It seems there is a huge lack of creativity these days, especially in the entertainment industry. Think about it. When was the last time a movie was made that was truly great? 1994, Mel Gibson's Braveheart. The last time there was a widely liked, truly good band? Again with the early '90s we have Nirvana. And who knows how long it's been since there was a new TV show idea. Ever since American Idol, Survivor, ER and CSI came out, everything aired since has been carbon copy after carbon copy. Now I'm not saying "these are the only good bands, movies, etc". There just hasn't been, in my opinion, anything truly moving since that era. Why is that?
It has been said that there aren't any new stories told, we just re-tell the same ones over and over again. If this is true, why have I not previously noticed an overwhelming influx of the cliche same old stuff? I'm notoriously picky about these things; I think it would have come up. My hypothesis: quality standards have dropped exponentially.
Consider, if you will, the advent of emo-music. In a wikipedia article on the subject, it is described as "lyrics founded in deep diary-like outpourings of emotion". Now I'm all for writing in one's diary. If that's your thing, one on you. But if I'm not mistaken, the entire purpose of having a diary is to be able to jot down your innermost feelings and desires without the fear of being mocked. And these people have made music out of it? Yeekh. I guess the only way people can find to write a break up song is to go back and look at journal entries written when they were 15. How incredibly pathetic.
With movies, it seems there are really only 5 kinds: medieval-style Braveheart wannabes, "I loved these comic books as a kid" movies, Lion-Witch-Wardrobe-esque endeavors, Harry Potter sequels, and SAW sequels. I would have added Pirates of the Caribbean flicks, but they barely even count as entertainment. I mean, come on. We aren't 5 year olds.
Television, as a whole, is one giant cesspool of rampant and blatant, plagiarized nonsense. Enough said.
So we sit, my friends. The great entertainment crisis at the turn of the century. Forget the economy, the elections, looming energy crisis and the blunder in Iraq. This is what my attention is focused on.
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4 comments:
I loved the paragraph about movies. Though you forgot a sixth type: the "I wish my life was this romantic and I was this well-dressed", females-only, two-people-have-some- ridiculous-reason-they-can't-be- together-but-somehow-love-comes-through sort.
I agree about television--I seldom watch it simply because I usually feel like it is a waste of my time since most shows are, like you said, essentially duplicates of each other anyway. However, I really, really do like The Office.
Thanks for writing this.
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