The movie industry is letting us down. As sequels for the "Avengers" and "Transformers" movies continue to be released, I begin to question whether there is a single original idea being pursued in Hollywood. Even the beloved Disney franchise is recycling ideas, having announced the release of "Finding Dory," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," a "Guardians of the Galaxy" sequel, a remake of "The Jungle Book," a sequel to "The Incredibles" and a third "Cars" movie in October.
It’s a shame that original ideas are few and far between in the film industry, and hopefully there is a solution, but to find the source of the problem we must first analyze where this dip in creativity occurs.
The education offered to us as well as the career goals we believe to be socially acceptable nowadays are influencing the amount of creativity we find, especially in the entertainment industry.
The education system in the U.S. is partially responsible for a lack of creativity. The accessibility of performing arts programs in public high schools and colleges are waning as budget cuts continue to rise. For example, Chicago Public Schools laid off 159 teachers who taught art or music in 2013, which accounted for about 10 percent of the teachers that were laid off district-wide that year. Similarly, Philadelphia compensated for a $304 million budget cut by reducing funding for music and art programs.
Directors have no originality these days honestly all these new movies are remakes or variations
— Brent Ricci (@B_Rich145) September 16, 2015
These classes are considered inessential to one’s education, and I would agree that they are not the most important. An emphasis should be placed on increasing the quality of core classes; however, I believe that the performing arts programs should still be accessible for those who want to pursue the arts.
As the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) field grows, students are being encouraged to stray away from these creative outlets and urged to pursue hard science or math-oriented courses.
In fact, the number of science and math bachelor degrees has increased by 19 percent from 2009 to 2013. Additionally, with over 26 million jobs relating to math or science, STEM accounts for about 20 percent of the available careers in the U.S.
Yes, the job availability is there and yes, STEM has an important role in the progression of U.S. as a world power in technology, but diversity in the work force is needed.
Old movies were so imaginative, movies now have no originality
— Lou Gossip Jr (@Prettyl0u) August 7, 2015
As jobs in fields other than entertainment grow, pursuing a performing arts career will only get more competitive. After all, only a small percentage of people in the film industry hit it big. It seems as though Steven Spielberg directs every movie while Jennifer Lawrence stars in every movie. This should not discourage individuals from pursuing their dream, however. We need them to do so for the sake of our entertainment.
Due to the competitive nature of the industry, motivation plays an important role in determining the amount of creativity present. For many, success means money.
This mindset also applies to the film industry. For those in the Hollywood industry who find success, money defines their decisions, which ultimately compromises their creativity. Would filmmakers really continue to make cookie-cutter action films if they didn’t expect them to be a box office hit?
There are filmmakers out there who are trying new things, experimenting with cinematography and plot twists. These movies, however, usually belong to the indie film industry and rarely receive press.
The sad thing is that we are allowing this to happen. Most are unwilling to explore different films because they have no sense of adventure or curiosity. Maybe this is due to the fact that this new emphasis on STEM is turning us into conformist clones.
I, on the other hand, would rather view a low budget film with an interesting plot than watch a mindless action film with an excessive amount of special effects, as should you. To sustain creativity in this day and age, we need to support a dying breed of originality.
If creativity continues to decline and pursuing a career in the performing arts industry comes to be viewed as taboo, the movie industry will continue to produce films lacking in originality. Next thing you know, we will be paying $10 to see the thirteenth "Avengers" film.
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Reach the columnist at ghirneis@asu.edu or follow @ghirneise1 on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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