The Glamorous World of Entertainment

HOLLYWOOD! No matter where you live in the world, that name probably conjures up thoughts of movies and entertainment. Variously called the entertainment capital of the world and Tinseltown, no other place is so nearly synonymous with show business as is this Los Angeles, California, suburb. It certainly seems to be the world center of glitz and glamour. As one writer said, “the image of Hollywood as the fabricator of tinselled cinematic dreams has become worldwide.”

Entertainment​—Big Business

But it is not just the Hollywood image that has spread worldwide; “Hollywood” is a huge, globe-​encircling export business. In fact, according to Time magazine, after aerospace equipment, entertainment is the United States’ largest export product. The industry rakes in hundreds of billions of dollars each year, and a sizable part​—some 20 percent—​comes from other countries.

The United States soaks up income from 35 percent of the world’s book-​sales market, 50 percent of its recording revenues, 55 percent of both its movie and home video revenues, and from 75 to 85 percent of its TV revenues.

In return for this vast fortune, Hollywood entertains the world. Not that the world is always happy about it​—more than one country has grumbled about American cultural imperialism, as their youth abandon local culture in favor of the flashy American import. That is not to say, though, that entertainment comes only from the United States. Many countries have their own entertainment industry​—films, TV, recordings, books, sports, and so on.

Entertainment​—How Easy Today

Regardless of who does or who should entertain the world, what is remarkable is that entertainment itself is so accessible, so abundant today that we have a revolution of sorts on our hands. To illustrate: Had you lived a century ago, how often would you have been entertained by trained, talented performers? Even had you lived in the wealthiest of lands, you would likely have been entertainment-​starved in the eyes of many of today’s generation. For instance, you would have had the burden of getting yourself to an opera or a symphony concert. Today we simply listen to portable stereos that play any type of music that exists, or we plop down on the family couch and, at the touch of a button, are entertained by almost any kind of performance imaginable.

In any developed country, you can find in many homes at least one TV, a VCR, and a CD or a cassette player, as well as other electronic gadgets. Some children grow up with TV monitors around the house almost as commonplace as mirrors. In less developed countries, many villages and neighborhoods have their local TV center where people congregate in the evenings to be entertained. Mankind has become TV obsessed. Leisure hours are filled with more and more forms of entertainment.

Is there anything wrong with that? Are there any dangers in modern entertainment? Or does today’s profusion of entertainment simply mean an embarrassment of riches? Let us take a balanced look at the glamorous world of entertainment.