Conspiracy Theory

I could not help but notice that Brokeback Mountain received eight Oscar nominations this morning. I am almost 100% certain that it will take home the Oscar for Best Picture. I have not seen it. I will not see it. There are many reasons, but one of the reasons is that I like my Cowboys playing football in Dallas with stars on their helmets, not lying under the stars together on the prairie.
Now, I am not one to blast Hollywood too much. We have many people in our church family who work in the industry and I think that is great. We need godly men and women in the industry. When it comes to Hollywood, they are what they are. If you do not realize what they are allow me to share my thoughts. I believe that Hollywood has two basic bottom lines. The first and most obvious one is money. Movies, television, radio, and the music industry exist primarily to make money. That is why the weekly box office ratings are measured in dollars. That is why there are like 47 entertainment shows on each night. They are there to promote Hollywood not necessarily to inform us. So we have money and, now some of you will bristle at this because there is an “art” factor in a lot of what Hollywood produces, we have their second bottom line, which is their agenda. Hollywood has an agenda.
I am not much on conspiracy theories, however there are times when they are exposed or in some cases they expose themselves. Ang Lee, the director of Brokeback Mountain, exposed Hollywood’s agenda in his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes earlier this month. In his tribute to the other directors that were nominated he said, “I just want to give my first thanks to my fellow filmmakers for strengthening my faith in the power of movies to change the way we’re thinking,” And there you have it. The confession. The admission. They have an agenda. They want to change the way that we are thinking! When the pressure was on, when the hot lights of award show interrogation went on Ang Lee buckled under the intense pressure and he spilled the beans. He inadvertently ratted out Hollywood. They want to change the way that we think.Don’t get me wrong. I believe in America. I believe in Larry McMurtry’s (and his typewriter), Diana Ossana’s and Ang Lee’s right to express themselves. I believe that Ang Lee had every right to expose Hollywood’s agenda through his free (acceptance) speech. I believe that as Christ followers we have every right to reject what Hollywood is subtly trying to feed us. I am not preaching against movies. I am preaching for godly thinking. I am just saying that when you go the movies this weekend…pay attention. They might be trying to tell you something.