Movie, TV, Web Series, and Music Hot Take(s).

[BrawlMan]

I have no interests in ever watching Stranger Things. Relies way too much on nostalgia baiting for a decade I was barely born in.

 

[Dalisclock]

I have no interests in ever watching Stranger Things. Relies way too much on nostalgia baiting for a decade I was barely born in.

I watched the first season and decided I didn't really care about it. Every time I hear a new season is out I go "Well, good for the fans I guess".

I'm just not nostalgic for the 80's and nothing in the show really grabbed me.

 

[Drathnoxis]

It's so you know the creators aren't racist / homophobic.

Ok that's partly factitious but only partly in an industry where the perception of you being "one of the good people" can be as important if not more important than you making something actually good.

What part of it comes down to is the push for "Mass appeal". How do you get mass appeal? include as many people and groups as possible. With limited leading or main character roles or even recurring ones you have to put in as many groups as possible so the easy way to do it is interracial relationships. Also then you make sure to have at least 1 or more LGBTQQIAA2+ relationships in there too prominently among the main cast. It's kind of super cynical really.

Oh and companies also love it because if the show gets any major flak and they know a friendly journalist who will accept fine bottles of alcohol then they can also spin the narrative that the reason for people being upset at the property is because they're racists / homophobes and not because the series is crap. Also the best part is the narrative spreads quite easily from there one one or two prominent outlets report on it.

This is probably the answer really. Mass market appeal.

Ok you want me to put on the tin foil hat and give you an answer, fine.

*Puts on the Tinfoil hat*

Ok so the basic of why relies on a level of knowledge of market research and far more importantly and soul crushingly likely are twitter trends. You 've likely heard about some White supremacist or other on twitter yelling about race mixing but likely not heard much about it happening the other way were some-one in an interracial relationship is portrayed as a traitor to their race or somehow depriving their own race of some-one and this isn't so much from White supremacists as it is coming from "Black Twitter" (don't ask it's a thing sort of). There was also some studies a while back that I vaguely heard about about how apparently their results showed people were finding members of their own race more attractive than other races on average or something like that. Part of the idea could be to try and encourage that more using the media to try and normalise it more hoping it will causes changes IRL.

Now as or the why? Simple. Genetic diversity is good. Different genetic traits can emerge from different groups and often be present among different races which could be useful. We don't truly know what the world will need in the future so more mixing of traits is potentially good for society. Take Covid-19 for instance where people from Afro Caribbean and I think Asian communities were hit harder by it and at more risk with suggestions it could be due to genetics determining differences in certain protein channels. Mix some more white people DNA in there and suddenly that may not have been such a problem or seen them have such increased risk. Or take me for instance as despite being whiter then a sheet I'm technically mixed race (many generations back) but there's still markers in my genetics meaning I have genetically higher resistance to Malaria compared to a number of other groups of people and especially other white people.

This on the other hand I think is a pretty bad answer. I don't think random interracial breeding would have much more of a net positive than random monoracial breeding. You are still working with a random selection of genes, you are just as likely to spread bad traits as good. If better genes was the goal they'd be better off pushing genetic modification in a positive light to get some of those bio-ethic laws revoked and let the geneticists get to work making some super clone babies.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I'm just not nostalgic for the 80's and nothing in the show really grabbed me.

I am, but then I'll just watch something that's actually from the 80's.

I mean, I get 80's (or any other time period) nostalgia as a means to escape current trends, but the 80's pretty much has become the current trend.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I have no interests in ever watching Stranger Things. Relies way too much on nostalgia baiting for a decade I was barely born in.

I wasn't born in the 80s but I still enjoy the show.

I'm not going to claim that it's the greatest thing ever, but it's mostly decently written, the character interactions are fun, and the child actors are surprisingly competent.

It would have been better as an anthology series, but it's still a neat show even if it never really reached its full potential.

 

[BrawlMan]

I am, but then I'll just watch something that's actually from the 80's.

I mean, I get 80's (or any other time period) nostalgia as a means to escape current trends, but the 80's pretty much has become the current trend.

Exactly. There are plenty of movies I have from the 80s that already accomplish that.

I wasn't born in the 80s but I still enjoy the show.

I'm not going to claim that it's the greatest thing ever, but it's mostly decently written, the character interactions are fun, and the child actors are surprisingly competent.

It would have been better as an anthology series, but it's still a neat show even if it never really reached its full potential.

That's fine. I'll bring up at Netflix show that does it right: Fear Street.

The show mainly takes place in 1994, but each part that place within certain decade, or a few 100 years back. With the final part going back to 1994. While there is 90s nostalgia, the show remembers to have actual characters, plots, and twist that actually work. What is even more crazy is that even though this TV Show is based off the book franchise, the show itself is its own original story, with none of the books' stories used as a basis. Though there are references to certain names, if you bother to pay attention. You have to be a hardcore Fear Street fan though. I have not read those books since 2002.

 

[thebobmaster]

Exactly. There are plenty of movies I have from the 80s that already accomplish that.


That's fine. I'll bring up at Netflix show that does it right: Fear Street.

The show mainly takes place in 1994, but each part that place within certain decade, or a few 100 years back. With the final part going back to 1994. While there is 90s nostalgia, the show remembers to have actual characters, plots, and twist that actually work. What is even more crazy is that even though this TV Show is based off the book franchise, the show itself is its own original story, with none of the books' stories used as a basis. Though are references to certain names, if you bother to pay attention. You have to be a hardcore Fear Street fan though. I have not read those books since 2002.

