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Summary: A Case Against Elitism
Review: According to Michael Medved, the culture of the entertainment industry changed in the 1960s, and he cites overwhelming evidence to show that "serious" art, as a result, is not about aesthetics anymore. He smashes the myth of an industry driven by greed and makes a case against its obsession with violent and self-indulgent themes. Lots of endnotes and well indexed. Good medicine for what's ailing the entertainment business.
Rating: 
Summary: Save your money
Review: Allow me to sum this book for you: "Hollywood bad. America good. The two do not see eye-to-eye." There, I just saved you about (price). Medved spends endless pages saying the same old narrow-minded statements about an industry that is out of touch - but not in the manner he describes. He slams movies, TV and music for being narrow and unconcerned with society and then turns around and stereotypes Hollywood and gives them too much credit and not enough credit. Very little higher level discussion in this book. Rather a lot of statistics and snipets from movies and TV that serve to support his views when they are taken out of context.
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Summary: THE INTEGRITY BETWEEN CURTAINS
Review: AS A CHILEAN I THOUGHT IT IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND A BOOK LIKE THIS IN MY COUNTRY. THE HONESTY AND INTEGRITY OF THIS BOOK PROVOKES IN ME A BIGGER SEARCH OF THE TRUTH BEHIND THOSE MOVIES THAT MAKES US BLIND. AS A BELIEVER IN CHRIST I THINK THAT ALL WE HAVE THE RESPONSABILITY OF FIND THE MORAL STANDART THAT GOD GAVE US. I LOVE THIS BOOK AND THE WAY WAS WRITTEN. I HOPE TO FIND MORE BOOKS OF THIS AUTHOR. THANKS!
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Summary: Disturbing Hollywood agenda, portrayed brilliantly
Review: As studios and Hollywood producers continue to back projects that have appalling liberal bias, yet little-to-no chance of commercial success ("Cradle Will Rock" (1999), "Cider House Rules" (1999) are good examples), it is plain to see there is a larger force at work in American popular culture. Medved does a superb job of documenting the multitudinous examples of filmmakers pushing the envelope in terms of content. As a eager consumer of pop entertainment, it has made me rethink the images that I choose to grant entrance into my mind. I'm not surprised that some readers find this book overwrought or "Chicken Little". Oftentimes, the truth hurts. The simple truth proven here brilliantly, is that Hollywood has an agenda. They promote it with a force frightening. Sadly, traditional values are under attack, by those who think they "know better".
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent documentation
Review: Few people discuss the excellent documentation and cold, hard statistics Medved supplies - perhaps because they are irrefutable. And also because it's easier to make subtle charges of racism and bigotry. One reviewer even claimed Medved wants a world where everyone is white and Christian - Medved is Jewish and discusses his religion at length in the book!!! But then, you'd have to actually READ the book to know that...Medved shows beyond the shadow of a doubt that Hollywood is more interested in what it thinks of itself than in anything else - true art or even money. Strange that many of the same movie buffs who decry the dumbing-down of film within the past 15 years suddenly rush to defend Hollywood (even the trash!) in order to avoid agreeing with Medved. An excellent book - an excellent tool for analyzing American culture.
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Summary: bold synopisis of the entertainment industry
Review: Finally someone has the guts to not sit back and watch America's entertainment destroy our minds & hearts. This book really is a wake up call that reminds us that Hollywood claims it doesn't want to preach to us, but look at society today and ask yourself who could have such a major role on society than entertainment.
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Summary: Read The Book Hollywood Doesn't Want You To Read
Review: I came to a bookstore shortly after this book was released with $25 in my wallet, which was intended for another book. I flipped through "Hollywood vs. America" and not only couldn't I put it down, I decided that I owed it to Medved to buy the book at full list price, before it went on sale. Finally, someone with some clout was saying what I had been saying for years about show business and the people in charge. A previous reviewer faulted Medved for detailing a laundry list of vomit and urination scenes, but this is exactly what is necessary to illustrate how far "entertainment" has fallen. True humor and plot development is abandoned in favor of "realistic" special effects gore, more F-words, and bodily function gags. Especially important is his illustration of the way showbiz takes great pains to prop up evil religious straw-men/women for the purpose of demonizing traditional religion per se. He also shows how "dramatic license" is used to distort the lives of actual religious figures so that their faith is unrecognizable. Medved wrote this seven years before NBC's outrageously inaccurate and blasphemous "Noah's Ark." If you are a moviegoer, read this book. Peek into the slaughterhouse and see what's in the sausage they feed you.
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Summary: The bitter truth about Hollywood
Review: I have only just had a chance to read this marvellous book, but I wish I had known about it years ago. Medved demonstrates what I have long realised but have never been able to assemble the evidence to prove - that the powers behind the modern entertainment industry have consistently pushed certain lines - anti-family, anti-religious, anti-authoritarian, and the whole assemblage of ideas and opinions now known as "political correctness", while ignoring or persecuting anything that goes against these views, and that they do this even when it means sacrificing their supposed highest priority, profitability. He argues his case so brilliantly, and demonstrates it so exhaustively, that his critics are are reduced to oversimplification, misrepresentation and name-calling. Some reviewers have labelled his arguments simplistic, naïve and lacking objectivity. I think they have only skimmed through his book, or else read it with such bias that they can't see what he is saying. Many of them assume that because he criticises one movie for embodying a particular trend and praises another for going against the trend, he is making a blanket statement about the value of those films. It should be obvious that this is not the case, as he makes a point of praising the overall quality of some of the movies he criticises. This book is a must-read for anyone who is seriously interested in understanding what is happening to the world.
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Summary: Entertaining and informative
Review: I imagine the reviews of this book will be split two ways: On one side, they'll say Medved is just another member of the Religious Right trying to make everyone conform to a boring religious regime. On the other side, people will say it's a well-deserved attack on the entertainment industry at large. It is neither. Medved points out that no one movie, no one song title, no one T.V. show should be cancelled, censored, etc. What Medved does is point out the self-destructive trends of the entertainment industry elite to flood the market with material of little worth in the name of profits or a cause. In the former, he proves that movies have been steadily repulsing more and more of the public, and decreasing the chances of bringing in families, where the real money is. In the latter matter, he shows beyond a doubt that a very narrow viewpoint is being portrayed in hollywood, to the nearly complete exclusion of all other views. A move detrimental to Americans AND the entertainment industry. Anyone who wants to get an idea of where the entertainment industry has been, and is taking American viewers, should read this book.
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Summary: Really loved the book!
Review: I really loved the book. It is a must have book for people who want to know why Hollywood is putting out such trash today- even though there are some good family oriented films. I hope Michael writes a sequel.
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