Note:This is a continuation of the last post wherein I was dissecting the cause of my disillusionment with the new Indiana Jones movie.
2.Society has changed:
It seems premature to say but things have changed a lot since the 80’s. Other than the obvious things like war, technology or the price of gas I’ll focus more on tastes. The #1 rated show is "American Idol" and Titanic swept the Oscars. The most popular musicians aren’t in fact musicians, but attractive, young people who are marketed and made to sound as though they can sing. In short: A lot of the media today sucks. And I know that each successive generation makes this stake (many times being accurate, I claim), but this conclusion is impossible NOT to make. On this assumption I do think that the decreased attention span of today’s youth will work against Indy. Also the supposed lack of CGI effects in favor of in-studio stunts will also hurt the overall reception. Finally, there is no “hot chick” character a la Megan Fox in Transformers. Is society ready for this genre again after being spoon fed Die Hard sequels, National Treasure and other tripe?
It seems premature to say but things have changed a lot since the 80’s. Other than the obvious things like war, technology or the price of gas I’ll focus more on tastes. The #1 rated show is "American Idol" and Titanic swept the Oscars. The most popular musicians aren’t in fact musicians, but attractive, young people who are marketed and made to sound as though they can sing. In short: A lot of the media today sucks. And I know that each successive generation makes this stake (many times being accurate, I claim), but this conclusion is impossible NOT to make. On this assumption I do think that the decreased attention span of today’s youth will work against Indy. Also the supposed lack of CGI effects in favor of in-studio stunts will also hurt the overall reception. Finally, there is no “hot chick” character a la Megan Fox in Transformers. Is society ready for this genre again after being spoon fed Die Hard sequels, National Treasure and other tripe?
3.The creators have changed:
First is Lucas and I only need to reiterate the earlier complaints of Star Wars. Clearly something is missing from this man’s creative core. Something was there and now, “Poof”, it’s gone. The dialogue in the prequels is only quotable when referred to in a mocking or sardonic matter. The original trilogy had, “You will be…. You wiiiiill be”, “Only a master of evil, Darth “ and “I find your lack of faith disturbing” (basically anything said by Vader). There is nothing even comparable in the prequels. I could continue on this path but I think the point is clear. As for Spielberg, he has done some good things since Crusade, but far too often he directed films like Minority Report, AI, Jurassic Park II, War of the Worlds and Hook. If the new Indy flick is anything like those movies, there certainly will be a twist ending: people asking for refunds. I won’t assess the reasons why these wunderkinds of yesteryear have lost their spark, I just know that they have lost it. Maybe it’s nearing the last 30 yrs of your life, having kids that are almost full grown or just plain laziness/lack or energy; these men have clearly lost a step since the 80’s.
It's probably some combo of all 3 factors that creates this ambivalence I feel toward Indiana Jones. I'll still see the movie, probably more than once. In that case, here's to hoping everything I wrote over the past couple of days is complete bullshit.
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