When the idea of moving pictures was first introduced, there was an excitement because it was possible to show more depth to things that the audience would not have seen for themselves. Somehow, since that time, televisions have become boxes that tell us what to think. Instead of giving us more information so that we can learn, we are being told one side and that we must believe it. Today we hear that there is going to be a primetime special called “Prescription For America” that will be aired by ABC News. It’s going to be a one-sided broadcast pushing Americans to accept nationalized health care. There are some people who take a look at this and decide that anything on television is not worth watching. While I understand the frustration in finding something worth seeing, I can not bring myself to reject it completely. If I did that, would I not have to reject all other technology that is being abused also? For me to reject television entirely, I would have to become Amish or Mennonite. Since I do not have all of the time in the world, it seems wise to pay attention to what others have watched and found to be worth their time. There are movie rating services that report on how family-friendly a movie is without giving away the plot (ex: Crosswalk has one). This helps for when you want to take people to see a movie in theaters. Anyhow, tonight I watched a movie that a friend recommended a couple weeks ago. It is called “The Wave” and was produced in 1981 for television. The movie runs about 45 minutes long and recounts (or is based on) a social experiment that took place in a high school class in California during the late 1960s. Here is a link to the video. I’ll recommend that you watch it too:

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=4689717947890475769&hl=en&fs=true

What do you think? Is it worth the time to watch it? Are all movies mindless or have some producers managed to hold to the original purpose of film?