This is basically the main rule for every western fiction, even in fantasy and sci-fi where you would expect authors have the most leeway to ride on their wild imagination. Problem is, they don't have wild imagination or even the one required of imagining something other than capitalism (even their visions of previous systems like feudalism or slavery is still basically capitalism with historical costumes).
Its a little more free in literature, and since 2020 some good(ish) stuff is getting made.
'Lovecraft country' (one absolutely fire season, tied up and concluded) if Malcolm x was a riff on 20th century fiction, primarily the Lovecraft mythos. Not if he did one; if he was one. It says and does more in its first episode than most shows do in a decade of long seasons. Has a beautiful sex scene that's ambiguously gay or trans and so gory it might not make it onto a theater screen, and thats not even the most interesting thing going on in that scene.
'Andor' (final planned season in production) is a prequel to the one good star wars movie. Its extremely lefty, extremely well made at every level, and tense with zero sword wizards.
'Severance' (second season delayed by strikes, in production) is an ontological mystery that explores cognitive dissonance corpo infantilization and the exploitation of labor, how it interacts with self, the theft of time, relationships, self-knowledge, all kinds of shit. Funny, surreal, dramatic when it needs to be, excellent visual direction.
Nothing Fundamentally Will Change
This is basically the main rule for every western fiction, even in fantasy and sci-fi where you would expect authors have the most leeway to ride on their wild imagination. Problem is, they don't have wild imagination or even the one required of imagining something other than capitalism (even their visions of previous systems like feudalism or slavery is still basically capitalism with historical costumes).
Its a little more free in literature, and since 2020 some good(ish) stuff is getting made.
'Lovecraft country' (one absolutely fire season, tied up and concluded) if Malcolm x was a riff on 20th century fiction, primarily the Lovecraft mythos. Not if he did one; if he was one. It says and does more in its first episode than most shows do in a decade of long seasons. Has a beautiful sex scene that's ambiguously gay or trans and so gory it might not make it onto a theater screen, and thats not even the most interesting thing going on in that scene.
'Andor' (final planned season in production) is a prequel to the one good star wars movie. Its extremely lefty, extremely well made at every level, and tense with zero sword wizards.
'Severance' (second season delayed by strikes, in production) is an ontological mystery that explores cognitive dissonance corpo infantilization and the exploitation of labor, how it interacts with self, the theft of time, relationships, self-knowledge, all kinds of shit. Funny, surreal, dramatic when it needs to be, excellent visual direction.
that movie is so good, almost everything else Disney made feels like an 8-year-old's first fan fiction.
'Andor' is also pretty good.