This is not about Hollywood. It is about the impact of the increase in time per day that we engage in entertainment.
I have pointed out in the past that if you "add" something, then you have to "give up" something. It is no different for entertainment. I think that we all have to agree that us humans spend a lot more time being entertained today than we did in the past. Like I said above, we have had to give up something so that we could spend more time being entertained. I don't know if you have ever thought about that or not, but is a major change and it has changed us.
We just had the final game of the college football championship between Alabama and Ohio State and we know that millions watched the game. Did you ever think about what us humans did back in 1940 or 1950? What were we spending our time on back then? We know they were not watching football on tv so what were they doing? We they talking to other humans or were the doing something physical like working in their garden? I am not hear to defend what we were doing back then, but we know that during that time, the USA was making social and economic progress. Do you think that our communication skills were better back then? What about your I-phone? I have read that people are spending more and more time on their i-phones with people that they do not even know.
Back to entertainment. I think that entertainment is the biggest factor that has changed who we are. In the old days, we would go to the movie theater with friends to watch a movie and engage in discussions about the movie after. I am not saying that was normal or better, but it was clearly different than today. Most people don't go to movies any more. There used to be a lot of driven in movies, but today it is very rare that you can even find a drive in movie theater.
It seems to me that we have become addicted to entertainment and expect it. We seem to crave more and more entertainment. I see people who become bored if they are not entertained on a daily basis. I have been following the pandemic and have talked to a lot of people who are telling me that they are bored to death. Just a few years ago, these same people would not have been needed to be entertained. They entertained themselves but do not seem to do that today. Why is that?
Look in the mirror and tell me if you are not one of those people that I am talking about who wants to be entertained daily. This is just one of those significant changes that we have been subjected too in the past few years similar to grass growing. It can happen very slowly, but over time it can be very significant. Wake up and do what you can.
PS--If entertainment is to make you feel good, why are not drugs considered a form or entertainment? Note that the entertainment business is now a multi billion dollar business and is still growing. What if the entertainment business kept growing until it was the largest segment of the economy? Does this sound a little like Rome at it's highest? Are football players and boxers our modern answer to gladiators? It is like a chain letter where eventually no one wants to work or produce food and if that happens the human race will starve to death. Not a very happy ending.
