First person singular:
When bad movies happen to good people

When it comes to tasteless movies, “Jackass Number Two” is a major offender.

By Austin Showen
Nitro High School

The film industry is in what could be called a “cinematic depression.” In 2006, many films were released that were cheap and just plain awful. The list includes, but is not limited to, “Beerfest,” “Jackass Number Two,” “John Tucker Must Die” and animated comedies about talking animals.

You may have seen these films and even laughed while viewing them, but the reality is that they are terrible movies. They insult viewers’ intelligence and Americans’ overall taste in film.

Every year, hundreds of films are shown in theaters, but only a select few can be called good films. But the number of good films has been declining over the past decade. Why has the film industry taken this turn for the worse?

One reason is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. At the 2006 Academy Awards, many things were wrong, but the most glaring mistake was giving an Oscar to rappers. The hip-hop group Three Six Mafia miraculously received an Oscar for “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from “Hustle & Flow.”

In a sane world, rappers would not win Academy Awards. However, due to the lapse of judgment among Academy members, it’s apparently not too hard for a pimp to win an Oscar.

Another problem is that the quality of film plots has steadily declined for the past decade. Originality is now a rare quality as audiences are bombarded with sequels, remakes and versions of stories that have been seen hundreds of times before.

This rash of repeats makes one wonder if studios have simply run out of ideas. Not likely. Instead, the film studios just think moviegoers are idiots.

The studios’ contempt for viewer intelligence is appalling. The worst offender is Lions Gate Films, which produces most of the low-budget horror films that plague the box office and torment critics. But the continual release of sappy comedy-dramas, chick flicks and unfunny comedies is another example of the studios’ contempt.

It is time for a change from the second-rate movies that have become the norm. People want to see good movies and not ones that make them fear that they have lost IQ points upon leaving the theater.

With the death of Robert Altman, only a select few great film directors are left, including Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood and Oliver Stone. The film industry can no longer depend solely on these greats to produce quality films.

New directors like Sofia Coppola (“Marie Antoinette,” “Lost in Translation”), Christopher Nolan (“The Prestige,” “Batman Begins”) and Paul Haggis (“Crash”) are the future of the film industry. With both critical acclaim and box office success, they show that there is hope for Hollywood.

All the industry needs is fresh ideas and new blood to reverse the decline of film. Maybe it can start with a plan to rid movies of Tom Cruise.