only feel shame at the condition American film has reached in the 21st century—pornography, nihilistic violence, filthy-mouthedness, imitativeness, moral depravity, and just plain tackiness. American film is no longer literature unless comic books qualify as literature. Today’s movie industry is only surpassed in evil influence by its bastard offspring, television. The shame is especially acute when I realize that other countries have maintained some literary and artistic standards in their cinema—Britain, France, Italy, Norway, Poland, Russia, Australia, Japan, and even Iran, a country which our late-Empire American megalomaniacs want to destroy. (Old men are irascible. I generalise too sweepingly about American movies. There are still good ones being produced by good people who have at least one foot out of the Hollywood mainstream.)
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The older I get the more I miss the bad old days, and the liberty and decency we had back then. I remember when back in the 60's Sunday night was family night. I remember what it was like NOT to hear swearing on TV. I remember what it was like NOT to see anything suggestive of sexual activity on TV. I remember what it was like to see the Christian faith held in honor and NOT mocked on TV. The evening programs were safe for children to watch. If one of our enemies were to nuke Hollywood, that would be an act of mercy, and doing us a favor.
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