06/18/2004 01:30:15 -05:00 GMT

My Job and The Power of Film

Evening of Friday, June 18th, 2004. Today was a good day, although work has become a strange holding area for one Rob McDonald, as he waits for medical school to begin. I assigned myself some last projects before I go, but those are all near completion now, and I still have about four weeks to go at work. The easy solution is to identify some more projects and get them started. But I've come down with a case of Spring Fever; a part of me has already left.

Michael Bertram, Ph.D. has taken over as Administrative Director for the Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He's a very competent chap, a family man, and I think he will do well and exceed that which I have done at CFAR. In his recent incarnation, he was a scientist studying cell senescence, but the line of inquiry that he was following was not viewed as high priority by the funding agencies that are out there. As fortune would have it, I am vacating a spot that should prove intellectually stimulating, exciting, and challenging for him. I have great confidence that he will do a fine job.

Maggie and Bamayo have gone to bed, and I've got Pirates of the Caribbean on the tube. I've heard good things about the film and about Johnny Depp in the film. He's one of those rare actors whose work always seems to bring the Midas touch with it. I've not been watching much, so I don't have an opinion to add to the gossip. And in the grand scheme of things, how much does a film like that mean, anyway? 

Compare Schindler's List to a film whose merits are based in entertainment. In my opinion, the meaningful film which moves an audience to think, and even to change one's paradigms and beliefs - that is a film that has more value than one that merely makes one laugh or feel rosy.

These ideas point to the power of film, and the potency that film can have to influence a large number of people. A well made film can have an impact on masses of populations, and indeed, can change societies. I believe this is why the media is so carefully monitored and regulated by governments all over the world. When a message that fits an ideology is broadcast through accessible channels to the majority of a population, the government has a means to control it's governed. This is why we see such careful editing in news productions. We mustn't let the masses get to thinking!

I think this power in film is also why the government and Hollywood, in the sense of the industry leaders in film in the United States, are often at odds. The government has a vested interest in controlling the messages that enter the minds of its governed. Hollywood has a similar stake in making money from the same populations. When the messages are not congruent, some conflict can arise.

I think it is the rare instances when a great film is made that promotes the betterment of its viewers - it is these examples that resolve the conflict of government and Hollywood media intentions. Schindler's List provides one such film as an example. Viewing Schindler's List left me with a sense of disorientation to my ordinary life. I remember driving out from the theatre being unsure of which road to take to get home. The idea that Schindler's List brought into the forefront of my mind was that no matter what we do in our selfish daily quests, even if we aim for altruistic good, we can do more. I suppose my Catholic upbringing plays a part when I refine that statement thusly. We always fall short of the best that we can possibly be.

I imagine a scene near the end of Schindler's List, when Schindler thought about his jewelry, and the other life or two that he could have brought out of Nazi control. Instead of being satisfied with the 600 plus Jews that he saved, he knelt and he sobbed upon realizing his weakness.

So as voices cry out and the sounds of gun fire emit from the television, I pay no attention. There are more important things to be thinking about.