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Mass Culture in the Movies
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15491 |
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Section : |
SPECIAL SECTION
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12 / 1989 |
3,950 Words |
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Ben Stein
Ben Stein is a writer, lawyer, economist, and actor living in
Malibu, California. |
"What's happening all over?
I'll tell you what's happening all over:
Guy sittin' home by a television set,
Who used to be something of a rover—
That's what's happening all over."
These lines, from the immortal early 1950s musical comedy Guys and Dolls, keep racing through my little pea brain nowadays. The reason is that I recently bought a twelve-hour "special collectors' edition" of Victory at Sea, the classic early 1950s NBC documentary, on VHS. Day after day, I sit at home and watch it. Over and over, I see the Japanese waiting in trenches and cages while the Marines storm ashore. Night after night, I see waves crashing over transports on the Murmansk run, Rommel fleeing Montgomery, B-29s pulverizing Tokyo, brave soldiers being carried away from beaches on stretches, fields of crosses at cemeteries in the Marianas.
There is a reason that I watch all of this heroism over and over again. The reason is that what is usually watched for rest and recreation, mass culture on television and in movies, has taken a ratchet turn for the worse so profound that I can only overcome total despair by turning to the glories of the past--now available at the press of a button on my faithful flickering Sony.
Herewith, from the point of view of both an insider and a viewer, is a brief tour de la boue of what's new and unfortunate in mass culture.
Producer's
... (1985 of 23004 Characters)
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