This summer it seems like we are getting one super-hero or fantasy movie after another. “Thor,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “X-Men: First Class,” “Super 8,” “Green Lantern…”
I could go on and on. But the question is: why are we being deluged with so many of these stories? Of course, the answer is simple: money. But let’s look at just how much money we are talking about.
Source:boxofficemojo.com
For the top 100 grossing films of all-time (unadjusted U.S. dollars), 79% of the dollars earned were from fantasy or science-fiction films, with my criteria basically being that the laws of known science had to be ignored (i.e. the impossible achieved). So the appropriate “Batman” movies, “Jaws,” “Mission Impossible II,” all made the reality list (hey, they could happen).
Since we are talking about over $29 billion in movie sales, there is a lot of coin at stake. And it is no wonder that the studios are grasping at anything they can use to serve the public’s insatiable appetite for this type of entertainment. So if you are wondering why audiences would be getting “Cowboys and Aliens” this summer, I think you have your answer.
But fantasy and science-fiction are also great morality plays and allegory. Being able to set extreme examples allows us to examine our values and thus ourselves. Such divergent movies as “The Matrix” and zombie flicks can bring light to the systematic pressures that exist in society. “Blade Runner,” “A.I.,” and “WALL-E” all examine the ideas of love via entities that theoretically are incapable of emotion. “Toy Story 3” has undertones of the feelings parents might have of dealing with an impending empty nest. By being able to step outside of reality, we can peer back through the looking glass to see who we really are.
This thirst for such a connection with the emotional aspects of being human is a by-product of our digital age. As we communicate with handheld devices and social networks more than a human face, we are forced to search for something more satisfying to the soul. Profound, mythologically-rich movies are a way to harvest that desire while embracing the technology that delivers it to us. Science explains more and more of what really happens in this universe, so we seek out the mystic found in fantastical stories from other universes.
With all that in mind, I expect this trend to continue, most likely to cinematic detriment. Now that special effects technology has enabled the impossible to be created onscreen in a believable fashion, most of the previously un-filmable great stories have been made over the last 10-12 years. Thus remains either the dregs of what has not been chosen or a reboot, which is the Hollywood equivalent of New Coke. And with the studios’ risk-taking on original material residing somewhere between Thor’s hammer and Harry Potter’s wand on the continuum of existence, expect more “Green Lanterns” and “Pirates” sequels shoved down our throats as “quality” entertainment.
