The Power of Film!
What is it about cinema that captivates an audience so easily? How can it hypnotize people into spending hard-earned money to sit in a crowded, darkened room with complete strangers and watch projected images onto a massive screen for two or more hours? Is it magic, simple entertainment or clever propaganda? In my humble opinion, it is all three.
First of all, I can think of no other widespread medium of expression that relates to all humanity, regardless of class, race, color, religion, etc. Most theatre and literature is produced by the upper class and made for the upper class. Not so with film. Today, thanks to modern conveniences like DVDs, videos and home theater systems, almost anyone can recreate the movie theater experience in the privacy of their own home for relatively few dollars. Its entertainment value is pure escapism, a drug that makes one forget the dull, mundane world that is their life, with its bills, politics, relationship woes and other social problems. It makes us dream, longing for all the things we are not and all of things we should be. Who can resist watching Clint Eastwood shoot up the bad guys, Steve McQueen in a high speed car chase, Luke Skywalker fight Darth Vader or even Jack Nicholson’s wit and sarcasm at work? Even during the Depression, when so many people were out of work and starving, they still found a way to go to the movies and forget their misery. It became almost a necessity instead of merely just another form of entertainment.
Film has the power to transcend beyond mere entertainment and escapism and take us into the dark world of persuasion and propaganda.
When war and politics invade the cinema, we know that anything can happen and does happen. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis used film-makers such as Leni Riefenstahl and Fritz Hippler to play up public fears of Communism and the Jews to glorify the ideas of fascism and military might. It helped plunge us into the abominable abyss that was World War II. Other film-makers, like Frank Capra, used it to persuade America and the Allies into going to war against them. Today, film is still being used politically and socially to sway the opinion of the masses and open their eyes to injustice. Movies like “Hotel Rwanda” and “The Last King of Scotland” alert us to civil war and strife in Africa while others like “Fahrenheit 9/11″, “Bowling for Columbine” and “Sicko” warn us of the dangers of terrorism, government greed and corruption, school violence and the incompetence of the health care system.
Next time you go to the move theater or rent a DVD, whether it’s a romantic comedy, an action flick, or a straight up war film, be on the lookout for the social statement or message behind the production. I can guarantee you that whether it’s easy to spot or not, it will be there. Someone is always trying to sell you something. And you know what? Most of the time we are either too moved or too distracted not to accept it. That, folks, is the power of film.