commentaries

John - the entertainment industry has long been out of touch with the everyday lives of average Americans, or at least inclined to avoid dealing directly with issues that affect them. But in all fairness, American audiences are fickle in their tastes as well. A few years back, a spate of topical films dealing with the Iraq war, terrorism, extraordinary rendition, etc. hit the screen and fared poorly at the box office. Granted, "The Hurt Locker" did go on to acclaim and major film awards, but its box office, prior to its winning the Academy Award for best Picture, was lackluster. In fact, it was probably one of the lowest grossing films to take a Best Picture Oscar in recent decades.

It would be interesting for a media reporter to compare the media coverage of our current economic malaise to news stories during past recessions. Remember Bush's "worst economy since Herbert Hoover" when employment was at a staggering 6 percent? The day a new President is sworn into office in Jan., 2013 is when the media will start reporting harsh stories of the unemployed.

The plot of "The Company Men" was driven by an arrogant CEO who is more concerned about stock value than the lives destroyed by lay-offs. Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, and Tommy Lee Jones.

In difficult times, people want entertainment to escape, if only temporarily, from harsh reality. This is why the entertainment industries flood the market with inane offerings.

Why do liberals worship government and Hollywood?

Obama just wants to be a movie star in the White House. Reality means nothing to him.

The only thing sillier than expecting the entertainment industry to rationally reflect today' issues, is to try to put down in writing some kind of intellectual analysis of that perception. After all, he's writing about a group of people whose ONLY demonstrated talent is making people believe they're something they're not.

So there is very little difference between Washington and Hollywood. Only trouble is Washington actually screws up peoples lives, you walk away from Hollywood after the show is over.

Mr. Rash is incorrect in one respect. The total unemployment and underemployment rate is 45%. This includes all adults working under their skill or education level. For example, we have many college grads working full time in the fast food industry and we many skilled construction workers who were independent contractors now working less than full time in retail (Menard`s for example), and nobody seems to care. Happy Labor Day America!!!

A movie on this theme that is not too "preachy" is "The Company Men". http://www.redbox.com/movies/the-company-men ........... More often than not the Hollywood movies of this theme go the "voice for the voiceless" shtick with no real solutions".