Observations on the World of Entertainment

I have been writing a weekly column for NiceGirlsTV for almost seven years now…

Wow!!! I have to take a moment to let that sink in.

Throughout that lengthy time, I have written about my love affair with television since I was a child; countless articles about what will be airing on TV in the coming months and so much, much more. I’ve almost lost track of all the columns.

But one thing I know for sure is I rarely voice my personal opinions in length. I will make a comment here and there, but I try to stay neutral and only provide details and facts. After all that has been my goal since getting into the world of writing – providing as many details to our interested readers so they can be as informed about what is happening in the world of entertainment as possible.

That all being said, though, it has been hard for me not to comment on certain situations within the entertainment industry.

First, there has been a lot of controversy about the all-white nominations for the upcoming Academy Awards. Yes, it is wrong that more people of color have not been honored by this year’s Oscars. I can respect people’s decisions to boycott the awards ceremony either by not watching or by not attending because everyone has the right to feel the way they do about the situation. To my way of thinking, though, boycotting the awards really isn’t the way to make changes. It’s actually getting inside the system to make the changes that will bring about fairness and more equality.

The same can be said for women making more strides behind the scenes as directors, writers, producers, series creators and the like. The same can be said for women in front of the camera to be paid at the same level as their male counterparts. Complaining about the situation isn’t going to affect change. Getting inside the system and making changes there will bring about change.

Now, I’m not saying that getting inside the system will be easy or that change will come quickly – that’s just not going to happen. Let’s be realistic. But, change comes from within, right? So people in power (no matter their color) need to force change in order to see change come about.

Okay, that’s my two cents worth on that subject…let’s move on to the next topic: the film industry.

Granted, our site focuses on television. That’s a given. But the film industry holds a pretty high place on my list of interests except for the glutton of “crap” that seems to be made and screened on Cineplex screens all over the globe.

Perhaps it’s the pervasiveness of the “dumbing down of society” that has – over the years – brought about the lack of quality movies being released. What passes for comedy these days is nothing short of pathetic. And what happened to those great romantic comedies that used to be released one after the other? Even many of the sci-fi films just don’t hold up anymore. What passes as a “classic” movie nowadays is far short of what a real classic movie was back in the day? Maybe that’s the problem. We’ve progressed too far that people have forgotten what quality really stands for.

Perhaps it has more to do with the fact I’m not in my 20’s and 30’s anymore. Perhaps it’s because I’ve lost touch with what is (supposedly) hip and cool in our modern society. Perhaps it has more to do with the East Coast ‘old school values’ for which I was raised that has made me so disappointed in what the film industry is making anymore.

Or maybe like everything else there will be a shift in the world: what was old is new again?! One can hope…one can truly hope.