5 ms·

In a lot of cases, it seems the root cause is disregard for others and greed. People wouldn’t knowingly poison babies if they didn’t stand to make money or they

In a lot of cases, it seems the root cause is disregard for others and greed. People wouldn’t knowingly poison babies if they didn’t stand to make money or they felt sympathy. Unfortunately it seems Hollywood for the past decade or so has glorified nihilism and Machiavellianism because they sell, which has trickled into all facets of American life to the extreme detriment of our society. That’s just my take.

macromagnon 6y ago
It seems rather disproportionate to blame such ills on the movie industry.
- alexfromapex 6y ago
  Why because it’s an uncomfortable truth? It’s certainly not a novel concept https://as.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu-as/politics/documents/AriasCommonKnowledge.pdf https://as.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu-as/politics/documents/Ari... https://gap.hks.harvard.edu/how-does-media-influence-social-norms-field-experiment-role-common-knowledge https://gap.hks.harvard.edu/how-does-media-influence-social-... https://live.worldbank.org/should-we-use-entertainment-media-shape-norms-and-behaviors-scale https://live.worldbank.org/should-we-use-entertainment-media...
  - krustyburger 6y ago
    The notion that human malevolence is a recent enough development to have somehow been caused by this entity “Hollywood” is laughable on its face. Are you under the impression that humans led some kind of Edenic existence before we started watching movies?
    - alexfromapex 6y ago
      I’m not claiming it as an origin of malevolence but definitely an amplifier by distributing and eliciting fascination with dark triad ideas to much larger swaths of the population
      - krustyburger 6y ago
        It seems to me that maybe you should try switching to watching better films before you condemn an entire industry full of creative people. I happened to come across this quote from the late Roger Ebert just now: “If it’s a great movie, it lets you understand a little bit more about what it’s like to be a different gender, a different race, a different age, a different economic class, a different nationality, a different profession, different hopes, aspirations, dreams and fears. It helps us to identify with the people who are sharing this journey with us.” There is no monolithic “Hollywood.” Suggesting not only that there is but that it has a nefarious agenda of some kind is an all-too common element of popular conspiracy theories and, frankly, an example of lazy thinking.
        alexfromapex 6y ago
        It seems to me this is a straw man argument. Hollywood is merely metonymy.
        krustyburger 6y ago
        I am not suggesting that you are under the impression that the film industry is only located in California. I’m sure you’re well aware that isn’t the case. My point is that in reality all sorts of people make all sorts of films, many of which are valuable sources of inspiration and comfort for their audiences. And yet despite this you are quite obviously engaging in a definist fallacy by suggesting that only those films and shows that bother you personally are representative and thus the entire film industry can be rightfully condemned.
natmaka 6y ago
Most people wouldn’t knowingly poison babies they know, or babies of people they know. The root of cause of disregard for a group of people is anonymity, which in turn is a consequence of large and dense groups of humans. Unknown "others" just aren't real. We feel attracted to huge and dense cities/provinces/nations, and the result becomes more and more ugly. Aren't pandemics another consequence of those? Hollywood glorifies what sells (attracts many). Many feel, more or less consciously, surrounded by the masses, threatened by it, and react thru nihilism/Machiavellianism/...

macromagnon 6y ago

It seems rather disproportionate to blame such ills on the movie industry.

alexfromapex 6y ago
Why because it’s an uncomfortable truth? It’s certainly not a novel concept https://as.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu-as/politics/documents/AriasCommonKnowledge.pdf https://as.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu-as/politics/documents/Ari... https://gap.hks.harvard.edu/how-does-media-influence-social-norms-field-experiment-role-common-knowledge https://gap.hks.harvard.edu/how-does-media-influence-social-... https://live.worldbank.org/should-we-use-entertainment-media-shape-norms-and-behaviors-scale https://live.worldbank.org/should-we-use-entertainment-media...
- krustyburger 6y ago
  The notion that human malevolence is a recent enough development to have somehow been caused by this entity “Hollywood” is laughable on its face. Are you under the impression that humans led some kind of Edenic existence before we started watching movies?
  - alexfromapex 6y ago
    I’m not claiming it as an origin of malevolence but definitely an amplifier by distributing and eliciting fascination with dark triad ideas to much larger swaths of the population
    - krustyburger 6y ago
      It seems to me that maybe you should try switching to watching better films before you condemn an entire industry full of creative people. I happened to come across this quote from the late Roger Ebert just now: “If it’s a great movie, it lets you understand a little bit more about what it’s like to be a different gender, a different race, a different age, a different economic class, a different nationality, a different profession, different hopes, aspirations, dreams and fears. It helps us to identify with the people who are sharing this journey with us.” There is no monolithic “Hollywood.” Suggesting not only that there is but that it has a nefarious agenda of some kind is an all-too common element of popular conspiracy theories and, frankly, an example of lazy thinking.
      - alexfromapex 6y ago
        It seems to me this is a straw man argument. Hollywood is merely metonymy.
        krustyburger 6y ago
        I am not suggesting that you are under the impression that the film industry is only located in California. I’m sure you’re well aware that isn’t the case. My point is that in reality all sorts of people make all sorts of films, many of which are valuable sources of inspiration and comfort for their audiences. And yet despite this you are quite obviously engaging in a definist fallacy by suggesting that only those films and shows that bother you personally are representative and thus the entire film industry can be rightfully condemned.

natmaka 6y ago

Most people wouldn’t knowingly poison babies they know, or babies of people they know. The root of cause of disregard for a group of people is anonymity, which in turn is a consequence of large and dense groups of humans. Unknown "others" just aren't real. We feel attracted to huge and dense cities/provinces/nations, and the result becomes more and more ugly. Aren't pandemics another consequence of those? Hollywood glorifies what sells (attracts many). Many feel, more or less consciously, surrounded by the masses, threatened by it, and react thru nihilism/Machiavellianism/...