Has anyone else noticed the cultural shift in media since Avengers: End Game? It probably started prior but at the very least, there is now a much larger push for media to have some level of Great Importance. The story is only worth making if the characters are saving the world and the theme and cinematography must reflect the Awful Reality of Real Life.
I think it also comes from the intellectualization of suffering and the idea of moral purity through suffering. The first is just that sad or dark stories are inherently more interesting or deep and therefore deserve more time and focus, and the second is the idea that we are better people purely because we suffer. While hardship can be good for building empathy it isn't required to build it, and this kind of thinking is also what created the "you must stand while working" and "kids have it so easy these days and I'm upset about it" mentalities, but I digress.
Regardless, all three of these are impacting media creation, despite it not making any sense given the current economic and political state. Its literally the opposite of what media production and marketing strategies should be at the moment, but I'll get into that bit later.
I can think of many examples of media written like this, and while a lot of these are remakes, not all of them are. The following are what came to mind in the short amount of time I spent considering it.
The new live action ATLA show is noticeably less cheery, with Aang the (cannonically) bubbly protagonist being somber a majority of the time.
Elle in the new prequel show of the same name moved to a rainy city (Seattle) becomes depressed and is bullied despite it defying her previous characterization and her established, sanguine personality and popularity in school.
The new Little House on the Prairie has a notably darker tone, and while it does provide a more accurate picture of frontier life, it is no longer a comfort show like the original is or the books are for many people.
People have clowned that one tweet about the Odyssey removing the rainbow because it was "too colorful and cartoonish", because it would seem any color at all doesn't match the aesthetic. This is in addition to the criticism surrounding the costuming, as ancient Greek and Roman clothing/armor was colorful and the statues were originally brightly painted. This film has done well so far though as of now.
Wednesday, the Addam's Family spin-off, has lost almost all of its original camp charm, even with the original macabre presentation.
I'm sure there are others but I won't comment on media I've not at least seen some of so that is my list for now.
Obviously there are a ton of other things contributing to the problems with media at the moment such as AI usage, refusal to pay writers, obsession with remakes, and a lower amount of disposable income for consumers. But even with all of that it certainly isn't helped by media being plain depressing.
I said I'd get into marketing strategies later and now it is later so here we go. During times of economic and political hardship, people seek out and consume goods and services that provide comfort. There is literally an established concept called the lipstick effect that posits that during times of economic hardship, lipstick sales increase because in the desire for joy, indulgence, and luxury, lipstick is an affordable alternative to things such as vacations, appliances, and vehicles. Similarly, part of why the original Snow White did so well is because the economic and political struggle of the time (1937) made the story more comforting by comparison. Modern Girls on YouTube has a more thorough explanation of this in their evolution of the princess formula video essay, and a whole video dedicated to the lipstick effect (when the economy effects the height of heels). So with all this in mind, it serves to reason that people would value media that supports a soft, stable life as a form of escapism right? Well, not according to producers and marketers it would seem.
And the wild bit is that we can SEE that this is true to an extent.
Project Hail Mary has done intensely well, even with its world ending catastrophe being a central plotline. The film is bright, generally positive in its outlook despite its dark moments, and is a film about what it means to be human/alive and the community that comes with that. I would compare it to the LOTR trilogy in that while it is high stakes, it is Noble Bright rather than Grim Dark.
I have seen OVERWHELMING online statements that PHM has become comfort media for a lot of people, even in just the short time since its release, while LOTR has been comfort media for years. So its clear that the comfort of the media is not the lack of harship, but rather the portrayal and handling of that hardhip. People know that life is hard. They are depressed, anxious, and do not see a way forward, they do not need reminding.
As I said there are tons of reasons why a lot of media is subjectively bad these days, or at least objectively uninspired, but there is a huge issue with the mismatch between what people want vs what they're getting thematically. Even remakes function only because of nostalgia value which is an intensely powerful emotion if used to invoke good memories of the past. Do you know how bad your remake is for it to break someone's nostalgia? To leave them emotionally tired from watching what might have been their favorite franchise??? Stop it, I will start squirting you people with spray bottles. Make positive media again I BEG OF YOU
