For One Person, Popular Entertainment = "Optimistic Mood"

12/27/2009 Posted by Admin

As the year and the decade draw to a close, I find myself in a strangely optimistic mood. True, there are many reasons for pessimism--war, global warming, a so-so health care bill, a potentially nuclear Iran, huge unemployment, etc. But over the past week, I have found reasons to be cheerful in popular entertainment, specifically the films Up and Avatar. The former, I believe, is proof that the negative effects of consumerism run wild are so pervasive that they actually permeate children’s entertainment (in a good way). The latter speaks to the best aspects of what capitalism in combination with the American Dream makes possible.