Hollywood is imploding. There’s nothing original or new anymore. They’re trapped in a viscous cycle of endless rehash, reboots & remakes. A lot of the problem is due to the over corporatization of the industry which is focus grouped, largely female & woke. Man-hating harridans are calling the shots & any men in the powerbroker positions are deferring to female influence/opinion. You are spot on with the observation that this “creates opportunity”; witness the rise of Angel Studios & I’m doing my part with this project here - suffice it to say the team I have assembled is un-woke, rebellious, & looking to upset the table: www.theprussianmovie.com . Independent Film is the answer. The distributors need to make $$; they can’t pay their bills or support their staff with 2hrs of woke screeds.
It's not just men who want to see these good style movies. Real women- those of us with husbands or boyfriends who aren't metrosexuals or pansies, who don't want our or their or anyone's plumbing or "girls" whacked off- we want hot, studly men who love females and who don't put up with $*** from whiny lesbos or leftist fr3@ks.
Agreed! And of course Maverick and Die Hard and Lethal Weapon have plenty of female fans. But I’m a man and reluctant to speak for women. Thanks for your perspective!
How about Reacher and Jack Ryan on Amazon. Plenty of ladies watch, men too. You struck the nail squarely on the head. Also, consider how much money men have and control - Michael Jordan understood this analogy when he said Republicans buy sneakers, too…
Yeah there are certainly shows and movies for men... I think the argument I'm making is when you start to list the heroes from the 80's and 90's out on paper and you come up with 50 names right off the top of your head you realize how rare they are these days and how crazy it is to leave that kind of money on the table
It's a perfect storm of circumstance as to why we no longer go to the movies. Not much to see, too expensive, too many choices even before we get in. On rainy days I could not work. So I would come home and say "let's go to the movies." No more. We have to plan it out like we're going on vacation. So sad because I'm the perfect movie goer. I can suspend my disbelief. But I do wonder sometimes how Indy got on that German sub????? My heroes are a little older. Heston, John Wayne, Peck, Gable and Tracy.
Watch a Dean Martin Roast and see how grown -ups act when being silly. Pointed but with respect. I guess I rambled. Sorry.
My wife and I had a long talk about that this weekend. She noted that the big stars of today mostly stay out of the public eye, certainly stars like Keanu Reeves are never EVER on social media. But by contrast, the studios are using social media reach as a shorthand for the popularity of young stars they hope to get into their movies. The idea is that if Zendaya has 20 million twitter followers, then it must mean that she is, ipso facto, a star. But I think they may have it exactly backwards. Doens't seem to me like very many of those 20 million rushed out to see her movie this weekend.
“…mostly drinking too much and staring off into the middle distance…”
Is my web camera on?
Seriously, MFW, great essay. It’s hard to even talk about heroes anymore. They have to be anti-heroes. Or they must be ambassadors of “The Message.”
My hero as a kid was Captain Kirk. I’m old enough to have watched Star Trek in syndication on a B&W TV. I loved Kirk because, although he wasn’t particularly friendly, he had loyal friends and was loyal in turn. He took counsel but then made decisions that even dissenters respected. Personally brave, reasonable, resourceful, merciful. He had a sense of humor. Kirk loved his ship, valued his crew, and although he bent the rules, he was a stalwart Starfleet officer and defender of the Federation. He made me appreciate the constitutional republic before I even knew what that was. He was my hero.
They can’t make heroes anymore. I really enjoyed Top Gun: Maverick because it was a bit of a surprise. They still make these kinds of movies?
We must be the same age because I also watched Trek in its first synidcation run. My mom introduced me to it and yeah Kirk was my hero for a long time... pretty much until 1981 when I first met Indiana Jones.
Hollywood is run by big corporations, so that's one reason movies are so derivative and morose and boring. Because the last one was! So the execs make another one.
I had a reader make a snarky comment about a screenplay with a touch of a faith element in it--a retelling of Faust--and he failed to notice that very week that Shogun, about faith and honor and duty, was absolutely crushing every piece of drek out there. (And in 3 Body Problem, the only good part is that of the Maoist Revolution. I would like to see that movie someday!)
Hollywood has been run by corporations for a long time though, and things haven't ever been this bad before. In my opinion, derivative content isn't necessarily the biggest problem, it's the logical cul-de-sacs Hollywood has driven itself into trying to paint characters that only exist within tight culturally acceptable lines.
