a case for creativity

Every year, hollywood spends more money than I'll ever earn trying to figure out what audiences want. They conduct surveys, analyze market data, hold focus groups, and generally try to figure out how to fit square pegs in round holes. Over the last.... well, I was going to say few years, but let's be realistic here.... over the last few decades, the movie big-wigs have decided that the American public wants more of the same. This year, 2011, will see the highest number ever of remakes and sequels invading our theaters. Basically, studios have concluded that the public is too stupid to tolerate any kind of innovation or newness, and so are repeating themselves over and over. In a related story, the studios are full of idiots.

       Hollywood, let me do you a favor. If a movie looks like it sucks, people won't see it. If a movie looks awesome, people will see it. Analysis complete. 

       Best example- Inception, last summer. For people who don't spend as much time reading film blogs and such as I do, here's a little background. Inception was a giant passion project for Christopher Nolan, who you've probably heard of. The studio let him make it, on their dime, as a reward for the absurdly lucrative Batman movies, and as an enticement to make more. The industry thought it would be a flop, by being too complex, hard to follow, and not based on something that spawned ten crappy sequels since the 80's. (see: Halloween remakes) Instead, Inception was a huge critical hit, made tons of money, and has given Nolan a do-whatever-he-wants license for the next 20 years.

         The point here is this: audiences like being treated as if they have an iq over 50. Inception is incredibly complex. Its' also visually stunning, beautifully acted, and completely original. Knight and Day, which was thought to be much more commercially appealing, was a complete flop because audiences figured out quickly that it was a paint-by-numbers piece of crap.

        Obviously, not everything I'm saying here is always true. Some bad movies do make tons of money. But even in those cases, there's usually something artistically redeeming about the hits. Take the transformers movies, which feature the worst writing since.... since whatever Michael Bay did before that, I suppose. I'm not saying those are good films. But Bay is one hell of a visual director, and watching fifty foot robots toss each other around a forest still put goosebumps on my spine. Please, Hollywood, wake up. There are so many talented, creative people who can put your money to good use. And I think you'll find that true creativity is more profitable than endless regurgitation.