... In the 100 years or so that movies have existed, there always seems to be one magical movie for each generation. Many can argue (and do) over which particular film holds that magic for most... for Bp it was E.T. It was released in 1982 by a jewish man from Cincinnati, Ohio... it was the tale of a young boy and his small family as they met an alien being. The magic and emotions of the film swept Bp away. When the alien was mistreated by government scientists, Bp wept openly. When the boy and the alien eclipsed the moon over treetops on a bicycle his(her?) heart soared with them. The visceral magic of the Disney world (where Bambi's mother was struck down, seven dwarves helped a princess, dragons were slain and a mouse became a wizard) was brought, for the first time in Bp's life, to the big screen in live action. When the alien's heart pumped Bp could actually see the pulsing glow through it's flesh. This was no cartoon, this was For Real.
From a marketing standpoint this was a groundbreaking film as well. Reese's Pieces were used as a prop in a crucial point of the plot... the candy was how the boy made friends with the alien. Bp remembered walking to the family station wagon after the film had ended... his fathered wondered why the boy had not used M&M's, his favorite. Spielberg was a professional filmaker... that meaning he made films as a source of income. The use of overt product placement in a pivotal moment of the film was a stroke of business genius. Surely M&M Mars regretted declining his original offer to place their candy in the film.
The true tragedy of this stroke of business savvy is that the ability to make extra money from the story ended up destroying so much of the magic Potential of the story for young and pure minds. When Bambi's mother was killed by a hunter we didn't know he was using a Marlin rifle or Columbia hunting vest or that he smoked Marlboro cigarrettes while sipping a Budweiser. By leaving those elements out of the story, Bambi's mother was Our mother and Bambi's loss was Our loss. By leaving a trail of Reese's Pieces Bp could only imagine he was in the film if he had Reese's Pieces.
The magic of that scene is that the alien loves chocolate (and as the result of a business deal... a mixture of chocolate and peanuts). There is so much dream potential based in our love of chocolate collectively, as an entire species. But for the allmighty dollar, this was deflected into a brand and a candy, a patented mixture of artificial bullshit and diluted natural ingredients .
~ There is no equation that can determine at what point advertising turned into propaganda. Unless it always was. Likewise, the infinity of uses for statistics renders them usefully reliable only as propaganda as well.
and then
Rise of the Beasts
So once the electical infrastructure is destroyed by the animals they make it known to the freedom fighters that limited media electonics will be permitted for one year.
Hackers liberate the internet, which only functions on the satellite level.
The government has about 50% network effectiveness still, because Comcast and Verizon handed them the controls to their fiber optics.
The government uses "its" internet to consolidate troop positions and orders.. .to help decide who needs to be killed.
To defend their right to do whatever the fuck they want...
