Warren, in a way you make my point when you say that you don’t “have to personally embrace every single result of” capitalism. Indeed you don’t, and nor do I. It’s called choice, and it’s one of the glories of the system. Let a hundred flowers bloom or something like that. As to your point about the movies having been part of the national consciousness, it’s an interesting one (and one that it has been made to me by a couple of correspondents), but I’m not convinced that the reason that that has changed really has much to do with changes in their content. The country of half a century ago had a far smaller, poorer, more homogenous population, and the available technology offered far less in the way of alternative entertainment options. With that having changed, the ability of the movies, and, later, network television to reflect, and shape, national consciousness had disappeared.
Still, there’s always Turner Classic Movies, TV’s best channel to turn to.
And that would not have been available in the old days.