Lost in Translation

Several years ago, by way of an essay I wrote and published on the state of cinema in the United States of America, I was invited to join an intellectual think tank.

There is nothing unusual to this: Such invitations are extended quite often to individuals who demonstrate they possess something of value and interest to others of a like mind.

What made this particular situtation unusual is that the think tank in question exists soley in cyberspace: No member of this think tank, to my knowledge, has ever actually met another member.

Of course, there is a reason for this: If we were able to actually meet one another it is quite likely we would be constrained by matters geographic. As it is, we are not, and because we are not we are able to consider matters that break free of such constraints.

Awhile back, for example, one member of the think tank bemoaned what he said was the lack of good entertainment.

Because this individual has something of a reputation for being critical his comments were initially discounted. Further, because several members of the think tank make their living from entertainment it was assumed this individual was making his remarks merely to provoke response. (We can be a talkative lot. We can also be a silent group, and when the latter happens graveyards have more sound.)

Then something happened: Other members of the think tank noted they, too, were having difficulty when it came to finding good entertainment.

With this the discussion began in earnest: Many readily agreed a reason there is less and less good entertainment--specifically films and movies--is because the good stuff is being overwhelmed by 'crap'.

That, of course, begged the questions: Why is there so much crap being produced and why is it audiences apparently are tolerant of it?

In a nutshell: Because we don't know any better. We don't know any better because we don't have anything to compare the crap to.

That, without much fanfare, led to a notion: Suppose we had a standard, a benchmark by which we could measure a given film or movie? Then what? Would the amount of crap produced diminish? Or would it would grow in quantity?

No one had an answer to that, and I doubt anyone will ever come up with a definitive answer. What I do know that as a result of this discussion we collectively and individually came to a certain conclusion: We want good entertainment, and within that entertainment we want certain absolutes: A good story, good characters, and a good production mounted.

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