OR: Shyamalan's Ode to Terrorism
A few weeks ago there was a bunch of hoopla over John Kerry's Hollywood Star-studded cash bash when personalities like Whoopi Goldberg and John Mellencamp made derogatory statements about President Bush and the administration. John Kerry said at the end of the night that "Hollywood conveys the image of America" which many neocons saw as absurd and insulting. Michael Moore (not a Hollywood insider) is the right's whipping post for how the film industry misrepresents American culture and values. Movies like "America's Heart and Soul" which portrays independent and resourceful Americans in a positive light does less than 10% of the box office that "Fahrenheit 9/11" did. However, a bigger threat is the Hollywood filmmaker who subtlely tells the message (conveyors on alert) in a way designed to make the point much more dramatically.
M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" is the case in point. Shyamalan tells the story of a small Utopia, much in the image of what he imagines conservatives think utopia would be. This is a backward religious group hidden away from the threat of the world with all it's violence and destruction living in peace with one another. The elders of the town make all the decisions and "protect" the residents (and you are "safer" under Bush, aren't you?) from the supposed terrors that await us from those "who must not be mentioned."
Moment by moment we see how we can give up everything for peace and quiet. All we need do is give up all control and freedom to those whom would protect us from those bogeymen and women who threaten us.
You might question whether this has any bearing on the real world. It's just a movie, I hear you say. It's entertainment and Shyamalan is an entertainer. But that is where propoganda really does find it's way into our lives. It isn't "in your face" LOOK AT OUR DUMB IRAQ WAR! that gets people to think the system doesn't work. It's the questioning of our values and the values of others that places our thinking in motion.
Recently the terror alert was raised in certain places that the Homeland Security Department said face increased risk. Some people saw this as simple political posturing by the White House to increase our awareness of this issue in the presidential campaign. While healthcare, education and business seem to need our attention we are telling the bankrobbers what bank we think they will rob and disregard the issues where President Bush is seen as weak. Those on the left point out that there are many banks that won't be protected and telling the terrorists what ones you will be protecting seems a bit odd. "Did the increase in terrorst alert status have the same effect that a terrorist act would have, anyway" they ask?
Which is exactly the point of "The Village." What are we willing to sacrifice for security is Shymalan's question. Freedoms? (the Patriot Act) Justice? (Abu Gharib) Even Linda Ronstadt and the Dixie Chicks are "un-American" for talking about "those who are beloved beyond all reason."
So who is living in The Village? Is it you and me?