Children Vote

A recent series in the Los Angeles Times has surveyed a cross-section of "young people" to determine where their interests truly lie among the myriad choices of the entertainment field. Some findings were obvious, and few less so. For instance, it was revealed that most "young people" (which I assume comprises those from 10 to 24) do not get their news mostly from Jon Stewart. and "The Daily Show." I'm not sure if this is comforting or not; I'm surprised they get any news at all, and if they do, I doubt it ever sinks in. Even I ignore the news the best I can nowadays, in a concerted effort to stay sane.

Another finding, classified as unsurprising, is that most young people are just as happy to view a motion picture at home as in a movie theater. One reason is that movie theaters are too expensive. Well, strike a blow for teen-age temperance. Theaters are too expensive. Assume two tickets, parking, the horrible overpriced movie food and the gas to get there and you're down $50. No wonder America's youth is just as happy to view a film on a pirated DVD or downloaded from the web in the comforts of home, where they can get drunk and smoke pot and talk on their cells simultaneously without annoying oldsters complaining.

More intriguing was the discovery that with the plethora of amusement outlets available to them now, from films to TV to Youtube and MySpace and text messaging marathons and of course all those Grand Theft Auto video game extravaganzas, most teens express general boredom with their choices. I guess that "boredom" is hormonally linked to early adulthood, like acne and horniness. I could chasten the entire generation with the paucity of choices I had as a teen, but boy, that would be pointless; I'd end up impersonating the hapless father in the all-knowing "Zits" comic strip.

The thing is, what kids think in this area is of vast import to the Entertainment industry and its ancillary outlets that are so vital to our economy. So as asinine as their preferences seem to be, stockholders in Disney have to be very glad that these kids are willing to view "Pirates of the Caribbean" four or five times, though multiple screenings may just be necessary to help decipher the plot. The young audience is the fuel that runs Hollywood, allowing the studios to produce the Oscar-bait films for the last two months of the year. This will remain constant whether kids attend the cineplexes or sit at their computer consoles.

It would be easy, as well as futile, to bemoan the fact that Hollywood targets so much of its product to this demographic. In the heat of the summer sun, in fact, I find my resistance melting, and I'm willing to suspend my adult elitism for a taste of less challenging fast-food cinema. So I've gone to see "Pirates," and "Superman" (neither very successful nor nourishing, but better than popcorn). I even sojourned down to the Chinese Theater complex to view "Monster House," a hi-tech animated film in 3D. And I enjoyed it. (The 3D technique, now requiring some unobtrusive sunglasses to place over one's own, is more effective and less garish than ever). When another contemporary asked me skeptically why I so indulged I just shrugged and said, "I am my own parent and this one was for the kid."

It's not just the kiddies, then, it's the kiddies in aging skin. Hollywood, is after all, a playground of fantasies, and knowing how to market them is what that makes millionaires in the movie business jungle.