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Essays, Opinion, & Commentary |
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November 6, 2006
Tired of Putting Up with our Cynical, Severely-Misguided Culture? Film is One Medium that Can Help Change It -- That, and Maybe a Theme Park Outside Perth, Australia. by Donald Croft Brickner
For you Trekkers out there -- you already know the drill. Which goes like this:
At least for an hour or two, anyway, we can consciously immerse ourselves in the motion picture or television world of Star Trek. When we watch such movies or TV shows, we're there -- and we're in so deep we rarely take time to look for plot holes or ill-considered directing or acting decisions. We grant a lot of latitude when we're absorbed in fictional portrayals. That this all happens to be a figment of someone else's imagination is irrelevant. When we buy into a movie or a TV show, the emotional and even physiologically reactive experience is a real one. It is. Our nervous systems, our intellects, and even our hearts don't know the difference -- the medium of film is that intensely compelling when we permit ourselves to become immersed in it. The overwhelming majority of us, by the way, grant such an immersion without even giving it a second thought. Imagine that. Talk about a powerful medium! It's time we acknowledge the preposterous power of film -- and on the depth of impact that it genuinely exhibits in terms of heavily influencing our lives. Immediately after that, it's past due time we begin to use film to our advantage. Simply look at the world of news reporting. How many of us still depend on our newspapers or news magazines to deliver the (purported) big stories in our lives? A handful of us, tops. It doesn't matter if our news shows have redefined "news" and turned it into entertainment. And we all know on some level that this has scarily occurred. Short of maiming somebody or running for political office, Paris Hilton does not qualify as "news." By the way -- what in hell has happened to U.S. collegiate schools of journalism? Our sometimes obsessively-involved Internet lives do not successfully command the same transition that film does (i.e., from our everyday worlds into that of our imaginations or our delusions), because while we may surrender ourselves often just as intensely, the Internet has a way of "biting back" that surrendering to film never will do. For when you join any online forum, or simply exchange emails, you're dealing with other human beings. You can call yourself "Mr. Spock" online, replete with an avatar of Leonard Nimoy -- one encounters that kind of behavior all over Myspace.com today -- but hardly anyone will buy into it. However, play Mr. Spock on film, and do it well, and just the reverse becomes true. How many actors hesitate to accept roles that will likely typecast them? The reason for that is too many studio heads don't seem to fully comprehend the difference between actors and the roles they perform well. Any better than the rest of us. One's level of immersion on the Net is just not nearly as submersive as it is in film. The ride you agree to take in movies or television is generally safe, too, even when it's emotionally threatening and irresponsibly delivered -- for these are temporary states one agrees to take on when one watches film. We all know that. For if push comes to shove, one can always leave the theater or switch channels. And, no -- I'm not headed in the direction you might be anticipating here: I'm not promoting escapism. I am promoting embracism. Oh, what -- there's no such word? Well, there is now. If the Star Trek universe can produce Trekkers, a tenable, thoroughly compelling, vitally delivered and consistently structured Benign Future can create Embracers. Not of the foul, aggressively dysfunctional and obscene world we wearily inhabit now -- but instead a planet and universe that's vastly friendlier, all-inclusive and justifiably hopeful. If you find that too lame or wimpy, then return to your vicious video games and blow up or dismember more fake people. You choose the world(s) you inhabit. Yes -- you. This idea (along with the creation of, say, a western coastal Australian theme park, "An Ideal World," to be touched-upon at the end) I perceive to be an extension of the proposal I first expressed in my archived TRA essay, "The Big Picture Project: A Next Step in the Process." As suggested, above, the very first leg of the project, as I view it, is in gathering a committed group of individuals together to "build" on paper a realistically tenable, consistent and benign cosmology, one which includes both the seen and unseen universes. There are a wealth of sources to draw upon in the development and execution of this initial phase, one that involves little more than researching them, exchanging thoughts among Phase 1 participants, and then putting it all down in what, for all practical purposes, would mime (albeit seriously) the same considerations put forth by the formative creators and writers in the expansive and remarkable Star Trek "universe." And while tenability would serve as the final determinant