also the fact that every movie is either stupid CGI comic books

or some leftist/racial episode showing the worst of non-minority society.

how many movies about black heroes have come out in the last year?! how many movies about white heroes have come out in the last year?

now explain how blacks make up 13% of the population, but have as many characters and movies portraying them? this is OF COURSE POLITICAL.

LMCane said:

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also the fact that every movie is either stupid CGI comic books

or some leftist/racial episode showing the worst of non-minority society.

how many movies about black heroes have come out in the last year?! how many movies about white heroes have come out in the last year?

now explain how blacks make up 13% of the population, but have as many characters and movies portraying them? this is OF COURSE POLITICAL.

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Can we undelete the boy09 post after this one?

wow

43rd Street Posse said:

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TCTTS said:

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boy09 said:

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[That is over the line and if you do it again you will get a ban. -Staff]

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Staff, sincere question… why did you leave the post complaining about "racial minorities, gays, and trannies" in movies, but *deleted* and reprimanded the post complaining about the person who said those things? Seriously? That's the message TexAgs is sending?

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Let's be honest here...that was not his point...that there are gays and minorities in movies. It's the super forced approach of bending over backwards to focus on that as top priority in so many films, shows, and commercials that he seems to have a problem with. You may disagree, and that's fair, but he was not simply lamenting "who let the datgum colored folks in the movie industry!" like you're making it sound.

these were his words...

Quote:

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Stop shoe horning in racial minorities, gays, and trannies for no reason other than so-called "diversity."

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I just find that the complaining about it FAR outweighs how much that kind stuff is actually "shoehorned" into movies and TV. For instance, there are pages and pages of derails in various Marvel threads over, say, a 20-second scene of a character having two moms, or, God forbid, a four-second shot of two characters made of rocks, but of the same sex, kissing. This stuff is mostly minuscule at best, yet a number of posters here can't help but lose their minds over blink-and-you-missed it inclusions. And when it does amount to more than just a brief cameo, depiction still doesn't necessarily = "shoehorning." I just find it curious that people hardly ever complain about things they *like* being "shoehorned" into movies and TV. No straight male ever complains about a pair of tits being "shoehorned" into a movie, but two guys kiss on film and the filmmakers suddenly have an "agenda" and are trying to "preach" or "groom" or whatever. In other words, "shoehorned" is often code for "I don't agree with this particular lifestyle or message, therefore I don't want it in my entertainment." When most of us simply don't give a sh*t because we live in a world where gay people and racial minorities are a part of our everyday lives, in a way that doesn't make them at all feel "shoehorned" or over proportioned in the entertainment we consume.

That said, I've b*tched and moaned endlessly on this board about how sh*tty so many movies are nowadays, and how inept Hollywood can be. I live it everyday, and it affects me and my living more than anyone here. This town is endlessly frustrating in that regard. I wholeheartedly agree that we're currently in a comedy-less, everything-is-a-superhero-movie, creative rut, and that most of the various studios are checking off ridiculous diversity boxes in the most maddening ways. I absolutely get it, and agree. I just see Hollywood's major problem right now as being a creative/risk-adverse one, not a political one.

agdoc2001 said:

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I don't think this is a political issue.

I think it simply boils down to the fact that the home movie viewing experience has improved while the theater viewing experience offers little more than it did in the 90s for 3-4x the cost. I rarely go to the theater anymore. To go to a movie theater, I would either:

1. Want to see a movie so badly that I couldn't wait 2-3 months for streaming
2. Be convinced that the viewing experience would be better in a public place

Very few movies meet that criteria these days - the last movie I saw in a theater was Endgame.

But I agree with TCTTS in that, the quality of television storytelling has gone up tremendously. You can tell a much richer story over 8-12 1-hour episodes than 90 minutes. I disagree with him that theaters are due for a major resurgence however, just like shopping malls, I believe they are polishing brass on the Titanic.

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Theaters aren't due for a major resurgence, but the *box office* is. The theatrical landscape has obviously changed, and will continue to change, in significant ways. Fewer mid-budget movies, more blockbusters, etc. So, yeah, I don't see a resurgence of new theaters being built or anything like that, but I promise you, next year is going to see a consistently higher box office than any of the past three years. I'm not saying it will set any yearly records, only that it's going to soon start feeling relatively normal again.

Also, people have been saying that theaters are dead ever since the pandemic began, yet, even despite the sparser slate, box office records continue to be broken. I just don't see how anyone can say that "they are polishing brass on the Titanic," when TWO of five highest grossing movies of ALL TIME released in the past year alone, and blockbusters in general are just as popular as they've ever been. Hell, I'd argue that, personally, between blockbusters like Dune, The Batman, and Top Gun: Maverick, this might actually be one of my favorite blockbuster eras ever, and droves of people showed up for each of those movies.

