There Will Be Blood

The other day, for work-related reasons, I read the shooting script for the movie THERE WILL BE BLOOD. Like too many scripts these days (LUCKY # SLEVIN is another), they include a cast of amoral, immoral, hate-filled, revengeful sleazebags, some of which usually get ripped- off and/or killed by the others. In ...BLOOD, the supposedly God- filled, prophet-preacher turns out to be as hate-filled and revengeful as the bad guy who is the main protagonist. Seems as if movies (and TV) project the world as worse than the way I see and live in it. Having our media image a violent world influences some people to behave hatefully rather than lovingly. "Monkey see, monkey do" kind of influence. It is possible, as some hope, that seeing such bad behavior in the various media has the opposite influence: that of encouraging people to be really nice to themselves and to others. I guess it is possible but I have yet to see any serious study that indicates this. Not that I rely on polls or studies to tell me what or how to think.