One of things I have been following in the background over the last year or so are the ongoing content wars in entertainment.
It is not something I talk about per se here as it somewhat counter to the idea of creating a space for actual conversation (rather than polemics). Suffice it to say that currently there is ongoing struggle within the entertainment world - films, streaming, comics, games (gaming, of course, now having outstripped films as a major money maker) to reflect the current society of today - arguably at what is the cost of good story telling and good entertainment.
The point of today's thought is less about that battle, and more about the possible solution.
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One of the realities of a capitalist society (versus a socialist society) is that the consumer gets a say.
In Totalitarian and Authoritarian societies, this is not nearly the case. The government determines what gets made and how it gets made. Most always such things are designed to serve the needs and the interests of the power structure (secondarily, of course, to spread the acceptable message).
Ah, TB (I hear you say), such societies can enforce attendance and engagement. True, but they cannot "make" people like it or maintain it. It becomes a state supported form art, perhaps publicly celebrated but ignored by the individual who does not engage in them personally.
But in the capitalist model the consumer gets a direct say.
The capitalist consumer can support or not support something by 1) Buying it; and 2) Talking about it. Buying creates income and income pays the company and increases its value; talking about it maintains it in the public consciousness, perhaps encouraging more sales and creating sub-populations that are engaged (read "fanatic") about the item in question.
Which, of course, allows funding for the next thing. Do this long enough and one has a series or a franchise or a universe.
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Both industry and consumers are making a mistake.
Industry is making a mistake by dictating what will be in the entertainment based on what they desire to be there, not recognizing who their paying audience is and what they want. Over time, this has resulted in declining revenues and layoffs. Industry remains (publicly at least) befuddled by this.
Consumers are making a mistake because they continue to buy the things they say they do not like - and just complaining about it, even as they continue to buy it.
Is it right to complain if a treasured and favored character or franchise becomes distorted in ways the creator never intended or dreamed of to serve modern sensibilities? Of course it is. But continuing to engage with company financially on the subject is futile. That work has already been paid for and executed.
The only way to change things is to simply 1) Stop buying and 2) Stop engaging.
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I have written - here, and in other places I frequent - that the future belongs to the independent content creator.
The best work now is happening overall in the independent space - because the independent space is where there are no rules, no checklists, no "things must be precisely what we say" - the old totalitarian model of anything.
And the independent space is audience responsive because it is audience supported. Content creators that make such things and are supporting themselves are directly responsible for making things that their audience enjoys and likes. Stray from that and the content creator will swiftly be looking for another line of work.
But in order for that to truly take root and flourish, it is necessary that the consumer simply walk away the alternative: the corporatized, politicized, modern entertainment industry.
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There are a lot of things that we as consumers have limited choices about. There are limited number of chains I can buy most foods from, or places I can get my fuel from, or my utilities from. But there are other things - like the industries I am speaking of - that are 100% within the control of the consumer to cause to succeed or fail.
Entertainment is a human desire. What such companies have forgotten is that while it is a desire, it is also something that we can learn to do by ourselves or with those who are like minded.
Long live the Content Creators.