What do you think has caused this? Too much media consolidation (5 companies run Hollywood now)? The internet?
Do you think it would be any better if the studios were broken up by antitrust law?
Your Personal Pop Culture DYSTOPIA Timeline
- Thread starter THE KINGFISH
- Start date
Do you think it would be any better if the studios were broken up by antitrust law?
My personal cultural dystopia would be the Osmonds forming the template for all future musical groups.
I’ve actually been thinking lately about an idea that could fit this - it’s an AU where Disney winds up rejecting both The Owl House and Amphibia in the first place because they think it’s “too dark” for kids to watch on their channel, despite gaining massive popularity when scenes/pictures from each show are leaked online, sparking massive outcry as a result. Then, Netflix announces that they have purchased both shows and will release them exclusively on their platform. They are released in 10-episode parts per season, and they wind up trending upon release and become as popular as they do IOTL, and everyone loves them and promptly proceeds to hate-dump Disney online as IOTL, while openly praising Netflix for saving the shows.
And then Netflix suddenly cancels both shows, right after “Young Blood, Old Souls” and “True Colors” air, respectively.
Their only defense is that the shows “only appeal to a small minority of people” and were unable to attract a “widespread audience”, despite both shows trending non-stop on their platform for months, and insist that they “have never canceled a successful show”, which only serves as another middle finger to both fanbases. To make things worse, no matter how much people protest or plea online, all attempts to revive the shows wind up failing, so the entirety of S2-S3 of TOH, along with S3 of Amphibia, will never happen.
The fanbase would be even more furious than they were when TOH got its third season cut short IOTL, to say the VERY least. And that also means that the very last thing we would’ve ever gotten from Amphibia as a result would be the infamous “I’m sorry…for everything” scene w/Marcy.
(TL;DR: Netflix saves TOH and Amphibia after Disney rejects it, only to pull an “Inside Job/Dead End: Paranormal Park” on both shows.)
And then Netflix suddenly cancels both shows, right after “Young Blood, Old Souls” and “True Colors” air, respectively.
Their only defense is that the shows “only appeal to a small minority of people” and were unable to attract a “widespread audience”, despite both shows trending non-stop on their platform for months, and insist that they “have never canceled a successful show”, which only serves as another middle finger to both fanbases. To make things worse, no matter how much people protest or plea online, all attempts to revive the shows wind up failing, so the entirety of S2-S3 of TOH, along with S3 of Amphibia, will never happen.
The fanbase would be even more furious than they were when TOH got its third season cut short IOTL, to say the VERY least. And that also means that the very last thing we would’ve ever gotten from Amphibia as a result would be the infamous “I’m sorry…for everything” scene w/Marcy.
(TL;DR: Netflix saves TOH and Amphibia after Disney rejects it, only to pull an “Inside Job/Dead End: Paranormal Park” on both shows.)
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This results in Matt Braly and Dana Terrace falling into a very deep depression, ending up with them committing suicide by shotgun, with the reason being that thanks to Netflix screwing over their own creations, they don't have any reason or motivation to fight back, leading to a large angry mob full of animation enjoyers and the cast and crews of every show that the streaming service unfairly cancelled violently raiding and attacking the Netflix HQ.
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Another idea is that the 1997 Denno Senshi Porygon incident in Japan - where multiple children across Japan were hospitalized for seizures following an episode of Pokémon - is taken even more seriously than IOTL and leads to the ultimate downfall of the Pokémon franchise, as the franchise quickly becomes condemned worldwide as a “serious health hazard” and is barred from being seen/played/having its merchandise sold across the world as a result, leading to the “taking-off” franchise to quickly crash and burn.
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That took a FAR more darker turn that I anticipated...........
