The Message Movie: Are You Under the Influence?
by Barbara Lewis
Let’s be honest. Nobody wakes up on Saturday morning, springs out of bed, smiles brightly and says “I think I’ll see a message movie tonight!”
But these films are everywhere, and audiences are embracing them in increasing numbers. Although the term “message movie” resists a textbook definition, we know one when we see one. Generally speaking, this is the kind of film that makes us think. The filmmaker thrusts a controversial issue into the public eye, hoping to elevate our collective consciousness and inspire us to go forth and effect social change.
Message movies have often gravitated toward the low budget, independent end of the filmmaking spectrum, and many filmmakers who produce them work outside the Hollywood system in order to preserve the integrity of the message. For some of them, the sole purpose of cinema is to make a social comment, and they are passionate about their point of view. The stories they tell can range from absurd to somber to gritty to offensive to incendiary. They frequently have a dark side and often make us squirm.
In recent decades, major Hollywood studios have also gotten into the act, delivering plenty of their own messages. A number of Tinseltown’s message movies have done quite well at the box office, while others have won prestigious awards, and some have even been funny.
But regardless of whether a filmmaker enlightens us by making us laugh or making us cry, a movie with a message definitely has a higher calling than that of the multiplex blockbuster. By its very nature, a film like this seeks to do more than simply entertain. Rather than dulling our senses with fantasy or escapism, the message movie is intent on giving us a dose of reality. Such a film nudges, pushes, shoves or drags us, kicking and screaming, to acknowledge some social problem, and challenges us to decide where we stand on the issue. If the film’s mission is accomplished, we are not only intrigued by the story but also galvanized to play our part in healing the social wound it exposes.