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Creaticide
9 years ago
Lately I have been thinking about this era. I have noticed that creativity is practically dead. What it stems from I think its an industry to afraid to fail. After all in today's society if you fail there is a heavy stigma connected to that. And yet they play it safe and still crash and burn. They hijack something that they did not create and try to steer it in a slightly new way they think is better.
Creative Suicide
Its been rather obvious they have mostly been rebooting things for lack of better ideas. Godzilla, a movie named after an iconic figure, that only appeared for 15 minutes in a 2 hour long movie. Ghostbusters, trying to be constantly funny and using crude jokes while pushing an agenda. The new Thief game, which is just an anxty teenager pitching a fit compared to is first first two golden story's. Several basically the same 5 nights at Freddie's games. Pokemon copy pasting the same game with new pokemon each time. Legend of Zelda doing basically the same. Rebooting jungle-book, Sleeping beauty, Petes dragon, jungle book again, Alice in wonderland and also starwars.
And many of these were at best... OK. Nothing more. Nothing new, just cooking the same hamburger in a different way. And some of them have lost as much money or more than if they had dared to try something new and failed.
And thats just movies and games. Thats not counting the carbon clone youtubers, books and music.
Creative Champions
Thats not to say that creativity is dead. There have been some amazing things done independently or by mainstream. Just not very often. Undertale, of course one of the most recent and well done that has inspired many. Ironicly its also created a ton of copycats who also Hijack it and make up their own memes, art and storys. Some good... some not. Dishonored, not an entirely original game mechanics wise, but a rich teslapunk world with also some spirit world mixed in. Rich plot, unique characters and good visuals. Yes it was based on Thief, but Bioshock was based on Systemshock. And those are just the successful ones. The failures or less sucsessful have sometimes explored neat ideas that others would not even try. Eitherlords 2, a unique but forgotten gem. Second sight, a game that dares to mess with your head and give you an engaging story. The Room, a game that blows your mind with boggling puzzles. Inception the movie. Sacrifice: A game that did so much in a way I have not seen used before. And last but not least Ori and the blind forest, a game so refreshing I got it twice to support it.
Granted this seems like a long list but it really isnt. The farther in time you go back the more experimentation you find.
Some of these games that failed to gain attention, favor or interest were new, and not just another Halo/COD "insert number here." Failure is important. I remember questions I got wrong on a test from years ago, and now I remember what the right answer is. I dont remember the ones I got correct. Having problems, making mistakes are natural ways of learning. The only True failure is not learning anything from your mistakes.
So now what?
I know what with the holidays coming on and the next wave of new games, movies and youtuber you will be eager to see or buy. But I caution you, evaluate these things. Creativity is a dying art, and if you reward those who just copy the same thing, or someone else, you are not supporting the person who expended MORE effort, thought and work into something new or original. Remember, you may only be one person, but each drop raises the sea. The more people who think, the better tomorrow will be.
Give your attention and patronage to those who work hard to bring You something new. Not those that are after the quick buck to take your money.
Creative Suicide
Its been rather obvious they have mostly been rebooting things for lack of better ideas. Godzilla, a movie named after an iconic figure, that only appeared for 15 minutes in a 2 hour long movie. Ghostbusters, trying to be constantly funny and using crude jokes while pushing an agenda. The new Thief game, which is just an anxty teenager pitching a fit compared to is first first two golden story's. Several basically the same 5 nights at Freddie's games. Pokemon copy pasting the same game with new pokemon each time. Legend of Zelda doing basically the same. Rebooting jungle-book, Sleeping beauty, Petes dragon, jungle book again, Alice in wonderland and also starwars.
And many of these were at best... OK. Nothing more. Nothing new, just cooking the same hamburger in a different way. And some of them have lost as much money or more than if they had dared to try something new and failed.
And thats just movies and games. Thats not counting the carbon clone youtubers, books and music.
Creative Champions
Thats not to say that creativity is dead. There have been some amazing things done independently or by mainstream. Just not very often. Undertale, of course one of the most recent and well done that has inspired many. Ironicly its also created a ton of copycats who also Hijack it and make up their own memes, art and storys. Some good... some not. Dishonored, not an entirely original game mechanics wise, but a rich teslapunk world with also some spirit world mixed in. Rich plot, unique characters and good visuals. Yes it was based on Thief, but Bioshock was based on Systemshock. And those are just the successful ones. The failures or less sucsessful have sometimes explored neat ideas that others would not even try. Eitherlords 2, a unique but forgotten gem. Second sight, a game that dares to mess with your head and give you an engaging story. The Room, a game that blows your mind with boggling puzzles. Inception the movie. Sacrifice: A game that did so much in a way I have not seen used before. And last but not least Ori and the blind forest, a game so refreshing I got it twice to support it.
Granted this seems like a long list but it really isnt. The farther in time you go back the more experimentation you find.
Some of these games that failed to gain attention, favor or interest were new, and not just another Halo/COD "insert number here." Failure is important. I remember questions I got wrong on a test from years ago, and now I remember what the right answer is. I dont remember the ones I got correct. Having problems, making mistakes are natural ways of learning. The only True failure is not learning anything from your mistakes.
So now what?
I know what with the holidays coming on and the next wave of new games, movies and youtuber you will be eager to see or buy. But I caution you, evaluate these things. Creativity is a dying art, and if you reward those who just copy the same thing, or someone else, you are not supporting the person who expended MORE effort, thought and work into something new or original. Remember, you may only be one person, but each drop raises the sea. The more people who think, the better tomorrow will be.
Give your attention and patronage to those who work hard to bring You something new. Not those that are after the quick buck to take your money.
all though i feel there is no 'originality' left. We've been producing content for so ling i feel like everythings bin used up.
Like if you took someone from birth and kept them secluded until they were 20 or so and asked them to come up with a movie idea, we'd imeditly spot their idea as a pre-existing film.
I do feel like their is an up side to the unoriginal material though. It introduces classics to newer generations. I was porn in the early nineties. So the 2000 remake of Godzilla is incredibly relevant to this topic. At the time i knew nothing of the monster but it sparked my interests. So much so that i am a fan now. And i see this myself now in my friends children, who upon seeing this recent film took interest and had his parents buy the originals. So there is a slight upside
There has been blatant copies. For example, Hercules was found to have been made after Samson, cause the Greeks were jealous of the idea of a super strong Jewish hero. And Ironically the Romans took their stuff and liked it so much they changed the Greek gods, like Zeus, into Roman gods, Like Jupiter. Its been going on for a long time. This is nothing new and that's also Ironic. Unoriginal has been around a long time. It has waves, and then someone like Tesla comes around and is so creative he upsets the balance.
The last movie I think I have seen, which I thought was truly creative was the first Matrix.
(Then they had to go and ruin it with 2 and 3 >< )