Article

The Harmful Effects of Movies

Reginald B. Humphreys, Ph.D
copyright © 2004

A clearly harmful development in the movie industry has been the advent of video rental stores, which rent movies to their members. Early stores of this type had to experiment with different ways of organizing and displaying their stock of movies for rent. Over time, false categories began to appear, such as "action", "drama", etc., that had not previously existed as such powerful organizing categories. The market- driven movie industry soon began to pander to these categories, in an attempt to earn revenues for having the top sellers or rentals in a given category.

Currently, the more a film seems to fit a category, the less it can be a true conduit of meaningful creativity. Only films which constitute or define a new category (or a category of their own) can be thought of as legitimately creative. The following definitions of current film categories helps to reveal the actual underlying "values" that are promoted by each category.

"Guy" films:
Definition: Films that certain women refuse to see.
There is no such thing as a guy's movie, and the very existenc of this false category represents a continuous, toxic, and nagging complaint from certain women regarding these films. When certain women refer to certain films as "guy's films" they are simultaneously complaining about the film and putting it down as well, along with any people that might enjoy it. The woman is communicating that she is far "above" the enjoyment of such films, and that any such enjoyment is for individuals of a lower social strata.

If pressed, these women claim that they experience harmful emotions during scenes of violence or danger, and afterwards experience various forms of distress or discomfort, including sleeplessness or nightmares.

"Action/Adventure" films:
Definition: Films for A.D.D. afflicted individuals

"Drama" films

"Romantic Comedy" films

"Comedy" films

"Documentary" films

"Message" movies

"Medical Docudramas"