Is That An Uprising In Your Pocket, Or Are You Just Glad To See Me?

Have you noticed the high number of entertainment titles that have made use of the word “rise” in one form or another?  Below are some examples:

300: Rise of an Empire

The Dark Knight Rises

TRON: Uprising

Rise of the Guardians

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Rise of the Foot Soldier

Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Hannibal Rising

Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj

Carlito’s Way: Rise to Power

And on and on and on…. There are quite a few more.

Is it possible that the ever compassionate and creative minds at the helm of the entertainment industry are trying to convey a message of some kind?  Keep in mind that the vast majority of mainstream entertainment is funded by a surprisingly small number of influential individuals and/or corporate entities.  Consider how often the name Harvey Weinstein shows up in film credits… the man is listed on the IMDB website as having 264 producer credits.

Of course, to imply that our corporate funded “art” is actually a vehicle for rather ominous forecasts of a post-apocalyptic future would be utterly insane, I suppose.  After all, art is nothing more than a distraction, right?  It couldn’t possibly be relevant to our, I don’t know, reality.  It’s not as though we look to the artistic creations of our ancestors in order to determine what was important to them or to understand how they viewed themselves and the world…  OH.  Wait.  That’s exactly what we do.  Well, no matter, I’m sure our present day art is meaningless drivel meant only to turn a profit and nothing more.  Certainly these projects that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to produce and distribute have nothing to tell us about ourselves or the reality we are blindly racing toward.

By the way, here are some other things on the rise:

Civil unrest around the globe

Extreme inequality

Inflation

Religious fanaticism

Global water levels

Ignorance

And…drum roll please…

The “New World Order!”

Gasp.  Yep.  I went there.  I know, I know, it’s that conspiracy-theory-paranoid-fear-that-elitist-douchebags-are-attempting-to-control-the-entire-globe nonsense…another mind bites the dust!  Admit it, that’s your well conditioned, knee-jerk response to the term “New World Order”.  Never mind the reality of global events.  Never mind the painfully obvious push toward a one world government with military power as its core component of control.  Never mind the world’s absolute subservience to a monetary system of debt gone completely insane.  In fact, never mind the entire ocean of reality swimming right outside your front door.  I’m sure there’s another movie about the end of the world you could be watching rather than reading this delusional blAHg.

I am continually amazed that—no matter how many times throughout history governments are caught red handed with their hands in the cookie jar stealing from and/or manipulating “the people”—we still cling to a childish trust in our “leaders”.  When I use the term “leaders”, I also refer to those individuals who shape and drive our culture via mass media etc., because in the end it is our culture that defines how we view our world and react to any given situation.  It is your culture that is shaping your reaction to this essay right now.  Human beings are incapable of thinking beyond what they have had access to in terms of knowledge and awareness.  You think exactly the way all the inputs you have absorbed over the course of your lifetime direct you to think. 

So… the word “RISE”…

What is Hollywood’s obsession with it?

If you really want to know, it is important that you go back to the first film that defined the concept of a powerful elitist orchestrating an uprising of the people in order to be justified in destroying them: The 1927 cult classic Metropolis.  You watch that 85 year-old movie and tell me it is not a blueprint for a great many of the films we have seen since, especially in recent years.

Feel free to disregard this as you no doubt disregard everything that doesn’t remain nicely wrapped up in the bow provided by mainstream culture. 

I’m sure the economy is fine and that our peace-loving, fair-minded “leaders” are working around the clock to ensure we all enjoy long, meaningful lives.

Happy Rising!