| ANOTHER YEAR OF ESCAPISM?
by Jason Loewith on 1/02/2008 07:50:00 AM
As reported in today's New York Times, last year was a big one in the movie biz for escapism, with viewers flocking to sci-fi and thrillers so quickly that studios producing "serious" flicks like In the Valley of Elah and Rendition were caught with their pants around their ankles.
My contention - which many folks disagree with - is that those traditionally interested in having their views challenged by the art they consume were so demoralized by the partisan wars surrounding the 2004 Presidential election and its result that they've buried their heads in the sand. Those folks - the fan base for movies like the ones listed above, or for Next Theatre - felt so disenfranchised by the 2004 election that they just started burying their heads in the sand, hoping for better days. That's why a show like Caryl Churchill's Far Away, which we mounted in the spring of 2004 to much success, would be DOA today. A show about the end of the world? Ugh, we're already living it. At least that's what I believe.
Well, my wish for 2008 is that we all find reasons to hope for a better world. That's a great end in itself, and it would do wonders for theater that consistently tries to challenge our views of the world.
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I think most people, at least those who have opinions about issues, rather than have their views challenged by the theater and literature, like to have them comfirmed and reinforced. Plays which "offend," good plays like Long Christmas Ride Home,
drive audiences away, including even Next's. Defiance, it seems to me, reinforced a mainstream
view of morality and made audiences comfortable rather than challenging them.
I think David's point is spot-on, and the reason why DEFIANCE was a record-setter for tickets here. I hope, though, that these things are cyclical... the excitement driving the political process in New Hampshire today, I think, bodes well for a swing towards more receptive and open minds...
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