tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7294499213897153104.post5034506015736883003..comments2024-03-27T09:00:32.195-05:00Comments on The Signal Watch: Pondering How to Cover 2017The Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7294499213897153104.post-5501193897060155902018-01-04T10:35:41.652-06:002018-01-04T10:35:41.652-06:00Dude, I think we just got old. The new stuff is f...Dude, I think we just got old. The new stuff is for the kids to figure out and the establishment and professionals to get wrong. I am positive there's always a wall of new things out there that my brain is too ossified or pre-occupied to care about. I'm no longer driving to the mall to scour record store offerings, and these days I have way too much comics-related scar tissue to get too invested in new stuff when it hits the shelf with a ton of hagiography behind it.<br /><br />But... Yes, I do think the fact that any jerk with an internet connection can now spout off, posing as an authority (cough) means we have less faith in anything resembling a professional authority. It's way easier to find voices that echo our own and don't challenge us, and if they're both in printed web-pages, they hold equal balance. After all, as kids we had the local paper's movie reviews and Siskel & Ebert, and that was it. And it was wild to see just Siskel and Ebert arguing, suggesting there was no consensus. But, absolutely there's a massive issue with signal-to-noise when it comes to discussing media (frankly, it's mostly propaganda or emotional gut reviews, and very little in the way of critical discussion). <br /><br />But, yeah, I share your concerns about what it means for genre work that thrived in a niche to reach corporate studio expectations. As wild and fun as it is for every kid in America to know the lore of Marvel's Thor, a change in studio management could easily bring the house of cards down.The Leaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7294499213897153104.post-80863454670083065782018-01-03T16:12:25.928-06:002018-01-03T16:12:25.928-06:00In terms of pop culture, there were a whole lot of...In terms of pop culture, there were a whole lot of things that we were into when younger that were either underground commercial art, cult classics, or things that a select group clicked to, but that the general public didn't really appreciate. Comic books weren't something that every adult was into, alternative music was actually an alternative to mainstream rock and pop music, and zombie movies, fantasy films, and sci-fi hadn't turned themselves into The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, and weird but popular Star Trek remakes. As we got older and the diehard fans of these things wanted to share their undying love of the various genres with a broader public, I think a lot of stuff that used to be cool got turned into mainstream art. those things that were once crafted for a specific audience were now expected to reach a wider audience (to make lots of money), and, in the process, they got watered down an diluted. This is why I was kinda happy when Bladerunner 2049 was seen as a commercial flop. Bladerunner remained an art form for a particular kind of fan, but not for everyone. Anyway, I suspect that there is still cool art being made out there on the fringes, out of the broader public view, but I'm too tired/busy/lazy to go find it these days. Or maybe the fact that it's so easy for everyone to publish their ideas nowadays means that it's harder to perfect that signal to noise ratio. I dunno. Hopefully the kids are still dreaming new dreams and thinking of new things. But maybe dreaming of new things is harder in the era of computer special effects and internetz and cell phones...J.S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03903186469796595837noreply@blogger.com