Who's Killing Cinema? (Destiny)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Thursday, December 07, 2023, 15:30 (143 days ago) @ Cody Miller

That some people are still playing Destiny and it's still fun isn't news-worthy. No one is out there writing that story.

People are making posts here about it, and speaking of YouTube, the videos I've watched about the new dungeon in particular are pretty enthusiastic, but this is true: if it bleeds it leads.

Speaking of youtube, I watched your Death of Cinema link.

https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=181327

Thread was now locked, so here we go:

So I watched it.

The title should actually be “Who is killing adult oriented dramas?”

Now, I’m not an expert, and this is just my own rumination. Everything he says is probably a little bit right and certainly factors, but I think it’s more cultural. You might think I’m totally wrong here. I’m willing to tell you it’s a narrow perspective.

I think it has to do with the declining emotional intelligence of younger generations.

The data are pretty clear here. Younger generations are less horny. They are less socially insightful. They are more neurotic. Dreadful. Nervous. More isolated from community.

Adult Oriented Dramas are all about emotions. That’s the whole point of them. So when we have younger generations that are emotionally impoverished, then it makes absolute sense why they would not want to see these types of films.

Young people don’t think sex scenes should go in movies anymore. What the fuck? An emotionally intense action, that can be riddled with joy, passion, conflict, shame, and who knows how many other complex emotions, is seen as ‘unnecessary’! That might have to do with all the antidepressants people are on now decreasing their sex drives, but it goes even beyond just sex. ANY sort of fraught or emotionally charged situations are met with revulsion. The mere existence of trigger warnings proves their inability to properly navigate painful emotions.

I don’t think it’s their fault. Like, I totally get why people would WANT these warnings, because having a fucking panic attack in the middle of a theater sucks. But such a person has been done a disservice when they’ve been told the way to avoid that is to avoid intense emotions altogether, rather than learning to deal with and process them.

I probably sound like a boomer, but yeah. Adult Oriented Dramas are dying because people genuinely do not seem to want to navigate complex adult feelings anymore.

Okay, boomer. I kid. Hate when people say that. You said I might think you're totally wrong, but what if I think you're totally right? Sssshh, don't tell anyone, but I'm pretty sure you are. I don't completely trust my opinion because it's so perfectly natural for anyone my age to say "these kids today" followed by the kinds of things you are saying. Plus, generalizations get people's back up, understandably. Channeling the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, I think screens have done much damage to people, especially young ones. Covid cranked everything to 11. Throughout human history, the vast majority of interactive activity involved other humans. Now so much of it is mediated. We've lost or failed to gain skills we used to have. Skills to relate, skills to persuade, skills to be kind. You've done a great job connecting your observations to our taste in entertainment. I think it's a brilliant thesis.

That other thread was in some respects about the decline of physical media. To do my part, I decided that I'd spend $100 a year on Criterion Collection 4K titles when they go on sale. (The technology is never going to get better to an extent that these old eyes could detect, so why not?). For your judgment, amusement or entertainment, this week I ordered:

The Last Picture Show
Notorious
Time Bandits
Blow Out

A few I already had on DVD because they're favorites. Thank goodness I had some "Adult Oriented Dramas" in there.

Paramount Plus spent 200 million dollars on a Halo TV show. Do you know anyone who actually watched that show? No, of course not.

😂

Yeah, I chuckled at that, too.