Michael Bay could be single-handedly destroying Hollywood. I don’t know if the Antichrist is real, but if so, Michael Bay is in competition. I know there was a legion of morons who thought that Barack Obama was in contention for the position, but Bay really may be.

He hasn’t been part of a good movie in 14 years, and now he is about to produce a remake of one of the great horrors of all time, “Rosemary’s Baby.”

There are some movies you just don’t touch. Bay doesn’t have the sensibility to undertake this type of effort.

I will give the man credit because he has fooled America. He has made a career off of making terrible movies, but somehow the man keeps selling tickets. I will say that “The Rock” was a lot of fun and that “Transformers” had moments, but a career can’t be built on moments. Other than those two movies, he hasn’t been part of a single one that has any shred of intelligence or excitement.

His string of movies from 1998 to 2003 is one of the worst streaks in film history. I know that he isn’t concerned with anything but big budget films, but regardless, there can be dignity to them.

Look at Christopher Nolan’s two Batman pictures. Both are big-budget popcorn flicks with something to say. Nolan is the best action filmmaker in the business today. (Steven Spielberg transcends lists.)

There is a crucial difference between someone like Michael Bay and Christopher Nolan, which is that Bay is only concerned with turning a profit. There is nothing wrong with turning a profit, but every filmmaker should have something to say.

Tyler Perry is a great example. Perry is on the short list for worst directors out there, but he knows his market and he tries to infuse every movie with some type of message.

I don’t think that Perry has any clue what he is doing as a director, but he is trying to say something. This garners more of my respect than someone who is just looking to make money.

Technically, I think that Bay has got a decent grasp on the craft. He isn’t my cup of tea when it comes to framing action, and the thing that really irks me about him is that he films say nothing of merit.

Roland Emmerich, who is in the same ballpark as him, at least tries to give the audience some nugget, however small, of the nature of man. No, I don’t think that Emmerich has ever made a movie that demands to be seen or made a message in a movie that means anything substantial, but he is trying.

I’m okay with Michael Bay continuing to make his movies as long as he doesn’t touch classics. There has to be someone in his ring of people that feels a compulsion to look him in the eye and tell him that he is destroying cinema.

If he wants to dumb down Hollywood, then he can, but don’t touch classics. He cares just as much about the history of cinema as Ted Turner did when he tried to colorize great black and white film.

Peterson Hill is a senior in New College. His column runs on Wednesday.