Why is poetry important (or not)?

So you see the glass as half-full & getting fuller. I do not. Specifically, I do not think movies have been displaying an inversion of reality. Crime was declining (now blipping upward, but perhaps long-term fairly stable), but what is displayed in today’s most popular movies are mass warfare, government conspiracies, and fatalism. The first is exemplified by Troy and 300, and is expectable in a country engaged in war. The question is, why go back 2 or 3 thousand years? Unlike the TV show “24”, it would seem the people have a clash of civilizations in their subconscious. The reality is that most of the world has already accepted much of American culture. Many of those who criticize us most harshly do so for not living up to our ideals.
The second is exemplified by “Citizen X” (if I remember the title correctly), with Will Smith & Gene Hackman, and “Final Cut” with Robin Williams. I think it shows a healthy suspicion of both govt. & big business. We know they have lied in the past, and besides, power does corrupt. They have seen the tobacco companies engage in deliberate disinformation campaigns in the past, and the API and coal companies doing the same now.
Examples of the third type is seen in the “Final Destination” movies. Other movies involving the supernatural have been popular for decades (“Omen” for example). The bothersome part of the FD series is the message: Basically, you’re screwed.
There are reasons people respond to these themes, and I don’t think they are baseless. Most working people today are dissatisfied with their jobs; and American competence seems to be on the wane. Most people do not expect to be able to retire in comfort, and the chances are better than even they’re right. (I base this conclusion on economic data.) Hopefully, I’ll be proven wrong, but in any case, I would not brush off the mass subconscious as breezily as you do.
Alcuin