American movies are too democratic. There, I said it. While I’m at it, they’re also too much into gender equality and human equality in general. Why do I say this might you ask? Am I some sort of fascist neo-Nazi? No, in fact I agree the pro-democracy and pro-human rights views expressed explicitly or subtly in American Entertainment. The problem I have is that nowadays all American entertainment, with few exceptions (the show House of Cards being one), all present a single view of the world. That’s called hand-holding.

Take for example Peter Jackson’s new The Hobbit movie trilogy. Fanboys worldwide debate the addition of new characters, the extension of battle scenes, and even small changes to character appearance, but few complaints are heard about changes to the presentation of government and gender roles. Whether the author J.R.R. Tolkien actually subtly advocated modern American ideals in his books himself is neither here nor there, however the important fact is that events and dialogue were drastically changed for the movie adaptation. In the book, the only government change that takes is one from democracy to monarchy and almost no female characters whatsoever take part in the story. In the movie, the greedy democratic mayor is changed to an autocrat who is suppressing democratic reform and the women choose to take part in the battle alongside the men, glossing over the fact that none of them have ever handled a weapon in their lives and will likely be slaughtered.

“So what’s the harm in this?” you might say. “It’s fantasy, it’s fiction, there’s always going to be plotholes. What’s wrong with changing the story a little bit to fit with American ideals?” The problem can be seen simply by looking at society’s view of literature’s role. Would a person’s education be seen as complete if they only read books that agree with their worldview? Of course not! Books are a portal to another world, a chance to walk in another’s shoes and see things from their perspective, to learn about how things are outside of our own limited outlook. That’s why the school curriculum requires the reading of literature from countries as distinct and different as England, Nigeria, and Cambodia. It’s why books with viewpoints as far ranging as Ayn Rand’s laissez-faire Objectivism to John Steinbeck’s quasi-socialist Transcendentalism are mandatory reading. People need to see different views if their minds are ever to grow. Truly strong and educated opinions are the result of having those views challenged and considering why you believe them. If people’s views are so weak that they fall over upon the mere suggestion that, for example, gender should determine societal roles, then they might as well not hold that opinion at all for what little good it will do in the real world.

With society becoming more and more focused on digital media, it is of the utmost importance that the intellectual diversity of entertainment transfers over to television and movies. Don’t accept the pandering of directors, demand that differing views be presented. If The Hobbit is more accepting of kings than you are, then consider the culture that it came from, the man who wrote it, and what he was thinking at the time. If we simply accept these changes because they are more comfortable then we will lose a valuable part of our entertainment, and ourselves.

N.B. I know that Peter Jackson is from New Zealand, I mainly meant to address the trend in the shared cultures of many “Western” and democratic nations without being reminiscent of cowboys and gunfights.