The entertainment industry is very big these days. I am always skeptical of entertainment as a rule because it is giving up time that could be better used, for something not essentially valuable. Of course there is a retort that entertainment is needed for a person to stay in a good mood. I'd accept that if it applied to me, but it does not. I am naturally in a good mood; whenever in a foul mood, I sense a problem and look for ways to change it, however I do not turn to entertainment for it. Entertainment is not affordable, it does not have intrinsic value. Of course a lot of things don't have value; for example, arguably the U.S. Dollar has no value behind it (of course, this statement is heavily frowned upon, otherwise, what is it that we work for?)
Nonetheless, the question of whether or not entertainment is needed in the first place requires one to answer a simple question. What is the human being's natural mindset. If one is persistently bleak and he or she requires entertainment to get to a desired mindset, then entertainment would clearly have a purpose of keeping that person functioning. However, what if someone is naturally happy? Then entertainment loses value to that individual and becomes a social chore. Therefore, it is clear that entertainment's importance is based on the needs of the people, and can be completely useless to some.
However, considering the vast increase in all kinds of entertainment in today's society: court shows, video games, portable apps, mmorpg, pay to play, etc, it is clear that there are very few people with a natural predisposition to happiness. At the same time, it is self explanatory; as an industry, entertainment is like a treatment to the symptoms, but not a cure. Who would want to have a society full of naturally happy people? Entertainment would lose value, and that is why the goal of entertainment is not to make a person happy and change their mindset, but temporary relief.
That becomes even more apparent considering the recent trends in gaming. While before, one could purchase a game for a determined amount of money and enjoy it for an unlimited amount of time, now one pays for playing time, without the chance to purchase the game permanently. This is, in fact, the future of gaming, and many other industries as well. It is, after all, following the steps taken before it by television.
So, knowing the bleak reality behind the entertainment industry, what is there that can be done? The result is simple; stop seeking enjoyment from entertainment. It is not the only source there is.
I think I will bring this topic up again in the future, just to clear some things up.
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