Entertainment - A Caricature of Life?
June 21st 2009 16:06
I am sure even the most morose person to have ever lived would at some time wish to be entertained. Entertainment, in all its forms and guises, is the perfect antidote to grouchy pessimism. When the entertainment is enlightening, lifting the spirits and creating fun, even expert dullards can't help but enjoy the moment.
Who has never laughed at the hapless clown with his painted face, baggy trousers and oversized boots? How many hours of fun have been extolled by the antics of slap-stick comedians? During times of strife, how often has the relaxing atmosphere of a cinema driven away the stresses of life while watching the make-believe world of Hollywood?
Entertainment has many cloaks; some coloured as brightly as the after-shower rainbow, others as dark and foreboding as a moonless night overlooking the aftermath of a bloodied battlefield. Entertainment in its many forms grows tentacles of joy and sorrow, goodness and evil, love and hatred.
As with life, entertainment is forever evolving. From the death ravaged coliseums of Roman times to the smoke-filled variety halls of Victorian England and forever onward through the years of legendary film epics, comedic masterpieces and gritty true-to-life drama, the business of entertaining marches on. Its tentacles have spread far and wide, covering the stage and screen, playing fields and indoor arenas as well as into the cosy, familiar surrounds of the home.
Television, once the preserve of the elite, has outgrown the cinema, the stage and outdoor pastimes. Even so, this once mighty child of John Logie Baird has now been surpassed by the flexible and mystical attraction of the computer and other electronic cousins and the seemingly infinite number of web sites.
The entertaining printed works of literary giants such as Dickens, Shakespeare, Wordsworth and Keats, to name but four, are becoming mere memories of a fast becoming lost art. The mighty quill is resting alongside the outdated inkwell awaiting its resurrection which will no doubt occur when the modern phenomenon of electrical reliance is but a fading reminiscence.
During its long summer of success, entertainment proudly donned and flaunted its colourful cloak. As it now looks towards the autumnal years of its existence, this behemoth of an industry is slipping out of the vibrant colourful garment and donning one of gloom and despair, of ebony and claret. Its once cheerful face is being covered by a long black veil of violence and bloodlust. The screened scenery of snow-capped mountains and lush green valleys containing hope and happiness, merriment and song, comfort and joy is being replaced by darkened woods, buildings of rage and angst, cities and streets of blood, gore and fear.
The comedian, once the proud bearer of fun and laughter, is now portrayed as an evil and insane madman. The hero, striding across the screen wearing a smile and vanquishing evil with nothing but a disarming air of innocent respectability and a six-shooter, now sports bulging muscles and has the strength to carry an arsenal of nuclear weapons in one hand whilst holding the enemy of a thousand men and machines at bay. The smile has been replaced by a snarl. Wrongs that were set right by nothing more than a fist fight are now settled by the use of extreme, unnecessary violence.
The unfinished argument of entertainment mimicking life or vice-versa will continue until both are extinguished. Films, books, plays and sport have all been born from life and life's attitude has been derived from the medium of those same tentacles of entertainment.
Who is right and who is wrong? Is entertainment a caricature of life or is life nothing more than a parody of entertainment?
The answer my friends, as a young Robert Zimmerman once sang, is blowing in the wind.
Who has never laughed at the hapless clown with his painted face, baggy trousers and oversized boots? How many hours of fun have been extolled by the antics of slap-stick comedians? During times of strife, how often has the relaxing atmosphere of a cinema driven away the stresses of life while watching the make-believe world of Hollywood?
Entertainment has many cloaks; some coloured as brightly as the after-shower rainbow, others as dark and foreboding as a moonless night overlooking the aftermath of a bloodied battlefield. Entertainment in its many forms grows tentacles of joy and sorrow, goodness and evil, love and hatred.
As with life, entertainment is forever evolving. From the death ravaged coliseums of Roman times to the smoke-filled variety halls of Victorian England and forever onward through the years of legendary film epics, comedic masterpieces and gritty true-to-life drama, the business of entertaining marches on. Its tentacles have spread far and wide, covering the stage and screen, playing fields and indoor arenas as well as into the cosy, familiar surrounds of the home.
Television, once the preserve of the elite, has outgrown the cinema, the stage and outdoor pastimes. Even so, this once mighty child of John Logie Baird has now been surpassed by the flexible and mystical attraction of the computer and other electronic cousins and the seemingly infinite number of web sites.
The entertaining printed works of literary giants such as Dickens, Shakespeare, Wordsworth and Keats, to name but four, are becoming mere memories of a fast becoming lost art. The mighty quill is resting alongside the outdated inkwell awaiting its resurrection which will no doubt occur when the modern phenomenon of electrical reliance is but a fading reminiscence.
During its long summer of success, entertainment proudly donned and flaunted its colourful cloak. As it now looks towards the autumnal years of its existence, this behemoth of an industry is slipping out of the vibrant colourful garment and donning one of gloom and despair, of ebony and claret. Its once cheerful face is being covered by a long black veil of violence and bloodlust. The screened scenery of snow-capped mountains and lush green valleys containing hope and happiness, merriment and song, comfort and joy is being replaced by darkened woods, buildings of rage and angst, cities and streets of blood, gore and fear.
The comedian, once the proud bearer of fun and laughter, is now portrayed as an evil and insane madman. The hero, striding across the screen wearing a smile and vanquishing evil with nothing but a disarming air of innocent respectability and a six-shooter, now sports bulging muscles and has the strength to carry an arsenal of nuclear weapons in one hand whilst holding the enemy of a thousand men and machines at bay. The smile has been replaced by a snarl. Wrongs that were set right by nothing more than a fist fight are now settled by the use of extreme, unnecessary violence.
The unfinished argument of entertainment mimicking life or vice-versa will continue until both are extinguished. Films, books, plays and sport have all been born from life and life's attitude has been derived from the medium of those same tentacles of entertainment.
Who is right and who is wrong? Is entertainment a caricature of life or is life nothing more than a parody of entertainment?
The answer my friends, as a young Robert Zimmerman once sang, is blowing in the wind.
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