Who are we to talk about movies and morality?
 As
the founder and CEO of Fidelis Entertainment, I like to think that I have a
lot to say about it. I've raised three children: one is married, one is in
the U.S. Navy, and the third is still at home. And I care deeply about what
they see in a movie theater.
So let's call a spade, a spade: Hollywood produces
garbage. There. I said it.
I called on one of our potential investors in Burbank,
California recently. When I referred to the studios down the street from his
office as "cesspools" of entertainment, with a rueful smile the man
understood what I meant. But don't take just my word for it. And now
even MSNBC's own poll points out that the values of Hollywood movie makers
are way out of touch as far as the movie-going public is concerned. See the
results of the MSNBC poll by clicking here
or by clicking on the "Out of Touch Values" link above.
Veteran entertainer
Pat Boone1
had some things to say about it in a recent commentary from his column at
 .
Here's what he had to say:
|
 |
Shakespeare offered, "He who steals my purse steals
trash; but he who steals my good name takes that which little enriches
him but makes me poor indeed." Will we, in the final analysis, settle
for being known as Ugly Americans, those wimpy dissolute weaklings who
can't even stay married, who abort their young by the millions and who
have the highest crime stats in the world?
Will our identity be chiefly as the producers
and exporters of the filthiest and most decadent "entertainment" since
Caligula to the rest of the watching world? Will we be
identified as the citizenry who divorced themselves from the very God
they used to call on for protection and guidance, and who gave Muslim
extremists excuses galore to call us "the great Satan"?
[The emphasis
is mine. – CRW] |
What does all this have to do with us, and with you?
Well, as for us, we want better entertainment for our family and our friends
– for our nation and the world. And it has become
abundantly clear that if this is going to happen, it's going to be up to us,
the independent producers, directors, and writers, because "Hollywood"
– that is to say, the mainline studio system –
surely has no incentive to do anything different.
That's why our name – Fidelis
– says it all. Fidelis means "faithful". That's
our promise to our customers, the movie-going public. And it's our promise
to our investors.
So as for you,
why not join us?
 1Pat
Boone had a minor role in my choice of career. He wouldn't know about this,
of course. How many of you remember the marvelous motion picture
Journey to the
Center of the Earth, starring James Mason and Pat Boone? I saw
that picture in a theater in Fort Madison, Iowa, when I was seven years old
(way back in 1959). I never forgot it. And part of my decision to work as a
screenwriter (and now producer) in the motion picture business came from
remembering the thrills I saw in that marvelous movie. I'm glad that someone
has remade it
for theatrical release (in 3D). |
