Media Doesn’t Feel the Same Anymore: Are We Running Out of Ideas?

My favorite thing to do when I go see a movie with friends is to get there extra early so I can see all the trailers. In the past, I had high expectations to see previews that would make me excited, hoping to plan out a new day when I could go see an awesome movie. However, nowadays my expectations are usually cut short.

In recent years, film production has been exhibiting the pattern of remixing, rebooting, and making endless biopics. It’s not that these movies don’t have the potential to be good, it’s the lack of creativity and repetitiveness that is tragically mundane. It really makes you wonder where things started to go bad? What changed? Is the media really running out of ideas? 

Yet another thing Covid has ruined

Before Covid started, there was a constant outpour of media. If you were to talk about movies like Knives Out and Avengers: Endgame, you’d find that most people have heard of or seen these movies. They’re memorable, creative, and they made their mark.

Post covid however, there’s been an obvious decline in the speed that movies have been released. Most likely because of production delays and extra precautions. Because of the pandemic, major studios have put more focus on making movies for at home streaming services like HBO max or Netflix. This obviously doesn’t look that good for theaters, and sadly, there’s less of a chance to be able to experience seeing a great movie the way that it was originally intended to be seen.

The stinginess of large film corporations

If I put it bluntly, the truth is that large scale companies are getting lazy and cheap. The amount of trailers I’ve seen for some sort of remake for a previous movie is such a “here we go again” moment. You may ask yourself why so many remakes? The answer: Money. 

With a total of 19 live action remakes, Disney is basically a pro when it comes to this uninventive strategy. From Alice in Wonderland to Cruella, Disney has made an approach to try and profit off of peoples nostalgia. They take movies that they know have done well in the past and target them in order to succeed in making the most money possible. It’s a safe bet. 

Focusing on Diversity

One bright side to this pattern is the film industry has made an effort to start being more inclusive. We’re beginning to see more people of color casted as main characters, more representation in the LGBTQ+ community, and so many other things. However, the way certain corporations are going about it just isn’t the right way.

Once again, another example of not so great movie making skills is Disney. The new Little Mermaid movie is coming out in May of this year, and I’m really excited about it. However, since the cast was announced, this yet-to-be-released movie has become quite controversial. 

The main character Ariel was announced to be played by Halle Bailey, and while you may think What’s the big deal?Many people are upset because she’s a black woman. Of course, anyone with critical thinking skills in this day and age isn’t going to outright make any racist remarks towards her… right? Wrong. 

Many people are expressing their frustrations with the casting by making different excuses such as “her hair isn’t red” or “her vibe just doesn’t fill the role,” only to hide the fact that they perceive the character Ariel as a white girl and don’t want anything else.

We need change, but not the type we’re seeing.

I’m glad to see more representation, but we have a problem in the media today. While it’s an amazing thing to see more representation in cinema, nine times out of ten, it lacks creativity. 

Racial identity of fictional characters isn’t that big of a deal to me. I mean the little mermaid is literally JUST a mermaid. But instead of casting her with a black actress, Disney and other corporations need to start being more inventive when it comes to movies. 

Movies that have new characters, concepts, and ideas that other people, especially younger kids, can see themselves in. 

Not only Disney but all large film studios need to stop being so cheap and invest in new idea development and innovative content creators. Maybe just maybe once these issues are fixed, the cinematic universe will once thrive again.