Holywood

Hollywood films are often at odds with themselves. The text--beauty is only skin deep, money doesn't matter, crime doesn't pay, etc--is denied by the subtext.

But it's rare a film is so at odds with itself as Holy Man, which I watched last night. What's Holy Man? A long-forgotten flop starring Eddie Murphy and Jeff Goldblum. Can't say it's a good film, but it's always fascinated me.

Murphy plays a mysterious charcter, G, who walks into harried executive Jeff Goldblum's life. Goldblum works at a home shopping network, while G is a simple, spiritual (but not necessarily religious) guy who almost seems to have magical powers. (Murphy is playing a magic negro here, but really anyone with star quality--say, Brad Pitt--would fit in the role.)

They become friends and G starts appearing on the network. And here's where the film gets really bizarre. G's message couldn't be clearer--consumerism is bad, enjoy the simple things in life and stop worrying about getting more--but his message somehow sell products and saves Goldblum's job. Sure, by the ending, everyone figures out what really matters. But the balancing act along the way (script by Hollywood veteran Tom Schulman) is impossible.

The film also has what I call the Network problem. It's vision of TV viewers is essentially we're suggestible idiots. Is that how Hollywood sees us?