Hollywood is imploding. There’s nothing original or new anymore. They’re trapped in a viscous cycle of endless rehash, reboots & remakes. A lot of the problem is due to the over corporatization of the industry which is focus grouped, largely female & woke. Man-hating harridans are calling the shots & any men in the powerbroker positions are deferring to female influence/opinion. You are spot on with the observation that this “creates opportunity”; witness the rise of Angel Studios & I’m doing my part with this project here - suffice it to say the team I have assembled is un-woke, rebellious, & looking to upset the table: www.theprussianmovie.com . Independent Film is the answer. The distributors need to make $$; they can’t pay their bills or support their staff with 2hrs of woke screeds.
It's not just men who want to see these good style movies. Real women- those of us with husbands or boyfriends who aren't metrosexuals or pansies, who don't want our or their or anyone's plumbing or "girls" whacked off- we want hot, studly men who love females and who don't put up with $*** from whiny lesbos or leftist fr3@ks.
Agreed! And of course Maverick and Die Hard and Lethal Weapon have plenty of female fans. But I’m a man and reluctant to speak for women. Thanks for your perspective!
How about Reacher and Jack Ryan on Amazon. Plenty of ladies watch, men too. You struck the nail squarely on the head. Also, consider how much money men have and control - Michael Jordan understood this analogy when he said Republicans buy sneakers, too…
Yeah there are certainly shows and movies for men... I think the argument I'm making is when you start to list the heroes from the 80's and 90's out on paper and you come up with 50 names right off the top of your head you realize how rare they are these days and how crazy it is to leave that kind of money on the table
I’m with ya…
It's a perfect storm of circumstance as to why we no longer go to the movies. Not much to see, too expensive, too many choices even before we get in. On rainy days I could not work. So I would come home and say "let's go to the movies." No more. We have to plan it out like we're going on vacation. So sad because I'm the perfect movie goer. I can suspend my disbelief. But I do wonder sometimes how Indy got on that German sub????? My heroes are a little older. Heston, John Wayne, Peck, Gable and Tracy.
Watch a Dean Martin Roast and see how grown -ups act when being silly. Pointed but with respect. I guess I rambled. Sorry.
My wife and I had a long talk about that this weekend. She noted that the big stars of today mostly stay out of the public eye, certainly stars like Keanu Reeves are never EVER on social media. But by contrast, the studios are using social media reach as a shorthand for the popularity of young stars they hope to get into their movies. The idea is that if Zendaya has 20 million twitter followers, then it must mean that she is, ipso facto, a star. But I think they may have it exactly backwards. Doens't seem to me like very many of those 20 million rushed out to see her movie this weekend.
“…mostly drinking too much and staring off into the middle distance…”
Is my web camera on?
Seriously, MFW, great essay. It’s hard to even talk about heroes anymore. They have to be anti-heroes. Or they must be ambassadors of “The Message.”
My hero as a kid was Captain Kirk. I’m old enough to have watched Star Trek in syndication on a B&W TV. I loved Kirk because, although he wasn’t particularly friendly, he had loyal friends and was loyal in turn. He took counsel but then made decisions that even dissenters respected. Personally brave, reasonable, resourceful, merciful. He had a sense of humor. Kirk loved his ship, valued his crew, and although he bent the rules, he was a stalwart Starfleet officer and defender of the Federation. He made me appreciate the constitutional republic before I even knew what that was. He was my hero.
They can’t make heroes anymore. I really enjoyed Top Gun: Maverick because it was a bit of a surprise. They still make these kinds of movies?
Thanks!
We must be the same age because I also watched Trek in its first synidcation run. My mom introduced me to it and yeah Kirk was my hero for a long time... pretty much until 1981 when I first met Indiana Jones.
Hollywood is run by big corporations, so that's one reason movies are so derivative and morose and boring. Because the last one was! So the execs make another one.
I had a reader make a snarky comment about a screenplay with a touch of a faith element in it--a retelling of Faust--and he failed to notice that very week that Shogun, about faith and honor and duty, was absolutely crushing every piece of drek out there. (And in 3 Body Problem, the only good part is that of the Maoist Revolution. I would like to see that movie someday!)
Hollywood has been run by corporations for a long time though, and things haven't ever been this bad before. In my opinion, derivative content isn't necessarily the biggest problem, it's the logical cul-de-sacs Hollywood has driven itself into trying to paint characters that only exist within tight culturally acceptable lines.
good point