LogFAQs > #978123240

ParanoidObsessive posted...

I like the one theory I've heard, which basically boils down to the idea that most of the younger writers today (and by that I mostly mean people under 40-50 or so) are the kids who grew up as complete and total narcissists who have never really had any interesting life experiences, and who have only ever really consumed pop culture (as opposed to anything more meaningful or artistic). So you're basically left with people who have no interesting stories to tell, who can only fake creativity by regurgitating pop culture they grew up with, and who can't write characters who are anything other than thinly-veiled versions of themselves. They're post-postmodernists who can't write stories that resonate with anyone other than themselves, not helped by their habit of inserting their personal politics into everything (in an annoyingly preachy way rather than an interesting or engaging way).

I like the idea simply because it appeals to my jaded cynicism. But, on a more practical level, that's probably more of an issue with so much long-running content where people can write for THE SAME THINGS they enjoyed as a kid, at which point their shitty fan fiction can become canon (and Joe Quesada can fuck up Spider-Man). A lot of early franchises were great simply because it was a new thing, not something too popular to ever die.

However, society is partly to blame. Because kids today tend to be in cities and sticking around technology, they never go exploring the woods and finding a dead body anymore.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Then you plug those people into a system that has grown "too big to fail" and which can't afford to reward creativity, but which has to exploit existing properties and nostalgia to survive. Where the people making the money decisions are completely disconnected from the actual work, and more or less incapable of understanding it.

The end result is a lot of soulless "content" that is neither art nor entertainment. The inevitable end result of pop culture eating itself, fueled by a Hollywood machine that has grown out of control and can no longer properly function.

It's why the rare jewels you still see now and then all seem to come from smaller studios or artists outside of the massive corporate machine. Or even from alternate distribution models like YouTube. Creativity still exists, but it's rarer, and it has a harder time getting to the audience.

On top of that, the consolidation of entertainment (certainly in the US) has made it more difficult for creativity to get through the cracks.