A couple of interesting quotes on the idea of movies as a modern replacement for/substitute religion. While a fan of movies myself, I think we often will underestimate the power of influence they carry to inform our basic beliefs. They are, among other things, a powerful form of instruction. Even when not overtly teaching, they frequently instruct us on a deep level. As does almost all art. We love and identify with what we continually expose ourselves to. Movies don’t always present a consistent worldview, but there is remarkable continuity on a wide range of basic belief/understanding. I am interested in your thoughts.-sds

“I meet people occasionally who think motion pictures, the product Hollywood makes, is merely entertainment, has nothing to do with education. That’s one of the darndest fool fantasies that is current . . . . Anything that brings you to tears by way of drama does something to the deepest roots of our personality. All movies, good or bad, are educational and Hollywood is the foremost educational institution on earth. What, Hollywood more important Harvard? The answer is not as clean as Harvard, but nevertheless farther reaching.”

Carl Sandburg

I haven’t seen this movie, but you get the idea.

“I believe cinema is now the most powerful secular religion and people gather in cinemas to experience things collectively the way they once did in church. The cinema storytellers have become the new priests. They’re doing a lot of the work of our religious institutions, which have so concretized the metaphors in their stories, taken so much of the poetry, mystery and mysticism out of religious belief, that people look for other places to question their spirituality.”

George Miller

HT: James Grant