well...don't they?

After the unfortunate passing of Sydney Pollack last month, I decided to check out one of his great early works from netflix.  The film They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

You know, this whole reality/humiliation show is not a new concept.  At all.

The film is about a dance marathon.  That lasts for MONTHS.  It takes place in the 30s.  Contestants sway in a gymnasium for the "entertainment" of a surprisingly large crowd.  I don't want to give away too much, but the contestants end up looking like zombies on that dance floor.  

Now let me quickly say that this film is brilliant.  Much more engaging than it sounds.  Watching the breakdown of these characters is truly astonishing.  There is a reason Sydney Pollack will be missed so, and this film is an example of something that Hollywood got SO RIGHT during its great age of the late 60s through the 70s.  

But beyond that.  Let me talk about the idea of humans as spectacle.  While watching it, I was thinking, "Sydney Pollack had such great foresight!  Like Network, this film foretells what will happen in the 21st century with shows like Fear Factor and Survivor and Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire and and and..."

So after the movie was over, I decided to do some research.  These competitions actually happened.  For thousands of hours, people would dance in an auditorium and people would watch them.  And this 1969 film was in fact based on a novel from 1935.  

This has been happening FOREVER.  As disturbing as it is that we have shows like this, where people are so obsessed with watching other people suffer, it has always been happening.  This generation may be sick, but every generation has been sick!  It's human nature and there's nothing we can do about it!

So basically, we're screwed.  That's the main lesson the film taught me.  We are doomed to thrive on humiliation forever.