So there’s this new movie out, The Lego Movie. I hear it’s pretty good, but I knew in advance that I’ll never pay to see it. Why? Because knowing how Hollywood works, if it’s a hit (and it is), they’ll now proceed to turn every children’s toy ever sold into a movie franchise. Oh, and we’ll also have fifty sequels to The Lego Movie.

How is The Lego Movie different from Toy Story (which I loved, along with all the sequels, and have recommended many times)?

If you’re a writer, especially a screenwriter, you know the answer: Toy Story tells a story about toys. The Lego Movie exists, at least in part, to sell toys — or at least bolster an existing brand of toys.

But hasn’t art always been about the conflict between “art” and “commerce”? Is this really such a big deal?

In ordinary times, maybe not. But the way I see it, we live in a time where studio-produced movies couldn’t be more soulless and derivative. You know the deal: studio movies today are basically all superhero movies, remakes, sequels, and reboots. With a few recent exceptions, creativity and risk-taking have mostly gone out the window.

And no, it hasn’t always been like this, and yes, it is worse than ever. I think this article on how the successful reboot of Spider-Man basically destroyed Hollywood is right on the money.

I hate this as a movie-goer, but I hate it even more as a writer trying to making a living selling my stories. The market for movies (and books too) has changed SO MUCH in the twenty years I’ve been doing this.

Nutshell? Now it’s all about brand-name recognition, pre-sold audiences, and marketing tie-ins. And speaking as a writer, all those things are absolutely antithetical to good story-telling.

Wasn’t the Internet suppose to change all this — give exposure to lesser-known artists and create a “long tail” of literary delights? Smarter writers than I have already written how an exposure to so many choices actually has the unintended effect of making a few very high-profile artists even more high-profile.

Basically, people are so overwhelmed by the clutter that they gravitate to the few well-known quantities, even when they suck.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, even the arts.

I hesitated writing this post because, frankly, there’s nothing I find quite so tiring as writers bitching about how horrible it is to be a writer (this is usually me in my head: “If you think the publishing industry [or Hollywood] is really that bad, why don’t you do something else? Why spend time doing something that makes you so miserable?”).

But what’s going on in movies these days finally has me genuinely depressed — mostly because I keep hoping for some kind of rebellion or outcry on the part of the audience, but it never happens. They seem to flock to the cynical, derivative crap (or stuff like The Lego Movie, which isn’t necessarily derivative crap but which will usher in a whole lot more of it!).

Oh, Lord, now I sound bitter and pretentious. It’s probably better for me to just stop now while I’m behind.

P.S. For what it’s worth, I still think contemporary TV is better than it’s ever been!

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