LifeStyles…by Joe Davis

“These Fuckin' Guys” - John Stewert
Sitting back in the student lounge of my school's loop building. I was
“woken” out of a day dream by a loud plethora of sounds coming from
down the street. I already knew at the time the movie “Transformers 3”
was being shot here in Chicago, but never before had I noticed the
real “extent” to which the movie industry shoots it's films. Obviously
a movie is supposed to look real for people to enjoy it's aesthetic
value, but to what end I wondered, looking over the sets controlled
chaos.
The heavily damaged streets and obnoxiously loud activity, didn't help
the feeling I had like the whole thing had to be mugging up someone's
day. Whether it be the business' on that particular street or the
unfortunate people who spend their daily time there, the movie seemed
to be a giant wrench in anybody's plans. But of course, I never once
noticed anyone “protesting” the event.
“Does Hollywood or the city compensate these folks?” I thought,
watching a group of stuntmen base jump from rooftops. “If not, how
much does it impact them? The loss of business during the filming and
reconstruction of the area must be terribly arduous to recover from?”
Continuing to ponder this topic for a while and ending on the
terrifying notion that people wouldn't get a say in the matter anyway,
“like it or not”, though I don't personally know if that's true. The
simple fact of my ignorance on the subject only increased my interest,
and quickly brought to my attention the psychology of people and
movies and it's seemingly one sided love affair. Everybody to some
degree at least “enjoys” one movie in their life and many people treat
it as a monthly ritual, taking care to see any thing new coming out;
the whole time however long I've care to notice, the industry didn't
seem to actually care about us; regurgitating the same successful
shows and movies over and over, sacrificing creativity for profit.
That being said, I couldn't help but go back to my earlier inquiry on
the movie being currently filmed outside. To what extent do we, the
consumers, grant Hollywood or to be more specific, the media, the
power to conduct their businesses? As I've seen with “Transformers”,
it would appear maybe we give a little to much lee way. To some extent
I feel we should be able to say to Hollywood, “hey, love what your
doing guys, but you kinda fucked up my life's schedule when you
decided to trash part of the city.” and actually be listened to for a
change.
But I'm aware that such thought is better defined as overtly
idealistic; people want movies, so people will undoubtedly let movies
and such be made to the best quality. But I'm curious how long such a
parasitic relationship will continue. You only really notice a tick
after they've sucked to much blood from you, with the economy as it
is, I wonder when we'll start a fire.