Michael Medved, well-known critic of film and popular culture, spoke as a part of the Great Issues Lectures Series, on Monday, Feb. 7. His presentation, “Hollywood: Three Big Lies,” dealt with media and their effect on American life.
Author and media critic, Medved appears on “Sneak Preview,” a television program on more than 200 PBS stations across the country. He is also the chief film critic for The New York Post and has appeared on more than 600 talk shows.
His daily radio, broadcast on 129 stations, reaches more than two million people. In fact, he arrived on SLU’s campus just moments after leaving the KMOX radio station.
All of his real-world, upfront experience led Medved to write Hollywood vs. America. The book addresses Hollywood’s three biggest lies. Medved presented them to SLU faculty and students at 6 p.m. in the Argentum Room of the Busch Memorial Center.
The first lie is that Hollywood simply reflects reality, it does not shape it. Citing statistics about religion, marriage and violence, he asserted that the idea of Hollywood reflecting society is both absurd and insane.
Television is thousands of times more violent than reality, Medved said. Based on Hollywood’s interpretation, seven out of every 315 people are killed. If this were accurate, no problems of overpopulation would exist.
“Hollywood does not respect or represent society,” Medved said.
The second lie is that Hollywood produces what the viewers want to see. Medved said this is false because most blockbuster movies are not Oscar nominees. The movies viewers pay money to see usually lack critical praise.
The third and biggest lie about Hollywood is that if someone does not like it, he or she can turn it off. Medved said the idea of simply turning off such corruption is “utter nonsense in this media-saturated society.”
Since Americans live as a community, the impact of violence affects even those who do not watch violent movies.
He made the analogy that turning off Hollywood–including movies, music, and magazines–is like saying, “If you don’t like the smog, just don’t breathe.”
Since society cannot turn it off, it can try to turn it down. The average American devotes 13 years of his life to watching television. On a weekly basis, Americans watch 26 hours. While the number is lower for college students, 10 hours a week, they tend to watch just as much after graduation as the rest of society.
“You can live without saturating every moment with television.” Medved said, after pleading with college students not to return to these hours wasted in front of the television.
Medved’s conclusion did not place America’s burdens solely on the shoulders of Hollywood. “I don’t think Hollywood has an obligation to uplift America, but it also does not have the obligation to degrade America.”
In a question-and-answer period after the speech, he mentioned recent movies that he liked; such as The Sixth Sense, Saving Private Ryan and Toy Story 2–his choice for best movie of the year. Medved said that these movies portray the images Americans want to see at the theater.