Here is one from me
Star Wars II: Splinter of the Mind's Eye
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Star Wars II: Splinter of the Mind's Eye is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Michael Cimino from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan, and based on a story by George Lucas. A sequel to Star Wars (1976), the story focuses on Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Bo Derek) - who are marooned together on the planet Mimban, where they encounter the locals and struggle against the forces of the evil Galactic Empire, including Darth Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones). The ensemble cast includes Mark Hamill, Bo Derek, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, David Prowse, Kris Kristofferson, John Hurt, Jeff Bridges, Isabelle Huppert, and Carrie Fisher.
After Star Wars failed to meet studio expectations, Creator George Lucas was tasked with making a low-budget sequel. After having seen The Deer Hunter (1978), Lucas approached director Michael Cimino about directing the film while Lucas focused on expanding Industrial, Light & Magic. However, Cimino had a very detailed and overly ambitious directing style, causing the film's production to face numerous setbacks. Additionally, other problems plagued the film - including significant cost overruns, bad press (allegations of animal cruelty on set), significant retakes, and Cimino pushing an incestuous interpretation of Luke and Leia's relationship - prompting actress Carrie Fisher to quit during production and be replaced by Bo Derek.
Splinter of the Mind's Eye was released on August 8, 1980, but was pulled from release after 10 days due to an overwhelmingly negative response by critics and audiences. The film was re-edited and a new ending was shot. Additionally, all footage of Carrie Fisher was removed from this cut and replaced by Bo Derek. The re-cut version of the film was released on March 20, 1981, but it remained a huge financial failure - only earning $2 million against a $45 million budget. The film was also panned by critics - who condemned it as not only one of the worst sequels ever made, but also one of the worst movies ever made in general. According to some film historians, such as Peter Biskind, the film's financial failure resulted in the demise of the blockbuster that was once popular in the mid-to-late 1970s. The film is widely believed to have capsized the careers of both Michael Cimino and George Lucas - the latter of which never made another film again and instead focused on visual effects (VFX) work.
Despite this, the film's reputation has somewhat improved with modern critics and audiences. A director's cut of Splinter of the Mind's Eye was released on August 8, 2010, and recieved mixed to positive reviews. Numerous other cuts of the film exist, although the original 1980 theatrical cut of the film was accidentally destroyed in an archiving accident in 1986.
EDIT: The Director's Cut came from the workprint version, not the 1980 cut.
POD: In 1976, Nolan Bushnell sells Atari, Inc to 20th Century Fox instead of Warner Bros. This effects production of the first Star Wars movie - with studio executives wanting the film to be released by Christmas 1976 and not tolerating extra re-edits. Consequently, Lucas has no choice but to release the John Jympson cut of the film. Said cut of the film has a slower-paced and more documentary-like tone to it unlike OTL's cut. As a result, the first Star Wars movie is only a modest success compared to OTL's huge pop culture phenomenon. In OTL, Splinter of the Mind's Eye was a novel written for the Extended Universe, and was intended to be the sequel in the case A New Hope was only slightly successful/outright failed. BTW, Heaven's Gate is butterflied with Cimino directing this film - but the results are just as bad.
Star Wars II: Splinter of the Mind's Eye
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Star Wars II: Splinter of the Mind's Eye is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Michael Cimino from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan, and based on a story by George Lucas. A sequel to Star Wars (1976), the story focuses on Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Bo Derek) - who are marooned together on the planet Mimban, where they encounter the locals and struggle against the forces of the evil Galactic Empire, including Darth Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones). The ensemble cast includes Mark Hamill, Bo Derek, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, David Prowse, Kris Kristofferson, John Hurt, Jeff Bridges, Isabelle Huppert, and Carrie Fisher.
After Star Wars failed to meet studio expectations, Creator George Lucas was tasked with making a low-budget sequel. After having seen The Deer Hunter (1978), Lucas approached director Michael Cimino about directing the film while Lucas focused on expanding Industrial, Light & Magic. However, Cimino had a very detailed and overly ambitious directing style, causing the film's production to face numerous setbacks. Additionally, other problems plagued the film - including significant cost overruns, bad press (allegations of animal cruelty on set), significant retakes, and Cimino pushing an incestuous interpretation of Luke and Leia's relationship - prompting actress Carrie Fisher to quit during production and be replaced by Bo Derek.
