From The Godfather:
The policeman believes in law and order in a curiously innocent way. He believes in it more than does the public he serves. Law and order is, after all, the magic from which he derives his power, individual power which he cherishes as nearly all men cherish individual power. And yet there is a smoldering resentment against the public he serves. They are the same time his ward and his prey. As wards they are ungrateful, abusive and demanding. As prey they are slippery and dangerous, full of guile. As soon as one is in the policeman’s clutches the mechanism of the society the policeman defends marshals all its resources to cheat him of his prize. Judges give lenient suspended sentences to the worst hoodlums. Governors of the States and the President himself give full pardons, assuming that respected lawyers have no already won his acquittal. After a time the cop learns Why should he not collect the fees these hoodlums are paying? He needs it more. Why shouldn’t his wife shop in more expensive places? Why shouldn’t he himself get the sun with a winter vacation in Florida? After all, he risks his life and that is no joke.
Is this not very similar to how the artists sees the fan? The producer and his public? The creator and the consumer? It is a very human tendency. But it leads to bad art. And the Hollywood system is prone to facilitate it.
