WHY IS HOLLYWOOD SO OUT OF TOUCH?

As Hollywood struggles to recover from the COVID-19 lockdowns that impacted the industry in ways the studios failed to comprehend, the ticket sales in 2024 continue to lag behind 2023 by 24%. Due to the exceptional success of OPPENHEIMER and BARBIE which saved the film industry last year, many insiders in the industry firmly believed that the lower attendance caused by the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022 were outliers and that moviegoers would return to the theater. But 2024 is showing that depressed ticket sales is likely the new normal. So what has caused this change in behavior among the movie-going public? Three things specifically stand out.

First, the pandemic changed people’s behavior. Movie events and word of mouth have become the defining characteristic of movie attendance. But the most overlooked factor is that ticket prices have exploded due to inflation. Attending a film with a family of four used to be a cheap night of entertainment. In California, a night out with your wife and two kids can cost 60 dollars before purchasing any of the expensive refreshments or beers and wines. These high prices change consumer behavior. Film goers and families will require more encouragement and positive press before spending a large amount of money on the next blockbuster film.

Second, it is generational. Generation Z was the first generation born with a tablet in their hand. They have never experienced a world without YouTube or internet streaming. Because of this, entertainment is cheap, free, and can be experienced on your tablet or phone from the comforts of your own house. There is no identification with “event” films that used to take our culture by storm through the 1970s until the 2010s (AVENGERS likely being the last true event). This change in behavior is something that Hollywood has still not resolved.

But one of the most overlooked problems which will be denied by the executives at the television networks, film studios, and recording companies is that Hollywood has an elitist problem. Films have become the centerpiece of the culture war and whether you agree with the conservative opinion about films becoming “too woke” or the liberal opinion that social identity and political observations need to become a centerpiece of our art, the average consumer doesn’t care. Because of this, there are millions of people in the United States who have rejected entertainment completely. But this opinion that Hollywood is elitist and no longer understands the American people is a valid argument. There is the completely out of touch Stephen Colbert and his VAX-SCENE which were not only painfully unfunny but could be seen as government and corporate propaganda. Plus, the shots have proven to be more dangerous with time as more studies have been done. There is the increase in deaths which still hasn’t been properly researched or studied to find the underlying cause (The vaccines have to be considered as a factor). There is Hollywood’s embrace of liberal politicians in an era when censorship and “lawfare” tactics to imprison or remove the opposition has become the greatest threat to our personal liberties in my lifetime.

To summarize how out of touch Hollywood and the streaming services are, I want to bring your attention to Season 4, Episode 2 of the Amazon show THE BOYS called “Life Among the Septics.” THE BOYS is a popular, comic book show that treats superheroes in a more realistic light. When given God-like abilities as a person, is there any doubt that many individuals would use these powers for personal gain? Or to commit large amounts of violence to cover up a crime? THE BOYS works because it handles the characters realistically while often diving into satire. The satire works very well when it focuses on our present-day culture. Whether satirizing the fact that we have too many superhero movies, or that Hollywood has lost its ability to make original content, or in some of the funniest scenes, the superheroes use their powers in unique ways to pleasure themselves or commit obscene sex acts, many of these moments are hilarious and demented. But what does THE BOYS television show fail at?

POLITICS

In the episode mentioned above, THE BOYS are trying to track down a superhero named FIRECRACKER who has become a right wing, Tucker Carlson type firebrand complaining about “the liberals” that are ruining the country on her popular radio show (And if you pay attention to the Twitter Files, the Russia Gate hoax, and Hunter’s authentic laptop, she may not be wrong). While the liberals who run the show take great joy in mocking Pizza Gate in one scene and other ridiculous conspiracies associated with the right like Flat Earth ideology or believing in alien technology covered up by the government, they fumble the satire through their own certainty of “truth.” FIRECRACKER even has a scene where she attacks the idea of vaccination. Firecracker’s whole argument seems ridiculous to the creators of this show. As they wallow in their ignorance, data continues to be released about the increasing amount of side effects, and the fact that the 9th Circuit Court just ruled that the COVID-19 vaccines were NOT VACCINES because they did not prevent spread has proven that these products do not work as advertised. In their quest to prove their intellectual superiority to the lower-class plebes that live in the center of the country, Hollywood is showing that it may be even more sadistic and stupid than the idiots that they satirize. In Season 2, THE BOYS revived everyone’s favorite villain, The Nazis, in the form of the super-powered STORMFRONT which came across as unoriginal and moronic. Hollywood has turned Hitler into a fictionalized cartoon character instead of the dangerous and idealistic person that he was (Which is often overlooked to emphasize his cartoonish villainy). The first good political satire joke in THE BOYS will be its first. I am not holding my breath that they can pull it off.

My word of advice for THE BOYS in the future. Stay out of present-day politics! Your lack of knowledge regarding the political problems of the 21st Century United States is embarrassing.