in any proposed Phase 1 final statement, its ultimate intention would be to serve solely as a backdrop for any future undertakings or philosophical considerations, not as their focus. The Big Picture Project has always been viewed as serving up a foundation -- never being "the star" of any particular focus or usage. Phase 1 is more about universe building than it is establishing a code of ethics or expressive intentions, be they spiritual or secular. It would, however, acquiesce to the obvious -- like the high probability of an intelligently designed universe. This portion of the process would require securing one or more financial grants, whose initial concern would be the establishment of a new world view -- one that tenably embraces firm empirical deduction, "substantial anecdotal evidence" (no, there's not as yet an existing definition for the latter); pronounced, reproducible spiritual "intuitions" (also without as yet an existing definition); and, substantive physical world anomalies (similarly undefined … alas). However: the source materials for all of these considerations already exist, and need only be brought together, deliberated by the Phase 1 participants for consistency and efficacy, and then, you know … Enjoined. Piece of cake. It's the potential extensions of The Big Picture Project's initial phase that become enticing and exciting -- and it's here that the field of entertainment can contribute. Once the Phase 1 world view has been determined and publicly manifested, the creation of a "saturation retreat" for filmmakers and actors could be established, as but one suggested application of this material -- in an isolated physical setting where this new world view, and prospective reaction to it in all of its potentialities, can be both nurtured and empathically entertained. Musicians, writers and artists might also similarly benefit from such a retreat. Once that world view has been experienced and absorbed, any creative script, production values, and complementary acting decisions, on any given topic or focus, can be delivered in a realistic -- never mind timely -- manner to a public likely thirsting for such a realistic, accessible and hopeful future. How any such drama or comedy plays itself out is influenced by the mere impact of having been set in a benign and, yes, loving universe -- a notion I've argued for in essays/blogs several times previously. Hopefully effectively. Murder, for instance, will likely never go away in our physical world. But how folks react to it and deal with it in any such future setting would be decidedly different. For starters -- murder likely wouldn't be viewed as commonplace in, say, the year 2075 … never mind as such a titillating cultural sport. (We'd have killed ourselves off before then were our attitude toward aggressiveness left unadjusted.) Listen: I know I'm not the only one who's deeply troubled by our culture's casual embracement of violence, aggression, corruption, cynicism and hopelessness. Come on, people. If there's anyone in Hollywood, in addition to the fields of philosophy or quantum physics, who finds my concepts practicable and appealing, now would be a good time to jump on board -- or at least to voice your support. However tentatively. Alrighty, then. As for the creation of a theme park bordering the gorgeous beaches outside of Perth, Australia -- well, this is pure fantasy on my part. Foolish rabbit. The place could also double as a soundstage. The theme park, "An Ideal World," would be an actualized version of this not-so-distant future setting, where visitors can come and simply participate in a town's daily lifestyle and customs, as if transported there by time machine. Even while, say, some contemporary movies or TV shows are being filmed there. Here are some of the things, perhaps, tourists would not find in "An Ideal World:"
Sigh. Grandiosity always gets the best of me.
After his military tour, for which he received an honorable discharge, he pursued his lifelong interest in the study of metaphysics/ontology, and finally received his bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Maine-Orono in 1992. He later attended graduate studies at the Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Indiana and in the M.F.A. creative writing program at Chapman University in Orange, California. He has written an unproduced 3-act play, "Revelations at Mount Rushmore," which remains on file at the Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach, California. He is also more than halfway through completing his first novel. Visit his MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/donaldcroftbrickner
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Philosophy Resource Center Main Page |
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Donald
Croft Brickner has lived in roughly half of the
states in America, working countless jobs in a
variety of occupations. Prior to serving as an
enlisted journalist in the U.S. Navy during the
Vietnam era, he majored in music theory in college
and later received an associate's degree in music
education.
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