As The New Yorker reported in a report on Mattel's post-"Barbie" plans, it's not just Mattel that's leaning heavily into IP. Warner Bros. Discovery is working on a scripted "Harry Potter" TV series, attempting to lean into a brand that's been tarnished for some by its creator's transphobia, not to mention a series of lackluster prequel films. Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins told Variety in a profile published Wednesday that the studio's upcoming animated films would focus on familiar franchises like "Avatar: The Last Airbender," rather than going after "expensive original animated" films with less certain audiences.
How do media executives repeatedly come to the same dumb conclusion every time a successful movie or show comes out? It happens every single time. A movie with a slightly unconventional premise or genre does unexpectedly well, and the executives naturally want to replicate that success to make more money. But instead of looking at the writing or themes to analyze what made it work, they just hyper-focus on the genre, actors, premise, or aesthetic.
Their second cash-grab movie flops more often than not, but they never learn their lesson despite it being their job to make money for shareholders. These assholes get paid over seven figure salaries just to push ideas any asshole off the street could come up with in five minutes.
Probably because they were the business school types who laughed at the humanities and now they're media illiterate despite working for media, and are so arrogant, they think they can market research their way into art.
I've always thought that corporate executives are prone to the bandwagon effect. You aren't pivoting your startup to AI? Well I definitely don't want to keep investing in you. Guardians of the Galaxy did really well? That means we should reshoot Suicide Squad to be more like it! We're not making quick progress on our new software? We need to hire more programmers!
They just make the same mistakes as all the executives before them. All people should assume corporate executives are incompetent until proven otherwise.
Couldn't have said it any better.
I guess it's because being an executive requires only one skill: being a dumbass who collects a huge salary. Being good at your job is not a requirement, and may even be counterproductive.
We already did this! Michael Bay has spent the last 20 years doing this! Nevermind the 4 different GI Joe movies since 2009.
To claim Hollywood is learning the wrong lesson, you must assume they hadn't already internalized it a generation ago.
Now we have shitty product movies too like the blackberry, air jordans, and flaming hot cheetos movies, honestly would rather a toy movie than that shit.
Hollywood is fuxking stupid, so I think they are re-learning the same lesson for the past 20 years at every shareholder's meeting.
Warner Bros. Discovery is working on a scripted "Harry Potter" TV series.
As opposed to what, a Harry Potter themed prank show?
Its just him jumping out of closets in front of JK Rowling and screaming "Jeremey Corbyn"
"So - imagine who could solve the Trump problem for us. I mean - really, really solve it. Make it so Trump can't hurt us anymore. Harry Potter - that's who..."
It's really annoying because it's wealthy execs are doing the 'cool robot' meme when looking at the movies success. It's such an early fixed problem too.
A little media literacy and they would see that Barbie as a pop culture symbol is an important discussion piece when talking about feminism and gender in general.
People have built whole careers around discussing and deconstructing the effect Barbie has had on our perceptions on gender, race, beauty standards, etc.
ATLA and HP both had poop culture impacts too, but with Barbie it's a lot easier to see the cognitive disconnect that happens when they pump money into extended universes or spinoff franchises.
It's such a fundamental misunderstanding that I'm having trouble imagining the people making these decisions.
I just wish there was more respect for the humanities jfc
There is no respect for humanities only profit.
Everything these days is just rehashed slop with a name-brand title.
HP [...] had poop culture impacts
Hogwarts didn't always have bathrooms. Before adopting Muggle plumbing methods in the eighteenth century, witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence.
Really funny and glad you caught that. Sometimes the posting gods alter fate just enough
In defense of korra it did actually try to deal with similar themes as atla. It just sucked at doing it
Yeah executives really meddled in the worst possible way at every turn
I find Korra to hold up better than AtLA, but that's really because I can't stand Aang much as an adult.
Aang is way less annoying than Korra and he actually learns a couple of things in his life
We see these so differently that I'd could honestly type your comment back with the names reversed. Agree to disagree?
Lena Dunham's 'Polly Pocket' is going to make millions... for rightwing grifters
If it's a movie about women I will hate-consume it and throw money at it's merchandise
Okay does anyone else here find ATLA to be incredibly overrated? Everyone raves about it, even my friends irl, so I watched and it was just...fine? Like I guess it's a solid kids show, and i probably would have enjoyed it if i watched it when i was 12, but it just did nothing for me. I know I'm just not the target demo, but so many adults talk about Avatar like it's the second coming.
I think people remember it fondly because it started a trend of more narrative focused western animation on TV. Like a Nickelodeon show with actual character development and worldbuilding was pretty unusual. And it seems to have that effect where some episodes/scenes just buried themselves in the grooves of people's brains like early spongebob that's probably partly a testament of quality and partly a product of endless reruns (at least that's mine and some of my friends experience with the show).
It's a Seinfield Is Unfunny situation where it doesn't seem all that impressive compared to the other long-term narrative animations that have come out of the West over the past twenty years until you realize that the others likely wouldn't have existed if ATLA didn't prove that it could be successful in the first place.
It's rare to have a show with solid world building and character development that all wraps up very nicely at the end. It's not ground breaking but it has definitely spoiled my expectations for multi-season arcs.
ATLA's only real weakness to me is that the first Book is a bit slow. Other than that is pretty incredible. I love the story, the characters, their development, the world building.
That's actually where I stopped watching, so maybe I just missed the really good shit
MEDIA DISCUSSION MANDATORY DISCLAIMER: STALIN LOVED WESTERN MOVIES AND YOUR ABILITY TO BE LEFTIST IS NOT DETERMINED BY THE MEDIA YOU CONSUME BUT BY YOUR POSTING HABITS
Getting my ouija group together to ask Stalin what he thought of Transformers 3
not that surprising consider how Xi jinping likes Saving private Ryan and Game of throne
if you liked game of thrones the 2010 Chinese series 3 kingdoms is very good. Way less sex more political intrigue and as the book was written centuries ago they aren't still waiting for the ending
Imagine getting Long Covid after watching a shitty 114 min toy commercial or any of these subsequent toy commercials.
I thought the byline about Lena Durham's Polly pocket and J. J. Abram's hotwheels was hexbear humour but dear god it's real
I really hate it when the bits start to cross over into real life.
If it's not another Acceleracers movie, the Hot Wheels franchise will be worthless
Make them all increasingly incisive critiques of capitalism, if only so that people can maybe process that media criticism of capitalism is impotent and easily digested.
I'll only see the polly pocket movie if they use it to tease a Mighty Max movie.
Doesn't the series end with everyone dying and he time loops back to the beginning.
You're god damned right it had a cartoon, and Tim Curry voiced the main villain.
I can't wait for the anti-car pro-train Thomas the Tank Engine movie
no
