I still remember Brideshead Revisited and not just because of the script (an adaptation of a novel by Evelyn Waugh). Everything seems magical, unreal. And the places, Brideshead, Venice, Tangier... The second generation of the family is divided between rigid religious values and the call of real life, for love, friendship, adventure. The eldest daughter returns to her comfort zone of purity and God's forgiveness. The youngest one can never free herself from this influence. And the son ends up in Tangier drinking and smoking his life away. The main character finds hope in the end, after all the experiences that life gave him: love, friendship, pain, hope. He is not a believer and has seen how rules can destroy a person devoid of affection. Only love can save and heal. Finally he understands the rejection of his lover and her choice for God and peace of mind.
Another tv series that I won't forget is The jewel in the Crown. Again, it's not just the script. The place is also magical... India in the fourties. So much love and so much pain. So much madness and prejudice. There is hope in the end, even with the scars... More recently, Parade's End and War and Peace. All these tv series are adaptations of novels. And then there are tv series designed directly for television:Law & Order, criminal intent,Menphis Beat, Person of Interest, Borgen, Homeland.
Homeland is becoming better every season. :) Carrie defends young students caught up in the fine line between a natural revolt of free speech and the intention of violence, the real threat. The challenge is huge: how can we draw the line? In Homeland we learn to accept human nature, its strengths and its weaknesses, suffering, dependencies, self-destructive behavior. We won't find prejudice or disgust. Humans are fragile. Hope is still alive in all of them, above suffering and lonely days. This is the message. Humans mess things up but have the ability to fix them.
The Tin Star is an Anthony Mann. This film is about a man who teaches a young man to stay alive in a dangerous job. He also shows him how groups are easily manipulated. Violence often begins this way. That's why he prefers to keep a certain distance. Like most movie heroes, he travels alone, but he is lucky, he finds a family on the way. The woman and the boy are not well accepted in the town. They're mexican. As he binds to this family he overcomes his own cultural limitations.
Global warming, consumerism, isolation, alienation, urban violence, he saw it coming. And I agree with him, science fiction is the literature of the 20th century. As a science fiction writer, his task was warning people. He didn't see himself as a pessimistic. His characters are in a quest and all of them accomplish something, whatever it may be.
I've always enjoyed to anticipate the future. I observe carefully what is going on, general tendencies, priorities, cultural clashes, and then I try to picture these changes in the near future. That's why I like science fiction movies. I'm not talking about time travel or close encounters with aliens. I'm talking about possible and probable events. Almost every science fiction movie shows violence, war and destruction. Some examples: The Postman (1997):
If we compare the movies of the nineties with those of the second decade of the new century we see a clear difference. Movies are becoming more pessimistic. The Postman gives us hope. There's room for survival. Children of Men shows us a world with no future, but still a miracle happens, a new child is born. In War, Inc. everything is marketable, nobody is safe, there's no trust or moral ground (trash culture).
Trash culture, everything that makes noise and promotes violence and destruction. We are exposed to its stimuli that distract us and disturb us in television, radio, cinema, internet, politics, humourists, press, magazines, shopping centers, streets... Indoors and outdoors stimuli lead to conditioned behaviour and consumer habits. News of war and violence lead to fear, obedience, and also to hatred, rough words, lack of empathy. War Inc. shows us the main characteristics of trash culture: life has no value, only power and destruction matter. Nevertheless, even in trash we can find the seeds of survival, the fragile signs of a kind human interaction:
