Movie’s Influence on Society. Brown's Social Club afterwards?

Movie’s Influence on Society
A). Do movies/streaming in particular (and perhaps their celebrities) as well as music and other artistic endeavours reinforce various traditional social views and/or do they promote new social constructs? B). Does reinforcement lean towards socially healthy or towards socially unhealthy ends? And who decides what is healthy? C). What factors contribute to answering these questions? D). Consider; In the larger context: the country/culture and the state of affairs at the time (their economic, ideological, political status...). E). In a micro context: Does the setting count, such as the difference of experiencing some media alone or with a friend or perhaps among strangers in a theatre or disembodied (a digital town square / texting about the content being watched while watching)? F). Does age, knowledge, I.Q., religious adherence affect the uptake of these possible influences?
G). Depictions: Consider depiction of: weather (how are cold wintery places shown vs. tropical places?), gender roles (Think about “Father Knows Best” in the 50’s /Homer Simpson in 2000’s) race relations (a black man falling in love with another man) language use (use of swearing), tattoos (seen as bad in the 50’s and hip in the 2000’s), music type (classical vs. heavy metal...) moral standards (secular vs. religious).
H). Returning to the larger context of political propaganda consider how movies support or discourage patriotism, war and jingoism. Negative views of war are seen in Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now…Supportive movies are seen in the Chinese blockbuster “Wolf Warrior” depicting bad Americans and Top Gun depicts bad Russians or where political ire is steeped in old and new hatred. Here is a somewhat detailed specific sample: the Bollywood film Chhaaya – Lion Cub - debuted in India amid massive fanfare. In the film, a Hindu leader took on Mughal ruler, Aurangzeb in the 17th century. Aurangzeb is portrayed as a sadist who chains and tortures the valiant hero, whose fingernails and tongue are pulled out and who eventually (spoiler alert!) dies. Mughal soldiers also burn a shepherdess alive. Indian news channels showed viewers emerging from movie theatres sobbing, exclaiming that they were unaware of the gory history of the Mughals in India. Ironically, the film was released on Valentine’s Day, when many couples pose in front of the Taj Mahal, a symbol of love constructed by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his favourite wife. Several other architectural wonders of the Mughal empire, which reigned in South Asia from the 16th to the 19th centuries, are among India’s most-visited tourist sites. But these beloved places went unmentioned in the onslaught of acrimony that followed the release of Chhaava. On social media, Hindu nationalists expressed outrage over the treatment of Hindu leaders by Islamic invaders more than three centuries ago. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the film, prompting several states to make the movie tax-free. The chief minister of the northern state of Uttarakhand announced he was renaming cities and roads named after Muslims and Mughals. And the chief minister of Maharashtra state asked that Aurangzeb’s tomb, which is under archeological protection, be removed. In the city of Nagpur, mobs demanding the removal of the tomb attacked homes and set vehicles on fire, killing a 38-year-old Muslim man during the rampage). H). Pop culture: In Los Angeles, The Museum of Narrative Art’s website describes its mission as exploring “how narrative art influences societies — shaping beliefs, communicating values, inspiring imagination, and creating communities. But some cultural leaders say that art that tells stories is ubiquitous, and can take just about any form, from hieroglyphics to comic strips to movies**. Yet perhaps we can concentrate on movies**. Don't Look Up, The Social Dilemma, Buy Now, Wall-E are examples of movies that attempt to show how citizens are manipulated by large forces or are they fake problems to promote so called progressive ideas like climate change, capitalism and technology that are not really problems? Mountainhead is the latest entry which shows a dawning age of technofeudalism operated by trllionaires. This one is channelled into comedy. This is an example of how an audience can process the cavalcade of absurdities and atrocities that make up each day’s news cycle. Art and entertainment can make such figures feel real in a more visceral, emotional way. Depending on one’s ideology, one can interpret this movie as an opportunity to engage with America’s disorienting descent into clownish authoritarianism. J). Does the audience think that what is represented is JUST entertainment? K). Or, if they think that it is JUST entertainment is there a (powerful) unconscious influence on whatever we are experiencing?