What the fuck happened to big franchises?
What the fuck happened to big franchises?
For some material reason, the big chunk of franchises - especially Star Wars, and the one I meatride the most Halo - took a downward spiral in quality starting in the 2010s?
My personal theory is because of the undemocratic nature of big media studios allowing and even encouraging substandard writers to steer them in dangerous directions causing hundreds of hours of talent being wasted.
It's because a "safe" and focus tested film/game etc is less risky than doing someone new or original. So as budgets increase, the suits at the top want to make less and less risky projects, which means only allowing things audiences have seen a thousand times before. It also doesn't help that media is becoming more and more monopolised, which means there's not small studios that can actively challenge the larger ones, forcing them to remain somewhat creative and competitive.
I think it's the same reason that popular music is so formulaic (This isn't a "modern music bad" argument, this goes for popular radio-hit music of any decade). These big studios are more concerned about making money than putting out a passion project so they go the safe route.
Thats why you should try to keep to indie/underground scenes with music honestly. Pop music is fine, save your money for the local band.
This is pretty much how I feel about music. It is pretty much my biggest interest outside of politics and I love exploring new artists.
Innovations in capitalism get milked till they run dry, almost always at the people who made the orginal IPs expense.
Capitalism shit the bed in the late 00s, as it does. Risky endeavors are less likely to make money, so media must be safer and try to reach a wider audience. Smaller companies can't compete and fold or are bought out by growing monopolies. Really mainstream art has trended towards shittier and shittier since Reagan. The 00s were fraught with soulless reboots and cash grabs
Because art is inherently risky, and the costs for making movies and games has skyrocketed in the last few decades, so the companies are even more risk averse.
The stone stopped bleeding. You can't squeeze indefinitely.
Disney, but many other games and movies were also ruined with pointless sequels.
But at least Rouge One, The Mandalorian and Obi Wan Kenobi series are good.
Andor is not that bad.
No. Andor is actually good.
The "stage" theory of economic systems, which usually breaks them down into early, middle, and late periods does seem to provide an explanation for why nearly all artistic mediums have gone to shit in late stage capitalism. Carrying capacity is reached, there are no new markets to expand into, risk and innovation is increasingly unprofitable, and the only thing that can get made is remakes and attention-span-destroying/drug-like content.