One actress I know started going to nursing school because, as she put it, "I want to do something important with my life." She's going to keep acting, but that feels trivial to her so she's becoming a nurse as well. That's admirable and I'm not knocking that at all.
Another actress I know makes sure all the short films she writes and produces herself are about "important" topics like bullying, anorexia, etc. Those are important topics and, again, I'm not knocking that. Those issues need to be addressed.
What I don't like is the subtext that escapist films aren't important at all, or are even something to be ashamed of. Look, sometimes we just need to escape from this sorry effing world for a couple hours. Life can suck. The economy sucks. Our relationships (or lack thereof) can suck. Sometimes we just want to get away from all that and enjoy some light entertainment. In that situation we're not looking for some deep important study on school bullying, we want a damned vampire ripping a mofo's throat out. We want a face hugging alien going upside somebody's face. We want the bad guy to be comic book evil and smirk and quip and then get gunned down by the hero. We want to ESCAPE.
Now tell me that isn't important. Tell me actors and filmmakers creating light escapism aren't performing a valuable service for thousands of people going through rough times who just need a couple hours vacation from all the crap in their lives?
It IS important, and it is a valuable service. Is it rescuing kittens from a burning building? Of course not. But it IS a valuable service we provide.
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