How to Defeat Hollywood

It's easier than you think.

When comparing movies made today with those made just two decades ago, it is clear that Hollywood is making no attempt to produce popular movies. Films are gray with digital sludge, contain no humor and are mostly sequels. They are set in either New York or Los Angeles, and rarely depict the world most Americans inhabit. They portray neither history worth remembering, or a future worth living in. Their main ideas revolve around either fantasy or nihilism; values which inevitably destroy a society. I refer to values not only in the Judaeo-Christian sense of the word, but also according to the Roman concept of virtu. The shift away from Judaeo-Christian values in film occurred in the sixties of the last century and is fairly well characterized elsewhere. The second more recent shift is marked by a portrayal of achievement as evil and subversion as the ultimate good.

Unsurprisingly, these change has resulted in major studios losing money. However for the foreseeable future, these studios will continue to exist, as they will continue to be supported by donors. Therefore, it is the right time to create new production companies that put Hollywood out of business To do this, we must first understand who our audience is comprised of, and what they would like to see. This dissatisfied market can be split roughly into two components. The obvious one is those families who have long complained about immoral content in films. The second, perhaps larger and more diffuse, can be called “Average Joe”. Average Joe wishes to take his brain for a vacation, and was the target audience of Hollywood until the value shift occurred. Obviously, the same company cannot serve both markets. We will now discuss Mid-America Films, the company for the traditionalist market, and Average Joe Productions, for the other market.

Mid-America Films is straightforward enough. It would produce content that would pass the Breen Code, including cartoons, historical and biblical films, slapstick comedy and adventure. It could also produce educational films for homeschoolers and classical schools. In short, Mid-America Films will present the world the Iowan would like to inhabit. Average Joe Productions would create detective and action movies, science fiction, and uncensored comedy. Its main advantage over Hollywood would be full color and original ideas. Unlike Mid-America Films, it would be able to directly portray the more unpleasant aspects of reality. It would exist to expose and ridicule those concepts promoted by the powers that currently rule. Neither company would make mindless sequels or digital sludge. Production costs could be greatly lowered by the judicious use of artificial intelligence.

A major problem for these new studios would be distribution. Most movie theaters today are chains, some saddled by contracts with major studios. Luckily, there are other options. There are thousands of dead or moribund theaters in small towns, and it is fairly simple to set up a drive in theater. Furthermore, the suburbs are littered with dying multiplexes. If these studios become prosperous enough, they could establish their own theater chains. It would be logical for Mid-America Films to concentrate its marketing in rural areas, and Average Joe Productions in larger cities.

A successful civilization is utterly dependent on the idea of a glorious past and a wondrous future. If we cannot see alternate visions of society in fiction, we will never build them in fact. Therefore, how we entertain ourselves shapes what we believe to an extent far greater than most people realize.

P.S. If you would like to see content samples from the proposed studios, please consider a paid subscription. The A. I. bill has to come from somewhere!