The way of the old is out, hard to access and expensive production processes are no longer the norm. The way the world works is incredible, so often we see this story repeated. Over and over again, particularly in a capitalistic free market. I will now note this is not in favor of nor against capitalism. However the story repeats itself through the annals of history. A large oppressive organization comes to lose its foothold to a smaller leaner and faster organization. Are we in a period of revolutionary entertainment?
The world would have you believe otherwise with serialized superhero, action adventure, and animated children’s movies. Countless movies on their third, fourth, or fifth iteration. I have no need to explain to you the reader this is how the world of filmmaking exists in the mainstream. We as citizens of the developed world understand and often critique the nature in which we are spoonfed stories of little to no substance.
The reality in which we live is not unlike the dystopian societies we have seen on the silver screen and read in books. We exist today in yesterday's horrible prediction of the future. Not overnight but methodically millimeter by millimeter. It starts with an idea to give someone thousands of songs in the palm of their hand and ends with the loss of ownership; not only for the artist but for the consumer as well. How many of us would not be able to listen to our favorite music, unmolested by advertising, without first giving someone $11 a month to be able to express ourselves.
In this “consumer first” society we have come to know, quotations to imply that is not the case, we see the death of creativity. The words creativity and maximize can be used together without the involvement of the word profit. I find it truly disturbing in this copycat repetitive world to see what I see as creativity being transformed into an excuse for theft. Yes, the advent of the internet has created a large and difficult barrier for copyright enforcement that only seems to benefit multibillion dollar conglomerates. But beyond that in the trenches of trying to become relevant on social media is something more insidious.
The blatant disregard of originality, influencers exist in this world training people to maximize channel/personal brand growth. These people are not what is insidious, nor am I condemning anyone down the line of decision making from the top down. The influencer influencer commonly describes the process of finding a trending video, reconfiguring it with your style, adjusting it for your niche, and redistributing it in order to maximize reach. This inherently has no issues. But it is at this point where those listening and those trying these tactics might want to ask themselves “what is too close to the original?”
Unfortunately, rarely do I see videos with the same sound not repeat beat for beat throughout my feed. I know this might seem hypercritical of my fellow creators but it is a pain point as a consumer. I truly believe that “great artists steal”. The creativity is not in theft but how you can get away with it. If you steal content with no intent to re-communicate/create the idea you are not a content creator you are a media reproducer.
We have a chance as a society of creatives and consumers to create the entertainment we want to see in the world. I know creators who do this. There are so many of them and often they hit maximum velocity and their fame hits the stratosphere. All they want to do is create. These should be the people we talk about in the realm of possible content. Not those who reproduce other peoples work to make a way for themselves.
Again I want to reiterate, I do not condemn these people I only ask that they take more time in their creative process to create something newer. The reason for my deep disdain for this kind of reproduction and mass reproduction of the same “affective” content is where this road clearly leads us.
We are on a high speed course headed toward the hopeless, dim, and cheerless futures of 1984, Brave New World, and any other dystopian society in which people consume propaganda and nutritional pastes. Not by the power of the government as we know them. This won’t be the US Government no. This oppressive mind-controlling government or governments will be the social media you subscribe to the most. Meta, X, Rumble, Youtube, Tik Tok these are our overlords already. Yes we can say the same about broadcast news and other forms of media but none engage with Gen Z and Baby Boomers quite as equally.
Social media companies and even Amazon decide what we can watch when we can watch it. These videos control how we operate in our daily lives. Think if you will for a second how often you have seen a reel that made you feel outraged. Now imagine if every day before you went to work you would spend 15 minutes watching that video and others like it. How would you feel going into your job? Next at the end of your lunch break and on your 15 minute breaks you again watched those same videos. How does that affect your job?
You might be quick to say “that's not me.” And that is fine you don’t have to believe me now, but as Daniel Kahnaman found in his research posted in Thinking Fast and Slow a belief is formed when someone has a thought confirmed over and over by external forces. So you may not believe me now but wait until you hear 20 different influencers tell you the same thing. If you had the first 5 come 15 minutes after reading this blog post you might not even need the following 15.
Now, the time of writing this being April of 2024, the obligatory mention of AI.
Our Brave New World won’t be gray and dim asthetically but in a uch more real way it will be bright and cheerful. Our 1984 won’t be filled with posters hanging off of rafters reminding us of being watched. It will be cameras and microphone we invite into our homes and work places. Collecting our data and controlling us through the power of suggestion. We have to be careful for how we accept the normality of something like social media. We need to be more cognizant of what we ourselves are putting into the world. Yes, it might be easier to follow where others have been successful but it is not always the way. How will we become a futuristic dystopian society? A millimeter at a time.
Thank you for your support.