The excessive, seemingly-endless influx of expanded cinematic universes poses a major threat to the future of creative, smaller-budget movies that are deciding to not even bother attempting to compete with the box office giants, slowly killing off the true creativity in the world of film-making.
The rise of the 'geek culture' is to blame; a forced agenda is constantly being played through means of mass-advertising across the never-ending sea of social media. Social media "influences" play the facade of overly-enthusiastic man-children forever obsessed with any sight or mention of [insert superhero name here] once the paycheck clears. As a result, the movie industry has become plagued with casual moviegoers willing to watch the same narrative unfold every sequel.
Not following? Let's take a look at how each superhero movie is structured:
Quirky, perhaps not-so popular character has a tough life.
After a strange occurrence with either something science/space-related, they gain powers.
Character entertains self with powers.
Suddenly, evil person(s) of similar strength appears and begins to cause havoc.
Character learns they must defeat the evil person(s).
Ultimately does defeat the evil person(s) during a battle sequence which takes place roughly 70 minutes into the movie.
As for the sequels? Just add a few more good and bad people so it seems a little different, but generally has the same structure.
With the popularity in what seems to be a system that cannot fail, the box office now looks like this each year:
With the box office dominated by such largely-produced movies, attempting to compete can easily render a smaller-budgeted movie a complete flop in terms of revenue. It paralyses the lengths of creativity studios are willing to take. If it cannot profit, it cannot be made.
I thought it was interesting how you tied this too the "geek" culture.
"Social media "influences" play the facade of overly-enthusiastic man-children forever obsessed with any sight or mention of [insert superhero name here] once the paycheck clears."
This is an interesting cultural observation.
I think another reason for some of the lack in creativity in Hollywood is that TV is in a bit of a golden age. There is a lot of garbage on TV but also a lot of really well done series like Game Of Thrones, House Of Cards (not the last season though lol), Longmire, The Expanse etc...I personally prefer a good series to a movie because you have more time to form emotional attachment to the characters thus making the experience more intense and interesting. I don't know just my opinion...great post!
I agree there. Shows are on the rise given their ability to constantly profit. In television, the expanded universe is replaced by episodic narratives.
Any new shows on your radar atm? I have a very long Netflix watch list lol, but I am always searching for great movies and shows to add!
Not many new ones - my most recent favourite is definitely Fargo. If you haven't seen it yet, definitely check it out. Three seasons so far, different stories with different characters each season.
I will have to check that out. Thanks for the suggestion.
The irony of your argument is that these movies are seen as tentpoles for a lot of companies. In fact, it's the revenue made from these movies that allow for a bunch of other smaller movies to be released and distributed. I'm exactly like you though, I hate the superhero bull shit movie too. They are all the same. Occasionally one will grab my attention and make me think twice though. @namiks
Let's hope the movie bubble bursts soon. More and more people are turning towards streaming services online because it's simply too expensive to go to the theater. Plus, I'd rather watch an independent film because the director has greater involvement, unlike big budget films backed by huge studios.
Even streaming services are becoming plagued with superhero TV shows at this point.
No place is safe.
upvoted... i love captain america
Try being a history lover and crying as they butcher each and every single medieval movie or tv show ever made.
Haha, you should check out @vestabesta. She too hates those inaccuracies.
Easy Industry More Like
One bad guy and number of bad guy helpers and one super strong or super powerful man or women. with a back drop story of the family being killed in a horrible way and then you have your superhero film ho yeah and it needs to be based in America because that’s the only place superhero live. there you have it a top film now I see how they make so much money out of it properly only takes a day to write.
Yeah, minimum effort for maximum profits.
And people just eat it all up.
Yeah easy money
I think what is worse than superhero movies is the dearth of creativity even within superhero flicks. It looks like a wash-rinse-repeat formula. It gets terrible at times to pay for a movie and already know what is going to happen in next scene!
Exactly. The magic of thought-provoking cinema is dying because of recycled tropes and genres.
Indies of all types should be looking to LBRY as an opportunity to cut out the middlemen.
As a fiction writer, I cannot wait for the LBRY platform to release. I have quite a lot saved from mining.
Definitely! I hope it takes off. I'll definitely be considering this for my future works.
Fun perspective. Worth sharing with @Steemtrail. https://discord.gg/uwjBaHb
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