Agendas, both literally and figuratively

I took the kids to see Eddie Murphy's most recent movie, Imagine That, this afternoon. After reading the poor reviews the movie received, I wasn't expecting much. To be sure, Audrey and Zach started getting restless halfway into the movie. However, my older girls liked the movie and could relate to the little girl. The movie isn't action-packed, it's not an intellectual movie; it's supposed to be a feel-good movie for families. I enjoyed it. For the $2 theater, it was a great way to spend the afternoon.

My favorite part was when Murphy shows up dressed up as a King to help his daughter have the courage to sing in front of an audience. Was it predictable? Yes. Has it been done before? Surely it has. But I'd rather take my kids to see a movie about a parent who learns not to take themselves so seriously as opposed to what Hollywood considers a typical movie for it's "Christian" base. "Evan Almighty" was a poor excuse for what Hollywood thinks Christians would like to see at the movie theater. We don't need to see parts of the Bible acted out on the big screen to agree with the values portrayed in a movie or to enjoy it. That's a manifestation of how small-minded and unintelligent the studios think the Christian movie-going base is.

The critics who wrote the reviews for Eddie Murphy's movie mourned the days of his Beverly Hills Cop era. They wonder why he has fallen upon his sword to make family movies instead of more of his well-known blockbusters. Could it possible that Murphy, having made his bazillions, decided to make movies that he could take his kids to? Or that push an agenda that he thinks is important: parents taking time to listen to their children. If you think about it, this is the theme of most of his recent movies. Heaven forbid.

Hollywood, on the other hand, works many different angles in their choices of movies to produce. That's old news. Most critically-thinking adults can find the messages a movie studio wants to promote and then decide whether it's something they value or not. It's probably been so ingrained in us, that we do this subconciously. In my opinion, the people who review and reward a movie and it's cast/technical staff, are the ones whose agenda slips under the radar.

For example, Halle Berry's won an Academy Award, or Emmy, a few years ago. Until the script came along that eventually won her the award, Halle Berry said that she would never appear completely nude in a film. For whatever reason, this script made her realize that she "had to be true to herself", not her fans. (I read that quote in an interview after the award show. Whatever stops the tears, Halle.) There are myriad reasons why actors win these awards. I'm sure Berry's movie was good, but I think this was Hollywood's way of positively reinforcing her choice of scripts.

This is why I own a DVR. At it's most basic, a DVR allows people to watch what they want, when they want to watch it. On a philosophical level, it allows us to free ourselves from someone else's ideas of what we should watch. And I definitely don't let my kids watch live tv after Halloween and no commercials: they end up with serious cases of the Christmas Gimme's. On a less conspiracy-theorist note, I DVR tv shows so that I don't have to choose between putting my kids to bed properly or rushing it so that I can watch my favorite show. I know it's sad that it's even a question in my mind.