I still need to finish that series. 1994 was a decent call-back to the Scream era of slasher films (with one particular kill actually catching me off-guard with how brutal it was, and I'm a fairly seasoned horror movie watcher. If you've seen Fear Street 1994, you probably already know what kill I'm referring to, but let's just say I'll never look at a bread slicing machine the same way again), but 1978 was a very good Friday the 13th style slasher. I just...never got around to 1666, and I don't have Netflix at this point because I barely used it.

 

[BrawlMan]

I still need to finish that series. 1994 was a decent call-back to the Scream era of slasher films (with one particular kill actually catching me off-guard with how brutal it was, and I'm a fairly seasoned horror movie watcher. If you've seen Fear Street 1994, you probably already know what kill I'm referring to, but let's just say I'll never look at a bread slicing machine the same way again), but 1978 was a very good Friday the 13th style slasher. I just...never got around to 1666, and I don't have Netflix at this point because I barely used it.

Finish it if you can. I know you say you don't have netflix, so either get the subscription again, or find other means. It is a worthy finale.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

That's fine. I'll bring up at Netflix show that does it right: Fear Street.

The show mainly takes place in 1994, but each part that place within certain decade, or a few 100 years back. With the final part going back to 1994. While there is 90s nostalgia, the show remembers to have actual characters, plots, and twist that actually work.

Wait, how do you know Stranger Things doesn't have those characteristics and didn't do it right? You haven't watched Stranger Things to know whether that's true or not.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Wait, how do you know Stranger Things doesn't have those characteristics and didn't do it right? You haven't watched Stranger Things to know whether that's true or not.

It's a pretty accurate read on the series, which you could easily pick up from reviews and general chatter.

Like, nobody saw Morbius but it's pretty clear Morbius isn't some secret hidden gem.

I'm just mad Stranger Things went from "the military's up to some shit" to "go US, get those Russians"

 

[BrawlMan]

Just so we're clear @Phoenixmgs, @Dirty Hipsters, and Dwarvenhobble, I watched the first season of Stranger Things and it did not interest me. I watched it and I did not like it. Never going back to it, so deal with it. I find Fear Street the better, because it does not pander so hard on the nostalgia it becomes distracting. Fear Street remembers to have characters and story first.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Just so we're clear @Phoenixmgs, @Dirty Hipsters, and Dwarvenhobble, I watched the first season of Stranger Things and it did not interest me. I watched it and I did not like it. Never going back to it, so deal with it. I find Fear Street the better, because it does not pander so hard on the nostalgia it becomes distracting. Fear Street remembers to have characters and story first.

You didn't say that you watched it, you said you had no intention of watching it.

 

[BrawlMan]

You didn't say that you watched it, you said you had no intention of watching it.

I did watch the first season though, and had no intention of watching the rest. That I do remember, because I was with my older brother at that time. So there you go.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I did watch the first season though, and had no intention of watching the rest. That I do remember, because I was with my older brother at that time. So there you go.

It's fine that you watched it and didn't like it.
Based on your original post it sounded like you hadn't watched and and were shitting on it because of impressions that you had of the show rather than your own experiences with it.

 

[BrawlMan]

Neve Campbell Not Returning for ‘Scream’ 6 Over Pay Issues

Neve Campbell will not be returning for Scream 6. This will mark the first time the franchise's final girl will not be present in an installment.

www.themarysue.com

I think you meant to put this in the general TV and movie news thread.

 

[Cicada 5]

I think you meant to put this in the general TV and movie news thread.

Sorry.

 

[BrawlMan]

Sorry.

No worries.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Speaking of actual 80’s movies, it’s sad to realize how stupid The Goonies really is. Like it’s spoof-bad at times, but not a spoof. I guess sitting down and legitimately watching the theatrical version in its entirety as an adult vs catching bits and pieces on cable here and there makes a big difference.

 

[Ezekiel]

The 1990s had the biggest drop for anime character designs. All the problems of the '00s (and yes, it was an ugly period) are built on the problems of the '90s. That was when they started getting the really weird sharp angles, minimized features and crazy hair.

Characters started losing much more of their cheeks and chins. Everything became more concave and pointed.

I mean, I do think Escaflowne looks okay, but would I take it over decent '80s art? Hell no.

Another example. Pointed, concave.

The animation in the '90s is more inbred than what came before. The creators from the '70s and '80s weren't such otaku fanboying over multiple generations of anime. They drew shapelier heads and bodies. The more time passed and the more everybody replicated what was in, the more inbred the art became and the more the flaws and ugliness were accentuated.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

People often say that it's only a matter of time before the Star Wars sequels get the same treatment that the Prequels are getting now.

I don't know how true that is. My baby sister was really into The Force Awakens. She bought lightsaber toys, doodled blasters in her notebooks, dressed up as Rey for Halloween (one of my mother's best works). She even read the novelization, which really surprised me. She begged me to buy the cash grab Lego game they released for TFA.

Fast forward 7 years later, she doesn't give a shit. It could totally be her growing up and rejecting things she sees as childish, but I can't help but think that she was really turned off by TROS. I should pick her brain about it once I have some time. Yeah this is an incredibly small sample size, but considering that Disney has put out all the stops to make Star Wars NOT about the Sequel trilogy, I see today's kids more or less forgetting about the sequels. Baby Yoda alone seems more memorable to me than the entire Sequel trilogy, for better or worse.