43rd Street Posse said:

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TCTTS said:

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That said, I've b*tched and moaned endlessly on this board about how sh*tty so many movies are nowadays, and how inept Hollywood can be. I live it everyday, and it affects me and my living more than anyone here. This town is endlessly frustrating in that regard. I wholeheartedly agree that we're currently in a comedy-less, everything-is-a-superhero-movie rut, and that most of the various studios are checking off ridiculous diversity boxes in the most maddening ways. I absolutely get it, and agree. I just see Hollywood's major problem right now as being a creative/risk-adverse one, not a political one.

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Fair enough. I never meant to imply that was their main problem by any means, it's just one contributing factor IMO. But I think it's a growing one. I know of numerous people who aren't far right, who are just turned off by how vocal and preachy so many of them are. It's just annoying and makes many of them unlikable. Some famous actress living in a $20MM mansion in the Hollywood hills trying to lecture me on how i should live or tell me I'm evil for voting for a particular candidate just makes it hard for me to want to drive to a movie theater, pay $60 for a movie date, have my entire evening centered around her movie, or give her money in any way shape or form.

I wish we didn't know so much about these hypocrites. Seriously, just shut up and act and be grateful that so many people like your art that you are worth tens of millions of $$$. Anyways, end of rant, I've made it clear how I feel.

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If it makes you feel any better (and I mean this sincerely), I think the pendulum is going to swing back the other way, and that this stuff is finally going to start dissipating, at least somewhat. Hollywood has always preached, often in hypocritical ways, and I'm not at all saying that's going away. But I genuinely believe that it was exacerbated ten fold by the emergence of Trump as a political figure. This is NOT an anti-Trump argument, I'm simply pointing out the fact he very quickly became, objectively, one of the most polarizing political figures of the past 50 years. Throw Covid on top of that, and the past few years have made for an unprecedentedly partisan/divided time, where people have felt like they've had to choose a side, dig in, and speak out against the "other" like never before. On both sides. And while part of that I'm afraid is irreversible, with the Trump fever finally seeming to break, and Covid finally seemingly "over," I really do think temperatures are going to start to cool, at least somewhat.

batchuser said:

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Celebrities and their obsession with social media. Every news outlet will publish what some idiot actors political belief are or some product they are trying to sell. Movie theatres are finished. Not from Covid but from audiences who play on their phones and/or talk during the movie.

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Couldn't agree more with this comment. The two movies we paid for this year that had less than 10 percent of the capacity filled were ruined by teenagers, their phones and the talking. It drives me bonkers. How inconsiderate can one be? I'll just wait till the movie streams before I see my next one.

TCTTS said:

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Theaters aren't due for a major resurgence, but the *box office* is.

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I misinterpreted your original argument and thought it was in regard to theater numbers. You could be right about box office numbers.

I do wonder how the continued emergence of multiple streaming services will affect box office dollars. Any new movie is available to be pirated within hours of home release, but most people don't pirate movies. Why? The download takes too long, it's easier just to subscribe to Netflix for 18$/month, quality may be lower due to compression. But as our download speeds become faster, compression techniques improve, the price of streaming services increases, and it becomes necessary to subscribe to more and more services to get everything you want; I do wonder if suddenly more people begin pirating again.

Sorry to derail, completely off topic, but something interesting for the future.

This seems like the perfect place for this:

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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This seems like the perfect place for this:

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Damn Hollywood and their subtle Blue Lives Matter propaganda

Very well said.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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This seems like the perfect place for this:

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Gotta admit, that was funny.

I think I feel so strongly about this because of my disappointment with the Star Wars sequel trilogy that I still haven't gotten over. A weird hill to die on, but I think it's a major red flag of the extremely weak screenwriting that frequently takes place in the present day. If I get a whiff of it from a preview now I likely avoid the movie(like the several Marvel movies that I've omitted recently).

People relate to vulnerable traits of humanity and not demigod perfect characters because of the virtue of their gender. Rey had massive potential as the lead in the new trilogy but the writers faceplanted because it's not PC to show a strong female character failing and/or learning from said failure, especially with the instructions of a man to helping because it's "patronizing". In fact they have to overcompensate and have them brow beat the females' competency over the male. It's so sterile characterization it alienates the character from being human and thus relatable at all. But I digress I've already ranted enough on the Dune thread about this. I really want them to land "Sisterhood of Dune".

I hear you 100%, and was similarly disappointed in Rey. I loved Daisy Ridley's performance, but wasn't a fan of the character at all, for all the same reasons you've listed.