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| The Simpsons did it better. |
I must admit, the success of The Force Awakens dealt a serious blow to my faith in American audiences’ judgment. Prior to reports of its opening weekend numbers, I’d expected the Ghostbusters reboot to top the box office and at least surpass the much-maligned Ghostbusters II.
The fact that many moviegoers are voting with their wallets against a film that epitomizes Hollywood’s brazen contempt for them tempers my cynicism.
That’s not to say that all is well in the world of pop culture.
There’s no getting around it. TFA made a killing. And although it failed to meet expectations, Ghostbusters 2016 might still make its budget back and may even turn a profit.
If these later films were simply earnest but flawed products like the Star Wars prequels and Ghostbusters II, an argument for paying to see them could be made on the basis of “there’s no accounting for taste”.
Yet online and among gatherings of friends, there’s no shortage of people who acknowledge TFA and GB 2016 for what they are: not movies meant to entertain, but crass propaganda. It’s highly doubtful that either film would do as well as it did had people who know them for what they are simply not paid to be propagandized.
I’ve noticed a baffling phenomenon among my peers that can be summed up in one sentence: “Yeah, [Cynical Propagandistic Cash Grab X ] will suck, but I have to go.”
No, you don’t.
Otherwise rational people’s willingness to pay companies who hate them for the privilege of having their personal beliefs, religion, and way of life mocked is a grim testament to how thoroughly pop culture has been subverted into a tool of the elite.
After pointing this out, I usually get excuses along the lines of “I don’t want to go, but my girlfriend/spouse does, so what choice do I have?”
I answer: you have the choice to impress your significant other (and, even more importantly, your children) by showing integrity and frugality when you refuse to pay Hollywood scumbags to insult both of you.
Then there’s the ever-popular: “I’ve been a diehard fan of the series for decades. Even if this one sucks, I have to see it.”
I answer: look man, we all loved Star Wars/Star Trek/Indiana Jones/Ghostbusters/etc. You probably loved Twinkies as a kid, too, but if I stuck a bunch of them under a slaughterhouse radiator for 30 years and then served you the resulting moldy blackened goo, past fondness wouldn’t bind you to choke down the putrid mess.
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| Pictured: your most beloved childhood franchise |
Hollywood hates you. They’ve murdered the film franchises you loved and reanimated them as shambling husks. But instead of cloves and sawdust, they’ve stuffed these mummified impostors with PC dogma. These zombie films’ main purpose now is to spread elitist groupthink like plague rats.
Nevertheless, the desire to see these hollow propaganda pieces is understandable. The loyalty once reserved for faith, family, and country has long since been given over to multimedia entertainment empires, designer labels, and high profile name brands.
It worked for a while, back when the high priests of consumerism at least paid lip service to the values of the institutions they’d displaced. Now they’ve gone rabid and are devouring the culture that birthed them.
Cutting the cord and waking yourself up can seem daunting, I know. Missing out on the cinematic flavor of the month can be scary, especially if you don’t immediately see anything that can fill the vacuum.
But alternatives exist, even if the movie studios, record labels, media conglomerates, and big publishers won’t tell you about them.
For example, there are any number of independent authors working around the clock to spin fun, exciting yarns with the sole aim of entertaining you.
I happen to be one of them.
