Following this week's turn of events, I find myself in a bit of a disheartened daze. I'll spare you an impassioned Facebook-style monologue, because God knows my sentiments on the matter are being echoed in harmony across many a social feed right now.
The times, they are a-changin'. And they've got me thinking about the good that'll come out of the mess we've gotten ourselves into. I've thought about the slight parallel this may have to the McCarthyism / Red Scare / atomic bomb paranoia of the 1950s. I think about the loosening of strict Production Code rules that would bring us films which increasingly pushed the button against a devoutly conservative decade. The Production Code would collapse in due time, and even further ahead of the Fifties, I think of the mid-Sixties through the end of the Seventies - an extremely turbulent time that resulted in a pinnacle for American cinema as an art form.
So I guess what I'm saying is, whatever negatives lie ahead in the next four years, I am confident that people will be inspired to turn them into something meaningful and beautiful - be that fighting and standing up for what they believe in and/or funneling that energy into important and expressive work that bears meaning for populations of people. As of late I've felt the desire to go lose myself in movies, arts, and entertainment as a means of escape - and I'm looking forward to seeing how it will all thrive against this warped upheaval that we face.
