I don't know. Perhaps as I get older I just want to tap on the brakes of Life a bit and slow down. But it does seem as if the proverbial "Rat Race" is out of control and going nowhere fast. One of my fave films of the last few years is The Holiday starring Kate Winslett (of "Titanic" fame), Jude Law, Cameron Diaz and Jack Black. Why? Because it's a simple, romantic story with simple, yet entertaining elements: A good screenplay, good acting, and a good musical score by composer Hans Zimmer. That's it. And I will go so far as to admit that I even like Tom Hanks' early works with screen pal Meg Ryan: Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. Same thing there: Simple story, good actors, etc. I can relax and just take in these simple, low-key little films sans the pyrotechnics, CGI, and mass murders in vivid living color because, quite frankly, I can see all of THAT stuff on the daily news any time for free.
"Once upon a time"...way "back in the day"...this was what Americans considered "Good Entertainment." With a worldwide war at hand, coming on the heels of a crushing depression, people didn't need or want surround-sound explosions ringing their ears, or images of people being blown to bits on the silver screen. In a time of global insanity, in a world gone mad, they instead sought saneness, a reprieve from the woes of the world. They longed for peace.
So what the previous generation had for nice "wholesome entertainment" back then was the sort of chick-flick fodder that we scoff at today. But I have to ask myself: Why were such famous couples back then -- Tracy & Hepburn, Gable & Lombard, Bogart & Bacall -- considered so glamorous, and how did the classic films that those people made come to define what is roundly regarded as the "Golden Age of Hollywood?" Indeed, were Tom & Meg to co-star in another romantic film today it would likely be boo-hooed as "Film Lite," mush -- a chick flick. And yet contrast this with director James Cameron's ground-breaking Avatar: a half-billion-dollar visual romp that broke box-office records in terms of its Extreme production cost and its Extreme earnings. With an anemic screenplay, virtual acting, and CGI galore, Avatar is a hallmark of the Extreme Movement.
Of course Extremism extends well beyond motion pictures. The biggest sport in the U.S. today, in terms of corporate sponsorships and fan base, is by far NASCAR racing. I frankly don't understand why people pay top dollar to see some driver slam into the wall at Daytona and his vehicle shatter into a million pieces. Is it some vicarious release of pent-up rage, anger or frustration, that motivates NASCAR fans? It's hard to believe (at least for me) that people attend these events, and spend the coin that they do, to punish their hearing with the deafening roar of super-charged engines, and to watch dragsters speed aimlessly around oval tracks for long hours. And yet the proceeds from racing, and the thousands of fans who turn out for major events, underscore the magnitude of this Extreme sport.
I could write this dribble all day long with countless examples but I think you get the picture. So I probably don't even need to tell you that Micky-D's now has a "Triple Pounder" burger that's 1/3 of a pound of prime, USDA-inspected beef. Hence, what will be the next logically Extreme progression to follow on from this trend? No doubt a HALF POUNDER, and then eventually, a FULL POUNDER of beef sandwiched between a sesame-seed bun -- Extreme fat and carbs!
So What Is the Prognosis Here?
I suppose my desire would be for the world to take a step back for a moment, pause for a deep breath, and take a long, hard look at how over the top...how extreme...how in your face...how balls to the wall...and how maxed out everything has become. Our parents' generation knew a simpler time when there was nothing wrong with simple love stories without the gore of some Freddie Krueger type sneaking up behind a pair of impassioned young lovers parked at a dark lovers' cove, and then hacking them to pieces with a machete.
So if you ask me the Extreme Scene has been maxed out, so much so that we have all become insular people, immune to the effects of Extremism. We instinctively know better than to let our small children participate in or view things that would defile their innocent sensibilities, hence the rating systems for both films and music. But why shouldn't we believe that, on some subconscious level, all of this overkill is damaging us adults as well? With nearly every channel of modern communication now glutted with Extremism, where can one find safe harbor within their own heart and soul? Through the pursuit of religion? That's probably THE most extreme thing to define this new century: Violent religious Extremism.
Perhaps we have collectively given up on the silly old "Peace & Love" mantra of the '60s and, in this post nine-eleven world, have come to accept Extremism as the new norm, a "New World Disorder." It has to be damaging to us on some level, more so than we suspect. The human mind, like the body itself, can only take so much battering before it goes into a kind of PTSD shock or denial that builds up like a hard shell, deflecting the harsh barrages that are hurled at it every day from a thousand different sources. The big problem with this is that, when we harden ourselves to keep from feeling the pain wrought by our world, we also cut ourselves off to all the good things in life, too: Love, God, compassion, family. To become an Extremist of any sort is to embrace that other '60s slogan: "Tune in, turn on, and drop out." Only, in this case, it's not a drug-fueled counterculture but Life itself that we're missing out on. So as things grind onward toward an uncharted future, I must wonder what the next Extreme thing will be to captivate the limelight, and hijack our minds and souls.
