Hollywood isn't real

[Arkham Noir]

As obvious as the title to this thread is, it's a concept that I want to look into at depth.

I was reading a thread posted by IC25 earlier and he was talking about video games that deal with wars , such as the Call of Duty series, and he was asking whether or not these games had alterior motives in there marketing. Whether or not these games were meant to influence people. You can view the thread here: http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=140172, it's worth a read. The concept that got me thinking was the idea that kids playing these games might be ,whether intentionally or not, mislead into thinking that war is a glory filled endeavor and that people will think that war is in reality what these games portray.But I think this issue goes deeper than just these games and video games in general.

I think the problem is that the entertainment industry uses so many of these real life issues, whether it be war or cops or even just something as simple as relationships, and they romanticize them to be entertaining. While this is all well in good for entertainment, in becomes a problem when people are unable to realize the difference between real life and fiction. I'll use an example from my life; my brother wants to be a cop. He is also a huge fan of shows like CSI,NCIS, and Criminal Minds. While I have no problem with the fact that he wants to be a cop, I know that he doesn't realize that the cops you see in these shows aren't your everyday police officers. They don't partake in big dramatic conflicts, or break into fire fights on a freeway.Hell, CSI's don't even wield guns, they're scientists.This seems to manifest its head in all facets of life, from the aformentioned cop misconceptions, to things like relationships. People begin to think that 1) people should look like the actors/actresses we see on T.V. and 2) that are lives should be something out of a romance novel.

The problem with this idea is that often one doesn't notice the affect it takes on a person. If someone has never been at war, how are they to know that it isn't the heroic , epic clash that it is displayed as in entertainment. So as a result most subconsciously view it as the norm, not knowing any better. It really isn't even their fault. They are bombarded with what is basically modern day propaganda, and only know war as busting into buildings while Eminem's "Won't Back Down" blares in the background.Or that a realtionship involves going through some harrowing experience with a person , falling in love in the process,and skipping through fields of flowers for the rest of their days.

So what do you think? Am I way off here?

 

[SalvIsWin]

No, you're not way off, a lot of people do have trouble with the differences between reality and fiction. What is also somewhat disturbing is our desensitization towards murder, bloodshed, hate, etc. I'm sure if you turned on the television and changed the channel to a news station reporting a shooting you wouldn't even blink, it's normal and every day - at least for Westerners.

The solution itself is education and parenting. If you're an educated adult, you shouldn't have a hard time discerning between reality and fiction. I play video games, but I've never had a problem distinguishing between shooting someone virtually online and the real deal that's done every day - one's entertainment, and the other is horrendously sad but true. Until you're an educated adult, parents should be supervising their kids and restricting what they see or watch, or at least make sure they are in the right state of mind, i.e. they know the difference between the real world and what they're watching. Children obviously don't have the same mental capacity for critical thought or analysis that an educated adult has, thus they need supervision and someone to make some decisions for them.

Nice topic.

 

[Navi]

No you've hit the nail on the head. The problem I have with particularly all of the drivel that is splashed across movie and TV screens is that, is it either creates a false sense of security, scares the shit out of people or give them an unrealistic sense of what life is all about.

If I want to watch something to do with war, I turn to CNN and see the real carnage that is ongoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no way I would believe the crap that Hollywood puts out there. Most of the time when they are doing a movie based on a real event, there is so much cutting and editing involved that the finished product is almost a slap in the face to what really happened.

The same with romance and relationships. These things take work to make them work, yes there are some TV shows that portray it correctly, though for the life of me I can't think of one right now, that's how many there are. Most of the time real life problems are handled in a way that you wouldn't dream of handling them in real life, so again a load of shit.

Unfortunately there are adults out there that really believe all the crap that's thrown at them. Kids on the other hand can be taught as they grow that it's exactly as it is it, not real and don't expect it to be. That has been one of my biggest challenges as a parent, trying to keep it real for my son.

All that being said though, I enjoy sitting in front of the TV or watching a movie and just forgetting about the day's problems for a few hours. That's how the movie/TV industry should be viewed as strictly entertainment nothing more. Anyone who really truly believes what they see is real, please get yourself to a doctor immediately because obviously you need professional help.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I agree that the entertainment industry uses too much of real life issues to further their product. What happened to movies and television being an escape from reality? The same can be said for video games. All three of those things were always a way for me to temporarily escape from reality into another world when I needed a short break from it all. They still are, but it's tough to do that when the shows/games/movies focus too much on something real and try to be "too real". Video games are not real, neither is Hollywood. Just as the thread's title says. Things are romanticized far too much and that really bothers me because it makes things seem better than they really are. That in turn causes a lot of problems we all face socially. It shouldn't be that way because movies, tv, and video games should all be a way to GET AWAY from propoganda and other real life problems which for that brief moment should no longer matter until it's time to come back to real life. People NEED that escape sometimes, or else they just get more stressed or upset.