...I had planned this week to talk about La La Land. But with the new Executive Order barring refugees, immigrants and green card holders from our country, I want to use this podcast for something much more important.
As filmmakers, writers, actors, directors, producers, executives, we have a sacred responsibility to our audience. Our films and TV shows shape the narrative of this country, and the belief systems of the hundreds of millions of people who see them.
In many ways, the most powerful political movies and TV shows are often the ones that are not overtly political. Because it's these shows that shape our worldview from the inside, sneaking past our defenses of what we think we believe, and slowly changing the way we view the world.
Which is why I want to implore you, as writers, as directors, as producers, as actors, as artists, as filmmakers, to recognize the power of mainstream Hollywood movies and TV shows.
These movies are not just popcorn movies. These TV shows are not just mind numbing entertainment. These movies and shows are the mythologies that shape our world. Working on us, through subtle repetition, to shape our view of the world. Powerful because they don't appear political, because they don't trigger our intellectual defenses.
For years, we've dismissed crappy reality programming like The Apprentice as mindless entertainment, not as the storytelling that shapes the worldview of America.
But in the wake of this election, we can now see the political power of even the silliest reality show, to shape the worldview of millions of people...