Don't be a jackass.

It isn't always easy to find quality entertainment. If you want to see "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Dexter," or "Weeds" you have to pay for a premium cable channel in addition to what you already pay for cable television.
If you want to listen to the radio without the interruption of commercials you have to pay for satellite radio, a prospect that fills me with dread.
In order to find music that isn't mainstream or built for the masses, you have to seek it out like primitive man searching for food. It's an arduous task.
Those things can be mentally exhausting, and for most people they don't want to bother, which is probably why trash entertainment is so popular. Just lie back and let it consume you.
It is likewise difficult to find a good film, especially if you do not live in a large metropolitan area where such so-called "art house" theaters exist that show films that are indeed called films and not movies. You also have to have access to either a newspaper or some such reference material to fill you in on films that meet your high standards.
If you are so inclined, and a fan of The Beatles or just a fan of a good film, find "Nowhere Boy" and run to see it before it disappears into the darkness of Netflix or one of those backroom rental places.
I suppose I don't fully understand the politics of filmmaking and distribution, or else I would know why a well-made, well-acted movie about a cultural icon would see limited release. In our large metropolitan area it is playing in exactly three theaters, while "Jackass 3" is playing in several more. I suppose that's because people enjoy seeing portable toilets launched into the air more than they enjoy sitting quietly and watching a film about music and world history being made.
It's the same reason you have to pay ten bucks a month to see "Dexter" while "Dancing With the Stars" is on network TV twice a week for four hours. We (as a society, not the real we) like to have our entertainment in large, easy to digest doses launched at us like a portable toilet. Why think when you can just react?
Such is life.

Comments

GUESS said…
GREAT movie!
October 19, 2010 at 5:16 AM
bogman said…
Anthony, don't try to find a deep reason why most people prefer to see Jackass launching portable toilets. The answer is simple, most people are lazy (intellectually) and a vast number are simply dull! It’s a shame, but that’s how it is. The unfortunate consequence is that business and the media aim their products at the largest target audience.
October 19, 2010 at 11:34 AM
Anthony said…
bogman: Nobody ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the general public.
October 19, 2010 at 11:37 AM
bogman said…
Sweet, I shall endeavour to use that quote in conversation today!
October 20, 2010 at 5:29 AM
Kcoz said…
Is this movie about John Lennon? I read an excellent Beatles Bio titled, "The Love You Make". Named after the last line in the last song from the last album the Beatles made.

Later...
October 21, 2010 at 5:08 PM
Anthony said…
Yes. It covers his life from the age of 15 until he left for Hamburg after art school.
October 21, 2010 at 8:34 PM
Kcoz said…
cool...those are the type of doc's I like, the beginning of the creative stages and other events that influence the making of a good band. I wonder how close to reality this film is as bollywood always likes to spice things up.

Did they show how Lennon and McCartney use to play guitar in the shower because they liked the echo?

I like the Beatles but I'm not a HUGE fan, but I am a HUGE fan of Lennon and thought Primal Scream his best album.

Later...and thanks for the info, I did not know this film existed
October 21, 2010 at 11:37 PM
Anthony said…
As far as I could tell, it isn't a "Hollywood" film. Credits at the end cite Yoko and other family members with helping the production. It's based on his half-sister Julia's memoirs, and judging from the film, she was around for a lot of what went on, so I'm taking it at its word.

I think, judging from what I know about his early life, that they "cleaned up" his image a bit. He comes off as a lovable scamp, but I think he was more of a hoodlum than we are led to believe. That's understandable, since it would be hard to root for a borderline criminal. He did, after all, come from Liverpool, which wasn't exactly high-end society.

There is probably more info in the Goldman biography.
October 22, 2010 at 8:40 AM
Kcoz said…
Yea, I read the Goldman bio and agree that he was a bit if a thug, if it was not for the music he probably would have ended up as a working class drunk and addict. Funny how the right mix of people can enhance ones creative talents. I think their time in Germany is what formed the super group, they worked their asses off and really became tight and experienced. When they came back they just blew the other bands away, not just with talent but with their well tuned musical skills.

Did you read that John felt guilty for Suttcliffs (spelling?) death after he beat him up in Germany after a drunken rage?
October 22, 2010 at 1:20 PM
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