From "Apocalypse Now" to "Everbody Must Get Stoned"
A reporter called me yesterday asking why movies with apocalyptic messages like I Am Legend and Cloverfield are doing so well. My guess is that dystopian science fiction always does well when there is a lot of popular anxiety. Currently 72% of the public feels the country is “on the wrong track”(see below). In this mindset, imagining that New York will be a wasteland in the future is not as big a stretch. The last time this sort of movie worked for the Zeitgeist is when Blade Runner
(Consume confidence fell) in February 1982, when the Dow had fallen 15.4 percent over the previous year and housing starts were more than a third below their level of the two prior years. Consumer confidence stayed low for a year, not climbing over 62.5 until the next February.
So what is the next trend coming down the movie pipeline? Well if Variety’s Todd McCarthy (reporting from Sundance) is right, we better bring out the old Bob Dylan song, “Everybody Must Get Stoned.”
It seemed that nearly every film I saw featured characters very partial to getting high, or made drugs a significant part of their plots.
Maybe this is the secret only young, independent filmmakers knew, I thought. Instead of trudging off to make films about how awful the Iraq War is, as numerous older Hollywood directors (including Redford) did last year, the kids realized no one wanted see pictures like that. Instead, perhaps they suspected that young audiences might well line up for films featuring characters reacting to the world’s horrors in the same manner they were, by medicating themselves.
Part of me has seen this movie before, but my brain refuses to accept that 2008 will be a repeat of 1968. After the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy in the spring of 1968, a lot of my generation that had been incredibly politically involved retreated to the comforts of music, art, film and to a certain the palliative comfort of smoking pot. I have written recently of the potential alienation of a whole new generation of political activists turned off by the bareknuckle politics of the Clinton’s and the Romney’s of this world. In a few weeks time we will begin to know if the movie makers of Sundance are on to something, or whether the kids will prove them wrong. Although I would never attempt to equate low youth voter turnout with high youth drug use, the question is more symbolic. In Iowa the young people came out and voted and to some extent it appears in New Hampshire they did not. My guess is that Obama’s success or failure on Super Tuesday will depend on whether he can repeat his Iowa success with the college voter.
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The Dylan song you are referring to is called “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35″ – but calling it by the prominent line of the refrain of course serves the purpose better here.
http://bobdylan.com/moderntimes/songs/rainy.html
I am Legend and Cloverfield were advertised in such a mysterious manner that they made viewers want to know the whole story. The fact that these movies are/have done so well should to attributed to that reason rather than anyother reason. The “everybody get stoned” movie movement has been inceased due to the increase in drug use throughout the nation (4.7% of nation). Yes, a decrease in smoking pot and cocaine but a dramatic increase in meth and X. The filmmakers are making movies to the interests those people. The belief that the nation is going in the wrong way is shown by the overwhelming percentages because the ideals of the war have become shadowed by personal interests of individuals.
The lack of political messages employed by young film makers today could be attributed to the sense of “hopelessness” in creating social/political change. With the many conspiracy theories everywhere we look, whether corporate or political, one cant help but seem hopeless. Its the sense that “no matter what I do, the elite will always have the final say and do as they please”. Thinking in those terms, one will likely defer from politics and engage in pure “entertainment” with special effects.
Movies like “Cloverfield” and “I am Legend,” are no more than any typical action thriller, geared toward an entertainment-hungry youth. The new trend of end-of-the-world films are simply modern versions of old end-of-the-world films. But everyone is sick of “The Terminator,” so modern versions must be made. As for the new movement toward drug-related movies (involving pot, alcohol, etc.), there is no underlying meaning to this either. Everyone has seen “Animal House” and loved it, but it’s out of date, so films like “Superbad” must take its place. This does not mean the hippy era is back. Rather, it should be noted that the film industry is lacking originality. There are too many sequels and remakes. Perhaps this is why movie theater attendance is going down. What’s the point of seeing the same movie over and over again?
I agree with Stephanie Gray above. I think those types of movies are simply a trend that invite viewers to imagine a world of ‘what if’s’. It does seem as though our generation is a bit less concerned with current news, but that doesn’t imply everyone will just sit back and get high. There are many attempts to get teens and young adults, and the numbers are just getting higher.
Times have changed; we are not a generation of hippies where getting high is the answer to problems. The need for a higher education
in the workforce dominates our society and young adults who want to succeed in life know they must stay focused.
I agree with the rest of my classmates, however I believe that low voter turnout among youths is due to the mentality of apathy that I believe our generation strongly embodies. Maybe it was just my high school or the area I grew up in, but hardly anyone knows anything about the differences between political parties. When I would ask my friends what party they affiliated with the most, they would shrug their shoulders and say “I don’t really care”. Its sort of strange to me that so many people are so uneducated in politics, considering it is such an integral part of everyone’s life.
As far as movies go, I feel that each year movie directors try to outdo the year before and shock viewers- and each year they get more outrageous and extreme. Our lives are so fast-paced that only the outrageous or extremely thought-provoking or disturbing movies can get our attention.
I think that filmmakers are merely trying to appeal to the coveted 18-24 age group. College students are surrounded by these stimulants all the time and its an easy way for a movie to establish that cool factor. After all, have you ever been in a movie theater without hearing some sort of comment in the audience when pot showed up on the screen? I haven’t ha.
I agree with Alexis. Today, our youth does not understand the meaning behind politics. This tends to impact our voter turn-out, which ultimately impacts the presidential campaigns. Our society today is the result of selfishness, and we are becoming less and less concerned with what’s going on in the world, and becoming more and more interested in our self pleasures. For example, smoking pot, at least for many. I think that if movie directors change their movie subjects to a theme of “everyone get stoned” and to more of a imaginative theme, I believe that it will surely draw in today’s generation. This type of movie will replace films that portray the depressing story of America! Enough of these.
I’ve had the same discussion in 4 of my classes in the past year about our generation not being politically informed. I am and Art History major and a Communication minor and the connection to art and entertainment are very closely linked. I believe art is now becoming less influential or political that it can’t create movements like Picasso did or John Heartfield, a famous anti-Nazi artist. Ingenuity and creativity have been worn out and our generation is now becoming more narcissistic. With the rise of social networking we all become involved with ourselves that we might feel apathy toward the government or just hating everything about politics because of the constant corruption we see. Maybe there’s less trust in the government to really believe what they have to say or even the media.
“Everybody Must Get Stoned” Reminds me of the Film “Trainspotting,” realesed in UK in 1996. It was based on a novel that followed brash, dead- beat heroin addicts living in Edinburgh through a portion of their static lives. At that time, 8 % of young Brtis (age 16- 24) were using class- A drugs on a regular basis. On the other side of the pond, 50.8 % of graduating US students had used an illicit drug by the time they reached their senior year of High School. Roger Ebert helped praise the film for it’s stark and realistic portrayal of drug abuse. The film was not commercially popular (in the US) for this very reason. It was too realistic. It is easier for films such as Cloverfield to gain popular appeal, because it addresses real fears in unrealistic ways. Great movie makers like Danny Boyle and John Hodge who wrote “Trainspotter,” will not be widely popular–no American will pay to see their lack of faith in our nation portrayed in films with themes of self destruction, violence, and neglect.
[...] with a decidedly optimistic ending (stay through the end credits). I have written before about the dystopian artist and the age of anxiety. But Wall-E is some far more ambitious. When the history of the first 100 years of animation is [...]