Interview with Tom Sherak
Tom Sherak
Tom Sherak is the president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences who are known for their academy awards. When he was interviewed by Thought Economics blog on June 19, 2011, which can be read by anyone who is interested in it, he was asked "What is the role of film in society and why has film become such a strong part of the arts?" His answer was "Film is a reflection of society, both present and past. I think the film and it's innovations sometimes has to catch up to society but sometimes it leads society too. Movies are stories, movies are people who come out with ideas about something they want to say, something they want to tell someone. Movies are a form of communication and that communication, those stories, come from societies- not just where society is presently and what it's doing now- but where society has been. It's been that way for as long as movies have been around!" This is something that is important because films are a big part of our lives today, and it is important that we realize how they are shaped or how they have shaped the world as we know it today. Also, this is an interesting idea that what we watch can shape our society, and this is also something that maybe with the early films not as much thought was put into. Now, though, there is probably a lot of thought put into how to make a movie shape our society, or what kind of effects a movie could have on our society or other societies.