The current films depicting the possible future of mankind tend to be focused on dystopian depictions of dire or desperate conditions for the common person, with elitist capitalists or ruthless tyrants running the show, or a constant state of war with other people, aliens, robots, and zombies. This constant threat of a foreboding future is so prevalent that it is not surprising that most people have such a negative view of the direction we are heading and have resigned themselves to accept it as inevitable. It’s like the child who is only told how bad they are and never given any positive encouragement to be better, they will ultimately just totally own their title of badness and completely give up on even trying to be good at all. In turn, over praising can also lead the child to believe that they can never be wrong and then become obnoxious adults and terrible workers who can never be corrected. Somewhere in between there must be a harmonious balance. So how can we teach the lessons of harmonious compromise and the rainbow of choices that fall between the either black or white absolutism?
Without a positive example of how we can create a better, more favorable, world; or without any positive reinforcement of our better societal qualities, we will only be conditioned to become the very worst of possible worlds. For that matter, we may only adamantly reject any notion of being a good person at all and, without any reservations, totally embrace ruthless brutality over compassion. The overly promoted notion that only the ruthless and selfish are rewarded and the empathetic are constantly being punished will inevitably create more ruthless and selfish people. That’s how repetitive example and reward programing work.
If we are constantly entertained with fallacies of the reluctant nonconformist hero saving the day (but only because he loves the good girl), as if their narcissist personality is superior to the common freedom fighters fighting for an ideology, don’t be surprised that selfishness is the new norm. When the lifestyle of the bad guys is far more favorable than the good guys (and there are plenty of bad girls who will love you) don’t be surprised when the petulant child chooses the sweet life of being bad. The truth becomes seen as a lie and the lies become seen as the truth; mountains become demoted to mole hills and the mole hills become inflated to mountains. This is how the power of ‘just entertainment’ influences our many malleable minds into believing in fairy tales.
The way we absorb entertainment is unconsciously enhanced by our cultural characterizing of it as “just entertainment” as if it is innocent and unharmful in and of itself and therefore doesn’t have to be taken seriously. However, this simply is not true, for we love to believe in fairytales and, like the heroes in our favorite fantasies, we convince ourselves that we too will never die and can fly if we just believe. How can we find a reasonable resistance to the medium of hate and mayhem without creating an unreasonable outrage and throw the baby out with the bath water? There needs to be a counterbalance of favorable future films to at least propose another possibility future to strive for other than just doom, gloom and despair.
The need for favorable future films is needed now more than ever, and the lack thereof will only contribute to the downward spiraling of society into another great abyss of self-destruction and despair. Can we at least try to envision another future more favorable than the same old apocalyptic mess we have been promoting for far too many years?
Can we at least try to counter the effects of misdirection and disinformation with good direction and true information? Or are we just going to let people continue to hide behind our freedom of speech while they propagate unadulterated lies in this long con of misdirection and deception. Their con-games are just luring people into their own self-destruction with the same sugar-logic used to sell either a sour sweet righteous indignation, or a syrupy sweet philosophy of naive positivity devoid of reality.
We can’t simply standby and wait for some Superman or a ridiculously rich superhero to come save us from ourselves and do the right thing. These ideas of a superior race of people or a benevolent elite class have simply never proved to be true or even possible. For that matter all politicians and rich people are not necessarily corrupt, even if some of them are clearly flawed. We need another approach to creating a more favorable future for mankind that doesn’t rely on these ridiculous fantasies that have been regurgitated, over and over again, for generations now.
To create a favorable future film, we really don’t have to imagine a world where everyone is always happy, serene or smart. As if life and love will somehow exist without any sadness or pain. These films can still have its’ conflict in need of resolution, it can still have flaws that need to be fixed, and imperfect or even evil people trying to do harm.
A favorable future film need not have to be devoid of all conflict or dilemma, quite the contrary, people will always have their shortcomings and disagreement; just as nature will aways have its’ outburst of volcanos, hurricanes, fires and such. There would be no love without the sadness of lose or the contrast of hatred. Afterall, life without adversity would get pretty boring rather quickly and that wouldn’t be a very favorable future either.
However, how can we better handle these inevitable challenges presented to man and nature a little better than we have so far? Can we at least try to think outside these prepackaged boxes of post-apocalyptic future scenarios, grand conspiracies, running away to space, or the return of some imaginary God King who miraculously brings peace on earth. Let’s get real and try a new approach to envisioning our future, instead of these same old worn-out tropes? Consider it an artistic exercise, a study in new possibilities, and actually try to truly think outside of these prepackaged boxes.
Good inventions, motivated by necessity, start in our imagination but are only made real with hard work and determination. We obviously need more favorable future films; for we have far too many unfavorable ones already. So, who’s willing to break out of these old, battered boxes of bully behaviors, and create some new packages for us to believe as a possible future? Who’s willing put in the hard work to write these futuristic stories? And who’s willing to put up the funds to finance these favorable future films; films that can inspire us to create a better life for our children, grandchildren, and the many generations to come?