Yes, it’s somewhat of a whodunit today. As with all good murder mysteries we need a body, some evidence, clues, motive, method and, of course, some grouchy but-on-the-ball detective. So join me as I play “Who Killed Hollywood And Why?” Now, the body is easy to spot for its rotten stench if stinking up the place. Hollywood Film has been murdered and there’s blood on the carpet. Far be it for me to nominate myself to detect, but I think you’d agree, as writer, it makes by far the most sense. So, don me now my detectivey apparel. Weird eye? Check! Crumply raincoat? Check! Lovable Basset hound? Check, check, check! Looks like I’m good to go. And so, to the case!...

Though the body of Hollywood Film is now badly decomposed, early investigations show this was a pretty clean kill. Hollywood Film was an acquaintance of mine, we go way back, but I haven’t seen much of her lately. She’d changed, you see. Once a grand dame who put the light in my life, she became tainted over time, too heavily influenced by forces beyond her control. It’s only by way of nostalgia that I realised she had disappeared. But who would want to murder a once great institution and why?

Evidence shows there was more than one method of kill and more than one killer. The clues are apparent when we look at what Hollywood Film had become: dumbed-down, indoctrinating morality. She used to be so much fun, so full of imagination and had this great knack for finding adventure in even the most mundane of situations. Above all, she was an inspiration. But she lost it. She took to lecturing people on moral lessons, patronising kids, segregating groups, and had become obsessed with this all-pervading political and religious ideology. Every conversation was a slightly different subject but the message was always the same: “get with the program!”

Usually in a case like this, we look to enemies for answers. But that’s not applicable in this case. It looks like an inside job and so we must turn to Hollywood Film’s friends to solve the case. Clues point to a socio/political kill with dark media undertones. But what of a motive? Why would those on the inside cause the death of their own institution? Who will benefit from such a kill? Film, as in all media, is a very powerful medium. Film is entertainment in its purest form, but it is also art and as such it is both socially reflective and socially critical (at least when it is true to itself.) Hollywood Film was top of her game. She was the hub of the industry, and an industry it is, lest we should forget. As an industry, those who benefit are those in the machinations of the media. As the audience, we are consumers of the industry. But those with existing power in society or with a wish to gain power will also use film as a medium for their propaganda, however covert this may seem to be, and Hollywood Film has been exerting social control for quite some time now, largely unquestioned. Hollywood has not only been reflecting change in the social climate, but it is manipulating its consumers, used as a tool itself to promote the dominant ideology and ensure social control. Conformity, for all those in control, is the dish of the day and individuality and diversity are mere rotten scraps of yesterday. As we shall see, it no longer functions for the media to promote fun and adventure, but the idea of conforming, settling down, and getting with the program.

No doubt Hollywood Film will continue in her current form, but the great broad she was in her heyday is dead. The method? Autopsy results show she was slowly poisoned over time and then finally stabbed in the back. Nobody has come to claim the body and, in fact, little notice has been taken of her passing. One can only hope this won’t become a serial case. She was head of the Film family and, as good friends of mine, I worry for her distant relatives, close brothers European and World Cinema. In my experience, when there’s trouble at the top, it usually filters down.

Coming Next: Part 4: Minority Report