Family Hour

This film is a very clever short film that gives wonderful insight into the impact of television on our lives. It all begins as a normal looking family sits watching TV. Suddenly, the TV stops working and the family starts to interact. This interaction at first is pretty healthy and normal, but within seconds they are at each other's throats and tons of awful personal secrets come pouring out--along with harsh language and ugly behavior. It gets worse and worse and worse until the TV suddenly comes back on and they all resume their original places--transfixed on the television!! There is so much to like about this film. The insights into the tranquilizing effects of TV, the way that there is a seething cauldron of sickness hiding beneath the surface in a supposedly "normal" family and the way that we are reduced to barbarism without this opiate and many other ideas are brought to light. What I also liked was how the chaos in the family mirrored what was happening in their television show. Brilliant and funny.

Note--The language and subject matter gets pretty rough here and there. If you'll get easily offended (such the overly politically correct) or are a kid, then don't watch.