Splinter of the Mind's Eye was released on August 8, 1980, but was pulled from release after 10 days due to an overwhelmingly negative response by critics and audiences. The film was re-edited and a new ending was shot. Additionally, all footage of Carrie Fisher was removed from this cut and replaced by Bo Derek. The re-cut version of the film was released on March 20, 1981, but it remained a huge financial failure - only earning $2 million against a $45 million budget. The film was also panned by critics - who condemned it as not only one of the worst sequels ever made, but also one of the worst movies ever made in general. According to some film historians, such as Peter Biskind, the film's financial failure resulted in the demise of the blockbuster that was once popular in the mid-to-late 1970s. The film is widely believed to have capsized the careers of both Michael Cimino and George Lucas - the latter of which never made another film again and instead focused on visual effects (VFX) work.
Despite this, the film's reputation has somewhat improved with modern critics and audiences. A director's cut of Splinter of the Mind's Eye was released on August 8, 2010, and recieved mixed to positive reviews. Numerous other cuts of the film exist, although the original 1980 theatrical cut of the film was accidentally destroyed in an archiving accident in 1986.
EDIT: The Director's Cut came from the workprint version, not the 1980 cut.
POD: In 1976, Nolan Bushnell sells Atari, Inc to 20th Century Fox instead of Warner Bros. This effects production of the first Star Wars movie - with studio executives wanting the film to be released by Christmas 1976 and not tolerating extra re-edits. Consequently, Lucas has no choice but to release the John Jympson cut of the film. Said cut of the film has a slower-paced and more documentary-like tone to it unlike OTL's cut. As a result, the first Star Wars movie is only a modest success compared to OTL's huge pop culture phenomenon. In OTL, Splinter of the Mind's Eye was a novel written for the Extended Universe, and was intended to be the sequel in the case A New Hope was only slightly successful/outright failed. BTW, Heaven's Gate is butterflied with Cimino directing this film - but the results are just as bad.
A random idea, but what if Goldeneye 007 (the N64 game) ended up just being just another cheap tie-in ITTL?
I know, that's why it's a dystopia, since it kills Rare even earlier
Doesn’t that remind me of the January 6 United States Capitol attack somehow?
Well, that’s gonna leave Super Smash Bros. What’ll take Pokémon’s place in SSB?
Still using this for one of my upcoming timelines, huh? Not that there’s anything wrong with it.
Wouldn’t that ruin Rare’s reputation?
How so?
2000-2010ish felt partially listless in the wake of the 90s End of History culture and 2000s Post-9/11 malaise. There's definitely some gems I didn't realize at the time and many great things. But overall I felt it was mediocre.
Reality shows took over whether as cheap and/or provocative game shows (as they really were early on) or docudramas with varying degrees of reality to them. MTV, VH-1, A&E, History Channel, etc fell into that reality show pit till it became all there was.
Star Trek died out. Star Wars meandered with the Prequels. Superman Returns was meh. There's more examples. A lot felt very blah or bad. I also felt like CGI became a problem because everything could have major effects with a decent budget but it looked like a PlayStation 2 game and they failed to tonally integrate it (which can still be a problem): everything can look impressive but then it's no longer impressive because of that very reason.
Shrek was good but even that beat a dead horse. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and the Nolan Batman films were great. And there's a lot of gems. I dug some other stuff. But I feel it was a very blah era in media (and there was even a blah in things I thought were genuinely good) until about 2008-2009 when it felt like it picked up something. It wasn't Avatar. It was close to the release of Avatar but it was something before that. I felt a wind shift maybe 2007 or 2008.
That's not to say everything now is gold.
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Indeed but I count that as part of the gradual trickle out of that pop culture era.
On a similar note
Kentaro Miura passes away earlier than IOTL, resulting in Berserk ending at the Eclipse with no Skull Knight to make the save
Okay, now THAT is TOO extreme, even for a pop culture dystopia scenario like this.