š„± #178 - Don't call it superhero fatigue
Rumors of the death of the superhero genre have been greatly exaggerated.
See a phrase in enough headlines and it feels inevitable: Audiences have superhero fatigue. But what does that mean, and is it telling the complete story?
G.S. Perno charts the data, showing the highest grossing film genres for each decade since the 1940s. Tom Taylor reminds us that genre cycles and movie fads are the product of committee thinking, like the time in the 90s when movie stars played scientists trying to avert ecological disasters large and small.
Matt Draper draws a parallel between the present and the past when looking at the shared universe of Universalās classic monster films, including some context on the rise and fall of their gothic horror subgenre:
David Bordwell unpacks Martin Scorseseās take on the MCU, bringing up how there has always been tension between āauteurist cinemaā and genre trends:
The industry doesnāt depend on the smaller or more personal titles, but then it seldom has. The biggest box-office successes in the heyday of the studio system were almost never auteur classics.Ā
[ā¦.]
Such is pretty much the case right now. At the top end, perhaps the superhero films are roughly equivalent to the biblical sagas, historical pageants, and theatrical adaptations that roadshowed throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Now as then, a number of auteur films are still getting theatrical releases. The blockbusters keep the lights on and the popcorn moving so that theatres can afford to wedge straight-up genre pictures and offbeat indies into their week. It seems that you canāt runĀ Avengers: EndgameĀ on all 22 screens.
Erik Hoel argues that thereās a top-down cause for why the film and television projects that get through the gatekeepers have such strong ties to nerd culture:
According to this cultural trickle-down theory, we now live in nerd paradise because those at the top of the hierarchy for the past two decades were not the Wall Street financiers of the 1980s, or the mid-level corporate man of the 1950s with his protestant jawline and white picket fence, but because those at the top used to spend afternoons readingĀ The Silmarillion.
Angelica Jade BastiƩn compares Across the Spider-Verse and The Flash in discussing the way multiverse stories at their worst seem weighed down by the burden of canon and IP management, but also have the potential to be hopeful, imaginative, and character-focused.
A film isnāt worthy or unworthy solely by its profits or genre. We canāt be certain how trends will ebb and flow, or what the release of any one film means for a larger cultural force. Bearing in mind Iman Vellaniās response that the box office returns of The Marvels donāt define her pride in her work on the film, itās time to render unto Bob Iger the things that are Igerās and reconsider what measurements matter to us as audience members and creators.
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ā±ļø Fight Writer FatigueāWrite Sprint!
Each week we post a comment thread for writers to meet up, cheer each other on, and put some words on the page with a Write Sprint.
Whatās a Write Sprint?
John wrote up an explanation, but hereās the short version: Set a timer for 60 minutes, close down all distractions, and do nothing but write until that timer goes off.
Sometimes thatās all it takes to get some momentum going with your writing: You set aside this time for writing and nothing else, so youād better use it!
Shout out to Elyse Moretti Forbes, Christin Balan, Brian Matusz, and Aimee Link for sprinting with us last week!
š“ Give the gift of smashing writerās block
Just in time for the holidays, the Writer Emergency Pack is on sale!
Both the original deck and the new XL deck make great gifts for your favorite writer. Either one can fit conveniently in a stocking, or in a large box with some M&Ms or Legos inside (if you like to troll the present shaker in your life).
Find out more about the Writer Emergency Packs and how they can help stories get unstuck!
Previously on Innerestingā¦
In case you missed it, in last issueās most clicked link James Melton explains techniques for improving as a jazz soloist which can apply to writing dialogue and managing traffic within scenes. Itās all about phrasing and leaving space for the other elements.
What else is inneresting?
Kate Lindsay on Emma Chamberlain and the need for audience members to walk away from parasocial relationships, instead of harassing an online person to keep doing the things you like them doing.
Sara Tasker with some thoughtful rules for posting online and what you should actually consider spending your attention on.
The story of that time they measured the tea kettle in Boston outside the Government Center Starbucks by seeing how many people fit inside.
And thatās whatās inneresting this week!
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