Hollywood's Attack On Religion
The section that I have chosen to analyze from the book Hollywood vs.
America is "The Attack on Religion." In this part of the book, Michael Medved
discusses the shift in attitude Hollywood has made toward religion, from
acceptable to contemptible. He takes a look at the messages being sent in films,
music and television in the last 15 to 20 years and analyzes their effects. In
general, Hollywood depicts religion in an unfavorable manner, according to
Medved. Moreover, Medved also argues that, not only has Hollywood taken a
hostile stance toward religion, but it has paid the price, literally, for doing
so. All of Medved's arguments are well supported and documented, making ...
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(38). However, as Medved points out, the protest was
"the largest protest ever mounted against the release of a motion picture" (37)
and included such groups as the National Council of Catholic Bishops, the
Southern Baptist Convention, twenty members of the U.S. House of Representatives
and prominent figures such as Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Ken Wales, former
vice president at Disney studios. Even with such strong opposition from these
respected groups and people, the studio refused to listen and stood behind its
First Amendment rights.
MCA/Universal was even supported by the Motion Picture Association of
America, which stated that "The . . . MPAA support MCA/Universal in its absolute
right to offer to the people whatever movie it chooses" (41). However, Medved
rebukes this statement, arguing that "absolute right" wasn't the issue; the
issue "concerned the movie company's choices, not its rights" (41). He supports
this argument further by indicating that the MPAA ...
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press also distorted the movement against the release of the film by
"focusing on one utterly unrepresentative individual as the preeminent symbol of
that movement: the Reverend R. L. Hymers" (43). His predictions of impending
apocalypse, his violent outbursts, and his history of legal problems "lived up
to anyone's worst nightmare of deranged religious fanatic. Naturally, the press
couldn't get enough of him" (43). The press also misrepresented the movement's
main objections, according to Medved, by focusing on the "dream sequence" in
which Jesus makes love to Mary Magdalene, "and asserting that this image alone
had provoked the furor in the religious community" (44). However, ...
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"Hollywood's Attack On Religion." Essayworld.com. April 26, 2005. Accessed April 20, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hollywoods-Attack-On-Religion/25938.
"Hollywood's Attack On Religion." Essayworld.com. April 26, 2005. Accessed April 20, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hollywoods-Attack-On-Religion/25938.
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