I was reading up on the film 'Drive' (which I will be reviewing shortly), when I came accross news that a woman named Sarah Deming was suing FilmDistrict (a company that produced the film) for "damages suffered", as she felt the movie was marketed in a misleading way, to cater to the 'Fast and Furious' crowd. She also said that "Drive was a motion picture that substantially contained extreme gratuitous defamatory dehumanizing racism directed against members of the Jewish faith, and thereby promoted criminal violence against members of the Jewish faith." I've seen the movie, and this is digging deep. There is a character who happens to be Jewish. He is a bad guy. In NO WAY does the film promote criminal violence against members of the Jewish faith. This was yesterday, when I read this.
Today I see in Yahoo "news" that one user on the Bioware forums has complained to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) about the ending of a video game called 'Mass Effect 3'. .... The FTC!???...
Does anyone else see a problem with this? Back in the day is was suing McDonald's for the coffee being too hot. That was ridiculous. Try not spilling it. But coming accross these two stories in a row made me want to call out the problem. This is a minority, of course. But I also believe it is a mentality that is creeping into our culture and our world as a whole. Where did this sense of entitlement come from? What makes these people think that they are owed entertainment? So you didn't like the movie... BIG. DEAL. If you really care that much, you should've done a little research before just accepting whatever TV spot you saw as being the whole film. Of course the most exciting parts of a movie are going to be used for the trailer! Did they use footage that wasn't in the movie? No. So was it really false advertising? No. So the video game didn't end how you envisioned it. How mad can you possibly get? Pretty mad, apparently.
These forms of entertainment are, essentially, art. And we are all emotionally tied to art. I have to admit that I myself have gotten steamed about things that didn't go the way I had hoped on the big screen. But to take action is a horse of a different color (pink, I think...). Its absurd. You get over it. You move on. You spent an hour and a half and you didn't like it. YOU TAKE A CHANCE WHEN YOU SEE A MOVIE. This type of reaction is evidence that 1) You are now being controlled by your entertainment, which should be supplimental to real life, not the substance of life. Which means that 2) You need to get your priorities straight and 3) You have a lot of growing up to do. This also sheds light on another problem, which is that there are people willing to hear these people out. Theres a lawyer somewhere who took on this ladies case to sue a movie company for not making a movie she liked (she is also trying to get a law in place to keep companies from misrepresenting films in the future). There is a judge somewhere who is willing to waste time on this JOKE.
I love these forms of art. I can understand how one would love a form of recreation such as video games. But if it is affecting you so much, it is controlling you. How very unhealthy. To let it get to this point is to lose the beauty of it and get wrapped up in ourselves and all we incorrectly believe we are owed. I like to joke around, and James and I have fun talking about these things daily, and on our podcasts. But it isn't our entire lives. We enjoy the ride. Its escapism. Thats it. Part of me feels sorry for these people, because they probably have a big empty hole in their lives, and they are trying to fill it with these things and it gets too personal. The other part of me doesn't feel sorry for them at all, for they are responsible for themselves and their own contentment. Still, a smaller part of me is inclined to find these people and smash their kneecaps with a golf club, but they won't learn that way....
My point in all of this is simple: we would do well to be aware of these things happening around us so that we don't find ourselves suddenly in these same, sad mindsets.
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