Thursday, January 13, 2005
When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way.
I am going to try to make today a little lighter. I have been in such a weird mood lately, sort of depressed in spurts, so I am going to try to stay away from too much introspection, lest I bum other people out. Let's have fun today...
I was thinking about how little originality there is in entertainment anymore. A lot of the bands, movies, and TV shows we watch are either amalgams of past successes or direst carbon copies of something else. I wonder, why is that? Is it because we have run out of ideas (the "nothing new under the sun" theory), or are we just lazy?
Music seems to be a discussion for another day, as it has a whole different set of problems than the other entertainment media. The same goes for video gaming. Music is stale because pop music is a science now... before, it was the result of everyone throwing out their songs and seeing what sticks... then a greedy producer would latch on and ride the band/sound into the dirt. Now, with Billboard and Soundscan being able to see the tastes of buyers in real-time, we have a different scene. We see producers looking at data, and going out to either create or find a match for what the public's current tastes are (in sound, topic, style, and even look). Anyway, later discussions for music and games...
It's easy to point a snarky finger at reality TV, the fifty CSI spin offs, or the fact that 50% of the movies that come out of Hollywood are either remakes or sequels... but I want to talk about something that stretches back a little further than the 1990's.
Think about the plots of TV shows, cartoons, books, and movies that you have seen. Where did those plots come from? What did the director set out to show, and what story were the writers trying to get across? It is my contention that so much of the stuff we watch is done like so...
"I want to tell a Rocky-like story about a football team..."
"I want this to be a Psycho-like horror film..."
"I want to explore the heart of a dying man ala Ikiru..."
"I want to make a gritty mafia drama like the Godfather..."
"I want to place total strangers in the wild, like Survivor, but with this twist..."
Anyway, you get the point. The fact is, so much of what we "see" in entertainment is based on older classics. In some cases, it is not hidden. It is clear that some movies are adaptations (Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind) and that others are re-tellings (Apocalypse Now, Westside Story, Throne of Blood). Other movies are pure "hack." Look at the stream of Pulp Fiction-like movies that flooded home video stores in the 90's, or the huge number of Halloween knock-offs that litter cable TV even today.
TV shows, because of their disposable nature, are very bad about this. Sitcoms rehash the same tired plots, mostly stolen from the Honeymooners or I Love Lucy. I remember seeing an episode of Touched By An Angel that was a direct rip-off of the Sunshine Boys, and a CBS made-for-TV movie that was almost line for line stolen from Mr. Holland's Opus. Those two examples, for some reason, have always stood out in mind as a great demonstration of how lazy and unimaginative entertainment has become.
The funny thing to me is that there are a few stories that keep popping up over and over. Below is a list of the stories I see used over and over most often, and I would really like to hear comments from all of you of examples you have come across of reused, retooled, and recycled entertainment.
Romeo and Juliet
A Christmas Carol
Moby Dick
Frankenstein
Maybe in the future I will do a list of the most original movies/shows. Until then... Horns up!
I was thinking about how little originality there is in entertainment anymore. A lot of the bands, movies, and TV shows we watch are either amalgams of past successes or direst carbon copies of something else. I wonder, why is that? Is it because we have run out of ideas (the "nothing new under the sun" theory), or are we just lazy?
Music seems to be a discussion for another day, as it has a whole different set of problems than the other entertainment media. The same goes for video gaming. Music is stale because pop music is a science now... before, it was the result of everyone throwing out their songs and seeing what sticks... then a greedy producer would latch on and ride the band/sound into the dirt. Now, with Billboard and Soundscan being able to see the tastes of buyers in real-time, we have a different scene. We see producers looking at data, and going out to either create or find a match for what the public's current tastes are (in sound, topic, style, and even look). Anyway, later discussions for music and games...
It's easy to point a snarky finger at reality TV, the fifty CSI spin offs, or the fact that 50% of the movies that come out of Hollywood are either remakes or sequels... but I want to talk about something that stretches back a little further than the 1990's.
Think about the plots of TV shows, cartoons, books, and movies that you have seen. Where did those plots come from? What did the director set out to show, and what story were the writers trying to get across? It is my contention that so much of the stuff we watch is done like so...
"I want to tell a Rocky-like story about a football team..."
"I want this to be a Psycho-like horror film..."
"I want to explore the heart of a dying man ala Ikiru..."
"I want to make a gritty mafia drama like the Godfather..."
"I want to place total strangers in the wild, like Survivor, but with this twist..."
Anyway, you get the point. The fact is, so much of what we "see" in entertainment is based on older classics. In some cases, it is not hidden. It is clear that some movies are adaptations (Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind) and that others are re-tellings (Apocalypse Now, Westside Story, Throne of Blood). Other movies are pure "hack." Look at the stream of Pulp Fiction-like movies that flooded home video stores in the 90's, or the huge number of Halloween knock-offs that litter cable TV even today.
TV shows, because of their disposable nature, are very bad about this. Sitcoms rehash the same tired plots, mostly stolen from the Honeymooners or I Love Lucy. I remember seeing an episode of Touched By An Angel that was a direct rip-off of the Sunshine Boys, and a CBS made-for-TV movie that was almost line for line stolen from Mr. Holland's Opus. Those two examples, for some reason, have always stood out in mind as a great demonstration of how lazy and unimaginative entertainment has become.
The funny thing to me is that there are a few stories that keep popping up over and over. Below is a list of the stories I see used over and over most often, and I would really like to hear comments from all of you of examples you have come across of reused, retooled, and recycled entertainment.
Romeo and Juliet
A Christmas Carol
Moby Dick
Frankenstein
Maybe in the future I will do a list of the most original movies/shows. Until then... Horns up!
Comments:
Carl makes an interesting point. Let me throw out two reasons why there seems to be a general lack of creativity out there. 1. There really isn't anything new. I remember hearing Paul Harvey comment on a new story that it had been determined that most stories revolve around 1 of seven plot lines. I don't remember what those were, but I think if you take the time to examine the movies and the stories you like that you will find that the main theme of the plot doesn't change much. 2. We are over entertained. Let's face it we are the first generation ever that has had the time and money to spend on filling our minds with drivel. Imagine the hundreds, if not thousands, of stories, movies, and TV shows made each year. There is nothing left to surprise us or hold us in suspense. We have made entertainment our life, and now it is not cutting it anymore.
Wild at Heart;
Paul
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Wild at Heart;
Paul