Something Stinks in Hollywood
A Rant
Something really bad is brewing in Hollywood. Now, with what we know about the culture of predators acting with impunity, this goes without saying but when it comes to the films and the TV specifically, there is serious cause for concern. Yes this is about the MCU and how their appointment of Robert Downey Jr. as legendary Romani comic book villain Doctor Doom (among other things) spells disaster for the industry as a whole.
I’m a hater by nature but I promise I’m not hating when I say that this is disastrous on many levels. For starters it means that the creative bankruptcy of the largest studio in existence will continue as Marvel proves they want butts in seats no matter the cost. No obscure heroes to delve into. No new, fresh talent ready to work hard for their big break. Not even a new story that hasn’t been told before. Just focus tested shlock that people have historically responded well to. Test audiences like the fantastic four (for some reason) so we’re getting the fantastic four again less than 20 years after the last live action adaptation. Focus groups loved Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark and we’ve trained our audiences to accept a constant flow of nostalgia so why not nostalgia for 2018, let’s book Rob again. Polls say that people hate to be challenged with new media so let’s not rock the boat, even though no one really likes change but everyone needs it. It’s just so devoid of artistic ambition.
This also speaks to the stall that has settled over Hollywood. Over the past few months many industry players have indicated that work across several disciplines is drying up. Instead of the typically busy pilot season, we’re looking at a fall of very little from ALL of the studios. On TikTok, writers and actors alike lament the lack of roles or work for them and over the past year or so, several young stars have taken it upon themselves to create their own production studios, just to give themselves steady work. If you don’t believe things are this dire, look at the fact that Robert Downey Jr., fresh off his first Oscar win even agreed to come back, despite swearing he was done with the MCU. If not even winning the highest award in your profession can guarantee you work, it’s a clear sign of an industry in distress. Of course, they have offered him upwards of 80 million dollars to return to the MCU so it’s safe to say that may have played into his decision.
Alas, it isn’t enough for me to just speculate, I had to go see the rot for myself so I got tickets to see Deadpool & Wolverine. Not to say that this movie in particular is the source of all evil but I had a sneaking suspicion that this movie was indicative of all I’ve mentioned here. To my surprise, it was much worse than I thought, both the movie and the state of Hollywood that the movie represents. That film is full of lazy writing, horrible jokes that I’m convinced were written by A.I., and soooooo many cameos. So much so that they tried to lampshade the amount of cameos they included but failed because the sheer amount was too much to make funny. The fact that so many people were available and willing to appear for 5 second slots lets me know that the bookings have dried up. So much so that actors that are known for speaking up about horrid scripts clearly didn’t have much to say, likely out of fear of going broke (Wesley, king, I’m looking at you). Where I was once hopeful at the unions winning last year, I now see that the petty backlash from the studios has completely brought an industry to its knees.
And this is a big part of the reason I don’t feel so bad leaving Cali after grad school. I was worried about FOMO, but rn there doesn’t seem like a lot to miss out on until Hollywood gets its shit together