Films reflect the collective unconscious in ironic ways. During the Great Depression, films didn't dwell on the miseries of real life; they were carefree concoctions making light of the idle rich (The Thin Man, 1934, My Man Godfrey, 1936), with the realistic (but still ending on a positive note) The Grapes of Wrath arriving a decade into the Depression in 1940.
Is it coincidence that the decades of Superhero worship track the rise of our collective powerlessness over the shape of our future? I sense the outrage and indignation this ignites--how dare you say we're powerless, we have more power over our lives than ever before.
If all we believe boils down to "technology good, investment opportunities good," then we've relinquished the ability to distinguish between truth and lies, and as Hannah Arendt observed, the difference between right and wrong. This too is powerlessness, a black hole from which there is no technological escape.
Could this be why Superhero movies are not making it like they were in the near past? This is a close look at what has happened in the past decades in movies.
I have been thinking something like this for while. I enjoyed the first iron man movie and the first avengers movie. And they seemed pretty stale to me quickly after. I remember my friend at the time telling me how great the marvel universe was. When I though about it, I started to realize what these movies do to people subconsciously. They let people stay small so they can see heroes outside of themselves. They let us live a fantastic vision outside of ourselves instead of becoming our own heroes. And I just find them super boring now. Especially lot of over stimulating action, just puts me to sleep. There is a lot of dram and no substance that I care about personally. Not a fan. I do love some of these movies. I am a fan of some of the new Batman movies. Like the first Nolan movies where you get to see Bruce go on his heroes journey. I enjoy that a lot. Most of them though, no good in my opinion.
I think that the whole Marvel movies series is engineered to keep the plebes helpless and thinking that they can do nothing to help themselves out of the hole they are in. They seem to be generating learned helplessness for a purpose. The actual superhero’s are right here amongst us. You can see it being captured on video all over the internet. We can do it!
Yes. I agree. It's sad. But it's falling apart. Hollywood is creatively bankrupt.
They have been creatively bankrupt for a long time, now. I think they sold out, completely, around 2000. Even before that they were leaning toward being nothing but propaganda creators. I haven’t seen a new movie since 2018. I will only watch them if there are good recommendations and then only on the DVDs because I do not want to encourage them or contribute to Hollywood at all.
Same. I like hearing about great movies through friends and places like this. I really enjoy movies as an art form. Hollywood isn't that.
I think that Hollywood will wither away and die from people’s lack of desire for their propaganda. However, movies will go on because independent filmmakers will be making the good ones.