en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/497208 Comments by MatthiasP http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/djenkins/2009/04/29/why-are-christian-movies-so-bad/#IDComment20171348 "If a young Christian wants to become a filmmaker, they are often either discouraged to do so because Hollywood is so dangerous, or if they do find encouragement, they have a hard time getting proper training... We can complain all we want about how Hollywood doesn’t reflect our values, but we lose that right if we’re not producing great projects and artists of our own." Yes and no. I tried to go into filmmaking in college and after graduating. I worked on it for a couple years and here were the problems: a) It's damn hard to raise a family and work in the entertainment industry. Most Christians I know prefer to start a family in their 20's rather than start in their 30's. That's going to push a big chunk of talented people out of the industry. b) Success in the movie industry is tightly tied to social connections. There is no better way to destroy your social connections in Hollywood (and the corresponding theater industry) than to do something like donate money to Prop 8. And even if you don't donate, preferring to keep a low profile by not mentioning it (which I did), someone will ask you point blank (thank you, Perez Hilton) and you have to choose between lying and potentially damaging your career. c) The people suck. This is what ultimately got me out of it. I was surrounded by vapid, selfish, angry people all the time. For the most part, they took joy in mocking political positions with which I had sympathy and the word "blasphemy" was a cynical joke rather than something that was actually offensive to real people. It is tough. It took a toll on me and I ultimately gave the whole industry the middle finger and left for a new career. As a whole, yes, it would be nice if we had more Christians working in the movie industry. But on an individual level, quite frankly, the quality of life for a Christian in Hollywood sucks. I don't regret my decision at all. Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:16:52 +0000 http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/djenkins/2009/04/29/why-are-christian-movies-so-bad/#IDComment20171348 http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jhudnall/2009/04/10/imagine/#IDComment18493237 The problem is that we currently live in a culture that admires non-inclusive self-flagellation. What I mean by this is that too many people think it is humble and brave for an American to say "Yes, Americans are so awful and racist"... but what they really mean is "OTHER Americans (not me, of course) are awful and racist". But because we are in the group, people think it is somehow valid and brave to make damning statements about that group. (This is something Christians do all the time..."We as Christians don't help the poor enough... oh, what, you want me to help the poor more? No, I didn't me me in particular, I mean those OTHER Christians.") Obama has jumped on this bandwagon. "America has been arrogant and self-serving. Oh, not my administration... I mean that OTHER administration. My administration is perfect." This might work well for a little while with parts of Europe, but the fact of the matter is that many other cultures see this kind of attitude as pathetic and weak; a sign that our culture has no confidence in itself. I think it is an attitude that grows out of enormous narcissism. It is an attitude that pretends to be humble, but only does so to get other people to agree so that they will say to themselves "Look! The American thinks America is stupid and who knows better than him? Let's all go congratulate him for reinforcing our stereotype." Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:51:17 +0000 http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jhudnall/2009/04/10/imagine/#IDComment18493237 http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/04/09/summer-movie-season-the-good-the-bad-and-the-maybe/#IDComment18470199 I was disappointed with Michael Mann's "Miami Vice", but "Heat" remains one of the greatest crime dramas of all time. I remain optimistic about Public Enemies and the allure of Christian Bale and Johnny Depp playing opposite each other? Priceless. I'm also with you on Terminator: Salvation... although mainly because of Christian Bale again. Overall, though, the summer looks disturbingly anemic. Usually, I get excited for about a dozen movies and about 3 of them end up being good movies. This summer, I'm excited for about 4 movies. It seems like this is going to be "The Year The Hollywood Took A Huge Dump On My Childhood" ("Where The Wild Things Are" was never meant to be a movie, neither was "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs", then we get another "Transformers" movie and "GI Joe: The Real UN Hero". Just shoot me now.) Fri, 10 Apr 2009 03:42:43 +0000 http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/04/09/summer-movie-season-the-good-the-bad-and-the-maybe/#IDComment18470199 http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/04/08/does-god-exist-hitchens-vs-craig/#IDComment18437307 "Outside of our solar system time does not exist." I'm going to try to assume that this was simply a slip of the tongue (fingers?) and that you meant "outside of our universe". Outside of our solar system, time exists. Outside of our universe (if by "universe", you mean the entirety of physical reality) time does not exist. But then it is hard to square with your statement: "time does not exist in relation to the Universe" That is utter nonsense. Perhaps you have a compelling counter-argument to the whole of Albert Einstein's work (which posits time to be among the physical attributes of the universe)? If so, we would all love to hear it, I'm sure. Thu, 9 Apr 2009 15:28:03 +0000 http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/04/08/does-god-exist-hitchens-vs-craig/#IDComment18437307 http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/04/08/does-god-exist-hitchens-vs-craig/#IDComment18434668 To clarify your point: We as humans are social creatures and we must abide by a code that makes certain actions (such as rape, in our particular culture) taboo. Is rape wrong then? For example, if I moved my family permanently to China, I would do my very best to learn the language, to learn the customs and cultural cues, to understand and abide by the rules of society. It's part of understanding and adjusting to a new culture. Following your logic, if you were to travel to a culture in which rape was acceptable, would it then be a perfectly moral thing (or at least not immoral) for you to rape someone? If you're asserting a correlation between morality and social norms, that conclusion seems to follow. Thu, 9 Apr 2009 15:08:38 +0000 http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/04/08/does-god-exist-hitchens-vs-craig/#IDComment18434668