Over the course of the past few years, it feels like almost everything I read about the entertainment industry has been negative. Whether it be for movies, music or even video games, people believe that every major company in entertainment has lost their way and become soulless, with no clear way to regain what made their art special to people in the first place. These complaints follow a general trend of people online becoming more pessimistic and spiteful, and to an extent, I can agree that pop culture is not quite the same as it used to be. I generally prefer the pop hits of the 2000s over the music of today, and more and more big budget movies flop every year. Nevertheless, I believe that those who hold such negative views about the entertainment industry would be able to take a step back and still find happiness within art if they broaden their search and use the tools that the internet has to offer.
First of all, when it comes to movies, I have seen more pessimism surrounding Hollywood than I have for any other medium in the entertainment industry, especially when it comes to remakes. Disney creates live action remakes of their animated films instead of creating new childhood classics, while Harry Potter is set to be completely remade from the ground up as a TV series. It’s as if pop culture is repeating itself instead of moving forward, and despite remakes and sequels getting panned by critics, executives still see them as huge moneymaker. That is pretty disheartening. However, the era of streaming and the internet does bring hope to the situation. With streaming services, you are able to watch pretty much any movie you want from any era, and that extends to smaller indie films as well as cult classics that would have been previously gone unnoticed in Blockbuster bargain bins.
Furthermore, the advent of websites like Letterboxd allow you to specifically search for films you may enjoy online and see what other people think about them, something I have found really useful ever since I started using it. With Letterboxd, I am able to see what my friends have watched as well. This adds a social aspect to watching and reviewing movies, which wasn’t possible in the same way before the internet. These people can then recommend new movies, and create communities centered around niche genres. The resources of the internet allow people to find the media that they would like, so use them!
I feel optimistic about music for the opposite reason that I feel optimistic about movies. Modern music software has allowed more people than ever to get into making music. With platforms like Soundcloud which allows users to upload music for free, smaller artists can gain an audience for their music that they never would have been able to gain in previous years. Sure, it is easy to say that modern music has gotten worse if you only listen to the same 20 songs that get played on radio stations. In reality, music is better than ever, due to the sheer accessibility of the medium for both listeners and creators. Major labels are no longer needed for an album to get seen by people, which makes the music industry a lot healthier and allows indie artists to tell their own stories without having to worry about the constrictions of labels. So if the mainstream of pop music isn’t your thing, you have more alternatives than ever.
It feels important to mention that you need to have an open mind when searching up content about media online. Platforms like Instagram have a habit of pushing the most controversial and debated takes to the top of algorithms, feeding off negativity because those sorts of posts generate the most engagement. My suggestion is to try and find music and movies that you’re personally interested in and not just take the first opinion you see about a movie online as fact. You’ll never know what you’ve missed out on if you do that!
