The Rise and Fall of the American Monoculture (wsj.com)
- Reference: 0180616056
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/01/19/1946207/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-american-monoculture
- Source link: https://www.wsj.com/business/media/american-pop-culture-history-ce8672f1?st=7fuvsF&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Only three American productions grossed more than $1 billion in 2025, down from nine in 2019. "That broad experience has become a more difficult thing for us studio people to manufacture," said Donna Langley, chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment. "The audience wants a much better value for their money."
YouTube became the most popular video platform on televisions not by having the hottest shows but by having something for everyone. The internet broke Hollywood's hold on distribution; anyone can now stream to the same devices Disney and Netflix use.
[1] https://www.wsj.com/business/media/american-pop-culture-history-ce8672f1?st=7fuvsF&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
This is great (Score:3)
Youtube makes all sorts of content available for people and producers small or large can monetize.
The variety and depth of "shows" is awesome. For example, there are channels where they explain Machine Learning papers in great detail. Something so niche would never survive on the traditional networks.
This is also great for music that has long been held back by music companies that have famously exploited artists.
Finally, I can set my Youtube to show me exactly exactly what I want. For example, I have a strict no politics policy on my Youtube. It's so refreshing to not have that noise and only stuff I'm interested in.
Woosh! (Score:1)
> YouTube became the most popular video platform on televisions not by having the hottest shows but by having ....
The only proper way to end this sentence is "Creimer"
Re: (Score:2)
The only proper way to end this sentence is "Creimer"
What?
The New Puritanism strangles creativity (Score:4, Insightful)
To make exciting creative endeavors, we need creators who will challenge the norms, push the edge, be controversial.
But the young, edgy, rough community from which creators have always come is now hobbled by its own new puritanism, where offending anyone for any reason is a crime.
Brilliant old works actually shock young people who see them, because those works clearly don't care about possibly causing mild, temporary offense to this or that sensitive niche of the audience, and the "I will take offense on your behalf" puritans cannot take that.
It's a crying fucking shame what the woke generation have done to themselves, creativity, society.
Re:The New Puritanism strangles creativity (Score:4, Informative)
Every time you say "woke", half the population thinks you are a MAGA moron.
Re: (Score:1)
You must be one of the language police greytree is referring to.
Re: (Score:1)
The demented, hateful woke part of the population should not read my posts. They are lost to reason.
The raving MAGA part of the population should not read my posts. They are lost to reason.
People in the centre, people who have not been brainwashed into wokeness but do dislike discrimination, or people who were fooled by Trump but can now see he is doing batshit crazy stuff and want normal government again, they are the ones for whom reasonable fact-based argument is not as pearls before swine.
Re: (Score:2)
"they are the ones for whom reasonable fact-based argument"
Perhaps, but when are we going to see one?
Re: (Score:3)
I am not sure what you're referring to, but the bizarre self-censoring of even mildly offensive words like "suicide" and "prostitute" on Youtube is getting to a point where it's almost comical. I am not sure if this is a result of actual rules that Youtube enforces, or if it's creator paranoia.
Re: (Score:2)
This is just lazy algorthims on Google's part. If you have any of a certain number of words in your video anywhere, it can be demonetized. That includes in on-screen graphics as well as spoken. It would almost be better if it was driven by AI. Almost.
Re: (Score:2)
> To make exciting creative endeavors, we need creators who will challenge the norms, push the edge, be controversial.
So, like by putting characters that have traditionally been marginalized minorities, in leading roles?
> It's a crying fucking shame what the woke generation have done to themselves, creativity, society.
You just did the "Not like that!" meme in a single post.
Movie productions 2019 - 2025 (Score:5, Funny)
"Only three American productions grossed more than $1 billion in 2025, down from nine in 2019."
Huh, did anything else happen between those years which may have impacted theater sales? Scratching my head here.
90% of all media is owned by billionaires (Score:2)
So yeah about that. We are more of a monoculture now than we have ever been.
Yeah there is more TV and movies and stuff and you can kind of pick and choose what you want but it's all coming from the same handful of companies owned by the same handful of people.
That's why 54% of prime time TV is cop shows.
New sitcoms stink in general (Score:2)
I'm going to fire up some Beverly Hillbillies tonight and laugh like it's 1965 again. I don't need your stinking streaming.
And then the Beatles came along. (Score:2)
Closely (ish) followed by The Clash.