Author:
johnny-g
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Date:
8/22/2016 9:11:32 AM
Subject:
RE: The film industry now and then
sigh...
There's a lot of recency bias when it comes to film or television especially. People see a complete bomb (usually attributed to studio intervention or quick cash ins [i.e., any remake or sequel ever]) and are quick to reminisce about how much better it was "back in the day". This, however, is bullshit.
There were a lot of complete shiat for movies back then just like there are today. There are still phenomenal movies that come out today too. To even bother with the remake of Ben-Hur might be indicative of you already having made up your mind that the arts were better in your day - but in the last 5 years alone we've been given films like Grand Budapest Hotel, Sicario, Ex Machina, Birdman, Whiplash, MadMax: Fury Road, and so on. You see cash-in reboots that lose sight of the original intent (like Robocop not getting that the original was done ultra-violent in an almost satirical manner), while others have more heart and honor the story/world (see: Planet of the Apes prequels or Creed).
I mean... you can't watch Whiplash and not think, "holy shit that was a masterpiece".
This is film alone, but you start talking television and forget it. It is absolutely not-up-for-debate regarding television being anything but in it's Golden Age. It's actually considered by the industry to literally be in it's Golden Age (yes, the original being 40s - 60s I acknowledge that). Networks like HBO, AMC, USA, and FXX started to figure this out and the Sopranos and The Wire are largely to thank for kicking off that mindset. A show like Breaking Bad could not exist 20 years ago. Have you even watched the sci-fi anthology series, Black Mirror? I think it's on Netflix... It's the only show you could possibly compare to the Twilight Zone and be right in both terms of quality and story telling. Twilight Zone only surpasses it in it's sheer number of iconic episodes - but in terms of shit episodes to iconic, Black Mirror probably has a stronger ratio (to be fair, that's only because there are 7 eps and it is bookended by 2 of the weaker episodes).
Point being, I don't believe for a second that the quality of the film industry has wavered, much if at all, from now to back then. You had to weed through a lot of crap back then and it's the same now. Television, on the other hand, is killing it at the moment. Once upon a time, it was considered a death sentence for a movie actor to reduce themselves to appearing on television. You're now starting to see A-Listers (but still admittedly more B-Listers) compete for roles on mini-series or television. Combine that with the format of television changing (cable cutters only continue to shift towards digital subscription services) and things will only continue to grow.
