Recently, it has been so difficult looking forward to new TV shows and movies, simply because there isn't anything new being released. "New" as in different plots, different genres, and even the desire for more movies to be based off of books instead of repeating movies that were already created. This includes live action.
Don't get me wrong, I love the classic Disney movies, but it is so unnecessary to recreate them into live action. We don't need to see the same story again. And it's not just Disney releasing live actions. HBO is currently filming a new Harry Potter TV series. We have 8 movies that suffice. It just doesn't feel enticing or exciting anymore, simply a complete waste.
I often tell my sister, who equally enjoys reading, how I wish more of my favorite books would be turned into movies or TV shows. Netflix was supposed to start production for The Selection movie in 2020, although author Kiera Cass announced its discontinuation in 2023. There isn't a finite reason why the movie was canceled, but it is still disappointing, considering all the other repeated movies being released instead.
I never realized why the media continually releases the same movies and TV shows until reviewing the readings in this week's module. Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer state that, "[m]ovies and radio need no longer pretend to be art. The truth that they are just business is made into an ideology in order to justify the rubbish they deliberately produce" (pp. 1). This couldn't be more true. The culture industry is only focused on making a profit. Repeating movies is a safe move for them that will ultimately secure that profit, especially since more people are gravitated to watching something familiar to them. It is a double-edged sword.
Adorno and Horkheimer further back up this point by saying, "[i]t is alleged that because millions participate in it, certain reproduction processes are necessary that inevitably require identical needs in innumerable places to be satisfied with identical goods" (pp. 1). I bet if millions of people did not support these repetitious films, that there would be a higher surgance of new TV shows and movies.
This leads me to my question to you the reader: does the culture industry or the consumers have a higher chance of persuading what TV shows and movies are being released?
Hello! I find this so interesting! I feel like for the past 5-6 years it has just been repeat movies. I do remember some new movies coming out but they just don't get watched. That may be because of people hate for Disney right now for becoming too woke and trying too hard to be politically correct in every situation that they are thwarting creativity. But it was interesting, I saw a post a few weeks ago that was a news article saying that one of Disney's newest animated movies got really low ratings and did not get watched. There was then a comment from Disney that said "if you want new movies then go and watch them" basically saying that they are trying to do what the audience is asking but then no one goes to watch it. It makes you wonder if the reason they are sticking to recreating classics is because we as an audience have forced them to but not being interested in their new movies. But I do also believe that the only reason no one is interested in the new movies is because of how Disney has changed. After I watched "Turning Red" in 2022 and absolutely hated it is when I decided I was done with new Disney movies. How does cancel culture affect the production of new movies? Because Disney is trying very hard to include everyone so that they don't get "cancelled" by the masses but it seems that by them doing that, they have now made themselves ostracized by the masses.
ReplyDeleteHaving worked in the animation industry for years, I’ve seen the highs and lows of this craft. There was a time when new shows and movies were constantly being created, with pitches ranging from alien families to crime-fighting cars. During this period, networks controlled what aired and when. Saturday mornings were actually reserved for cartoons, and eventually entire networks were built around them.
ReplyDeleteWith the rise of the internet and streaming platforms, that structure disappeared. Audiences no longer had to wait for specific time slots and could watch whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. As a result, the culture my industry now relies heavily on data to figure out what consumers want so content can be produced, and monetized, successfully.
However, rather than simply persuading studios to release certain shows or movies, consumers have taken things a step further by creating their own content. Platforms like YouTube and TikTok allow individuals (self proclaimed influencers) to produce and distribute media without traditional industry gatekeepers. This shift suggests that while the culture industry still controls large-scale productions, consumers now have the power by choosing what becomes popular, or by bypassing the industry entirely.
Whether this shift is good or bad is debatable, but it clearly shows that consumers are no longer just influencing media trends, they are actively shaping and creating the culture themselves.