Imagination Crisis

There is a dire crisis going on in the US. Although not as bad as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but dire none-the-less. I'm reference the state of affairs in the entertainment industry.

What am I talking about? Movie theater operators are complaining about sluggish sales, half-empty theaters, and movie execs are gripping about lack-luster returns on their "blockbuster' summer movies. They're blaming everything from dvd sales, home theater systems, the newest fandangled tv technology, hd tv, whatever they have think of except the obvious. The movies absolutely, positively stink. Period. It's horrible. Nothing's new. Everythings is a remake of some movie the made in the 50-60's. Or it's a sequel of a grossly mediocre movie made 5 years ago. Although some do a half decent job, it's all remakes or sequels. Or some adaptation off a book or continuation of a tv show (okay, jackass was something i actually paid money to see willingly, but that's different).

And now because of the hit show "lost", seems like all the networks have deemed that genre a "great thing" and have now come up with their own twist of the same concept. Pretty sad. Where's the originality? What happened to the days when people actually wanted to watch tv because of the great/funny/captivating stuff on it, and not because "there's nothing else to do". How many spin-offs of Survivor do we have to suffer through? How about americal idol? Every year you have auditions, you're only opening up 1 more year of talent, and recycling all those people we laughed at the last year.

Nothing's fresh. Nothing catches my attention and screams "i really want to watch that". Movies aren't exciting anymore. TV is so bland, it's not even worth turning on as background noise. And why is that? How did we allow the state of things backslide so far? Are we as a society so desensitized to entertainment that it takes extreme measures to get us excited? Are shows like fear factor going to be "ho hum" 5 years from now? Or is it something more fundamental?

Now I may be going out on a limb here, but it's my own opinion on my own blog, so if you don't agree, too bad. Come find me and we can have a nice chat about it watching bland tv or over-hollywood'ed movie (star wars comes to mind...) What are kids being taught these days in school? What were we taught in school? Not to say that we're all ignoramouses, but what was your school experience like? What were we spoon-fed throughout all ~15-20 years of school? And there's another thing. Spoon-fed. We're told what to do. We had to do homework. We had to take tests. Why? Because we needed to do well on them and get good grades. What for? So we could get into a good university and get a decent job. Then what? Exactly. Then what? That 'what' is exactly the argument i keep hearing repeated over and over and over again. A general discontentment with the life people are living. They need a better job cuz the one they have sucks. Okay, so they switch jobs. But then what? A few years later, unhappy all over again, quit and repeat cycle. People constantly ask "what's the point of all of this?" But i'm starting to digress a little. Imagination. Instant gratification. We want results NOW. This moment. Not a moment later. Ahora, aqui!! Apurate! We are a product of the microwave generation. We're taught in school that SAT scores are king. AP scores are the keys to get into a good school. Study study study study so you can get a good sat score, score 5's on the ap tests and maybe, just maybe you'll get into a tier 1 school, such as berkeley, stanford, mit, hardvard, etc... I hope this is nothing new for you. Perhaps, just perhaps, this is a harsh and stinging reminder of the days we call high school.

But we're fed this nonsense from when we were little. And it only seems that it's getting worse. Kids are taking more standardized tests. No child left behind. Everyone needs to score X to progess to the next grade. You must be good in math. You must be good in reading comprehension. You must be good at analyzing situations and filling in bubbles with #2 pencils on strangly cut scan-tron sheets and sitting in walled off desks so you can't look at your neighbor for 2 hrs at a time while your parents nervously bite their nails at work, wondering just how well your peers are doing because the all important property value is linked to you and your peers performance on those little bubble tests. We're forced to think in a mold and perform to certain standards in order to be considered "well-groomed" and ready for the real world.

But what about that poor kid who can't do math? What if he don't read good? What if he's extraordinarly gifted musically or artistically? He's basically screwed. We're all square pegs. Some of us are round, some triangle, some stars, yet i feel the system is trying to systematically pound us through the square hole. There's no room for any kind of imaginative thinking. You either perform to what the education system deems is "right and acceptable", or your a social outcast. And because of this mentality, we are now reaping the benefits of this edumacation system. Stale TV. Hollywood is literally out of ideas. Musical artists are sampling everyone else who came before them. Modern ar... no comments about this otherwise i'm going to be stepping on a lot of peoples toes, and that's a little bit more subjective a subject. But you get my drift.

Where have all the thinkers gone? Where is the imagination? Where is the creativity? Something needs to change and needs to change fast, otherwise we're going to end up with a society who's main goal in life is to get the new high score in the lastest and greatest video game that came out and brag about how new and shiny their kitchen is when all the know how to use is the microwave and refrigerator. (i'm guilty of this, but let's not go there...)