March 14, 2012 by lkinney90
As sad as it is to say, the people I encounter on a daily basis are rather disappointing. In general, I try to force myself to maintain that people are good/nice/whatever, but that their crappy behaviors and decisions should be attributed to “not knowing any better.” As someone who was practically born overly self-aware, I recognize that not all people analyze and re-analyze and over-analyze their daily choices, but sometimes I wish people would think twice about stuff occasionally.
Most frustrating example: media consumption choices.
Granted, I am by no means an expert or snob. I like my fair share of crappy movies and shitty bands and I don’t have a problem owning up to it. This is the written disclaimer that makes me less of a hypocrite.
Part 1: Movies.
I am fully convinced that the folks in Hollywood churning out most of the popular movies of the last 5 years are linked together in a giant conspiracy to exploit the stupidity of Americans. On any given day, there is at least one (probably multiple) movies in theaters based on a recycled story. Disney continues to make bank by re-releasing decades-old movies and slapping “remastered” on them, as if Joe on the street can really see any difference. In only my 21 short years, I’ve seen the books, TV shows, video games, and toys of my childhood be unoriginally adapted to the big screen. Alvin and the Chipmunks? Really? Hollywood had to ruin my favorite annoying Christmas sing-a-long tape? As much as the exploitation of my childhood memories angers me, I am more frustrated by the creation and consumption of such films. For every one awesome, original, and technologically innovative film that Pixar has released in their time, there have been a handful of cheesy, recycled stories with fart jokes shoved down kids’ throats…and far too many people filling their pockets based on another person’s creativity that was proven successful 20 years ago. When did everyone give up? When did movie makers decide that everything worth doing has already been done, and the only thing left to do is redo it all? And when did the general population agree that they don’t have a problem paying $10 a piece to see MORE Muppets?