You've heard it all: Hollywood, Bollywood, and now Follywood. What do I mean by Follywood? Ten years ago, it was already clear to me that producers and financiers, who together ultimately select what will be brought to the silver screen, had abdicated and moved to another planet. One where violence exists in the extreme (the "Conan" myth), where success in amoral pursuit of money is the measure of personal worth (the "Pirate" syndrome), and nothing at all can happen without the latest in whiz-bang technology (the "Star Wars" assumption). But do these truly represent the human situation today and in the future? I think not, and I wonder why things are, as the Hopi have said, "out of balance." 

People since ancient Greece attended tragedy and comedy, both of which were said to be cathartic -- to release the stress and tensions of living in close proximity with others -- both of which were even part of "medicine." Nowadays, these probably most closely translate to human, not robot drama. The term "robot drama" might sound peculiar, but the concept is important. By "robot drama I mean "pop" noir dramas about aliens, non-emotional people or artificial intelligence devices. Each have their following, but what I mean by human drama is "real" verses "fake" human drama, rich with emotion and meaning. "Fake" dramas often occur under "fight or flight" circumstances or revolve around human violation -- typically murder or rape -- in any of their many forms. "Real" drama, like "real" sex, begins with relaxed, restful, reflective circumstances. 

I find it peculiar that in USA, we so stringently avoid "real" drama (and "real" sex for that matter), and instead choose to saturate and ultimately dehumanize ourselves with increasingly intense violence. It is often said that we live in a time where violence is beyond epidemic -- more like endemic. But it's important to remember that this represents the perception of a few steeped in violence rather than the experience of the everyday many. We increasingly accept "fake" drama as "normal" and require cinematic productions to hype it each time one level higher in order to capture and maintain the attention of those few. 

In 2008, I produced a film for TV entitled, "Clean Water, Common Ground" (still available from the National Film Network) that won two Telly's and has been shown innternationally. It's a drama about people willing to acknowledge and voice their concerns, anxieties, fears about water quality in Hawaii (and thereby the world). The film has received many accolades, but it also received numerous negative comments like "Where's the killing?" (as if murder were assumed and required part of drama). 

Maybe I'm off target, but I think Follywood needs to take a careful re-look at what people really need, want and desire -- "real" human drama that leaves us with a wider point-of-view and helps us make better "real" life decisions.