Are We Living In A World Where Sex And Horror Are The New Gods?*

I received an e-mail today from Creative Screenwriting magazine, which talked about how the box office for 2009 (so far) was 18% up on 2008.

It then went on to say:

"People Are Flocking To The Movies, Recession and All...

And that means the demand for scripts will grow. This is not really a surprise. Movies and TV tend to be counter-cyclical, in economic terms: When people are out of work, when people feel bad, they escape to the place where they can forget their worries.

It's Your Job To Help Them Forget Those Worries"

An echo of my comment yesterday, perhaps, but what amused me most was the rallying nature of it: there's an economic and emotional depression on, and people will need entertainment to smile their way out of it. Only the writers can bring joy to a joyless world!

Thinking about it, I guess entertainment is like the sigh of an oppressed creature, or the heart of a world with no heart - in much the same way as it's the soul of a soulless situation. In a way, for many people it's a kind of drug, like opium.

Oh, hang on, that's religion, isn't it? Ah well.

Anyway, I must away and write! It's my duty to help my fellow beings forget their worries!

*Frankie Say: so, in Two Tribes, so maybe we are.