How did pop culture get so negative?

[Mr. X]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movi ... /88329624/

Good article on the current trend of negative pop culture/super hero movies.

[lionbadger]

That's a lot of words to essentially say that people are just locked into the sports team fallacy.

The reality is however

https://youtu.be/RycwYRcm3Lc?t=16s

[Dogfish]

Pop culture didn't get so negative. It just looks that way if you stare at it for too long. Talk to anybody normal about stuff like this and they will not give a shit about it. Even popular culture isn't really that popular. Take all that noise about the Ghostbusters remake for example, there were yards of column inches written about that. Tens of thousands of words. And about what? A group of active and angry nerds from around the world numbering, at most, a few thousand (you can make a lot of noise with a few motivated angry nerds these days). But people want to read it, so it's news.

This is the thing as well, news, stories, they focus on the negative by default anyway. Old lady crosses the road isn't news, old lady gets hit by bus is news. And by extension 'New Movie Is Okay, I Guess' isn't news, 'New Movie Is Racist/SJW Pandering Shitshow' is news.

What's important to remember is that it's okay to get angry about stuff that doesn't matter. Just don't direct the anger towards another person is all.

[Lurkndog]

People right now have a lot to be negative about.

• We were hugely disappointed by Batman vs Superman.
• We suspected the Ghostbusters remake to be a cynical money grab, and in the end, it pretty much was.
• We were suspicious about Suicide Squad, and that seems to be a real love-it-or-hate-it movie.
• And in general, times are tough and people are fed up with the status quo.

On the other hand, though, Civil War was accepted with near universal praise and delight, because it was actually really good.

Likewise, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was similarly well-received, and audiences went away happy.

Wonder Woman was the best thing about BvS, and was the heroine of Comic Con, as her new movie looks good (knock on wood). She also comes across as much less grimdark than Bats and Supes are these days. I hope that proves to be the case. Certainly, Gal Gadot has won over the hearts of fandom, and could well become the next Angelina Jolie if she chooses her non-Wonder-Woman roles well.

So, it's not like audiences hate everything. But it certainly seems like they don't want their light entertainment to be dark flavored right now, and I don't blame them. If I want heavy depressing realism, I'll turn on the news.

[Dazzle1]

Makes me glad that I am not on Twitter or Facebook and there many days I think of quitting LinkedIN.

[Heroine Addict]

That's a lot of words to essentially say that people are just locked into the sports team fallacy.

The reality is however

https://youtu.be/RycwYRcm3Lc?t=16s

Further viewing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQnd5ilKx2Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP-rkzJ6yZw

[lionbadger]

heh!

that's numberwang

[Disciple]

In short: the Internet. Everyone getting to have a voice includes those heathens who think Joel Schumacher made the best Batman movies, or who miss the Roger Moore Bond, or who think the very idea of superheroes is politically conservative.

Gone are the days when only a select pool of academics and critics got to have their opinions preserved for posterity. Good riddance, I say.

[Heroine Addict]

It is both amusing and disturbing to see the pathetic tantrums over Rotten Tomatoes scores or over something as petty as the "Hail HYDRA!" cliffhanger in an issue of Captain America. The latter just shows how even an old-fashioned "Has the hero turned bad?" cliffhanger will enrage oxygen thieves who are inexplicably ignorant of how superhero stories have been told for the last three-quarters of a century.

[athenaartemis]

Pop culture is a reflection of its society. If current events make society feel negative about itself, all forms of expression begin to follow.

Michelangelo's early works were uplifting and optimistic. After experiencing the crushing of the Florentine Republic, the corrupt abusive rule of the Medici Popes, the sacking of Rome and the Reformation engulfing Europe in religious wars, his work became increasingly dark such as his Last Judgment fresco.

As we witness widespread hatred and violence, climate extremes, the rise of obscene inequities in wealth, spread of global epidemics, displacement of populations, leadership that seems more a problem than a solution etc, it is no surprise our own culture starts to mirror those events.

Thanks for this strand.

[Visitor]

The Internet makes it easier for rants to get an audience. Twenty years ago, you had to be successful in a media to get your views out their. Now you just need to get your views picked up enough people to go viral. Negative pop culture draws attention and sells. People like to watch train and car wrecks and now its with people.

You are now hearing from the people that gathered with like minded friends in basements and bars in the past. These people were always there, but now they have a platform.

Trump couldn't have gotten himself so far back in 2000 if he had tried to run back then. The media would have torn him to shreds instead of promoting his outrageous lines to promote their own ratings. Ross Perot had to have a more mainstream candidacy to make it as an independent and get over 10% of the vote, because extremists got swept aside.

[Dogfish]

It is both amusing and disturbing to see the pathetic tantrums over Rotten Tomatoes scores or over something as petty as the "Hail HYDRA!" cliffhanger in an issue of Captain America. The latter just shows how even an old-fashioned "Has the hero turned bad?" cliffhanger will enrage oxygen thieves who are inexplicably ignorant of how superhero stories have been told for the last three-quarters of a century.

I think people were right to be annoyed, less because of what went into the comic book, but more because it was an absolutely shameless attention grab of the very worst kind. That sort of thing will always antagonise readers because readers are fans, they actually do care, it's because they actually care that the comic sells in the first place, so to pull a cheap stunt like that is going to piss them off.

[Heroine Addict]

It is both amusing and disturbing to see the pathetic tantrums over Rotten Tomatoes scores or over something as petty as the "Hail HYDRA!" cliffhanger in an issue of Captain America. The latter just shows how even an old-fashioned "Has the hero turned bad?" cliffhanger will enrage oxygen thieves who are inexplicably ignorant of how superhero stories have been told for the last three-quarters of a century.

I think people were right to be annoyed, less because of what went into the comic book, but more because it was an absolutely shameless attention grab of the very worst kind. That sort of thing will always antagonise readers because readers are fans, they actually do care, it's because they actually care that the comic sells in the first place, so to pull a cheap stunt like that is going to piss them off.

In terms of attention grabs, it was certainly no worse than all the times central characters have 'died' and/or been replaced. Turning the hero evil (temporarily) is such a classic plot device that it just seems bizarre to get upset about it.

Of course it was an attention grab. But so were hundreds of covers with the hero or heroine declaring their allegiance to the dark side in a cheesy speech bubble. All those old covers were attention-grabbers, back in the days when comics were sold on newsstands.

[bushwackerbob]

The way I look at the Internet is a lot like the way I see sportstalk radio. I live in the Boston area. A number of years ago the Red Sox had a player named many Ramirez. He had many episodes where he acted like a child, he was very immature. After one of these episodes, when listening to sportstalk radio, I listened to caller after caller rage against the player, many of them saying they would never support the player ever again. It was about 90%/10% in favor of getting rid of the bum. Then the very next day he comes up to pinch hit and he gets a standing ovation, very few boos, and overwhelming show of support. The point I am trying to make is that with sportstalk radio, like the Internet, you tend to get the people who are most passionate, that these people with strong opinions are more likely to seek out avenues in which their voice may be heard. The people who are the most passionate about their views (and motivated to express them) tend to contain mostly negative or contrary subject matter in their responses. The key point I am trying to make here is that like my Red Sox story, these negative Nancys are not necessarily representative of the world at large. No one ever broke the Internet with "that's OK". Please do not let a few negative voices define anything for you in pop culture.