Sick Burns
"Entertainment Monopolies Are Zombifying Mass Culture"
Today, in a kind of unconscious acknowledgement of these developments, the hypercommodified nature of mass culture has even found its way into common parlance. As writing and media have become “content,” movies and shows are now “franchises,” and cultural artifacts of every kind are “IP” (intellectual property) - not just to bureaucrats, investors, and corporate executives but also to audiences (or rather “consumers”) themselves.
Entire narrative universes, meanwhile, are now conceptualized in modular form such that their parent companies can produce an indefinite number of reboots, sequels, and prequels, wringing as much value from the original product as possible. The same monopolism has yielded an astonishing boom in crossover content, as conglomerates seek to extract further rents by combining and reassembling their properties.
+++
I'm not thrilled with all of this, but this rap has some moments: "Colbert's 'Lord of the Rings' Rap Celebrates 20 Years Of The Greatest Trilogy In Movie History." You can comment here or at the Dreamwidth crosspost.
comments at Dreamwidth.
Today, in a kind of unconscious acknowledgement of these developments, the hypercommodified nature of mass culture has even found its way into common parlance. As writing and media have become “content,” movies and shows are now “franchises,” and cultural artifacts of every kind are “IP” (intellectual property) - not just to bureaucrats, investors, and corporate executives but also to audiences (or rather “consumers”) themselves.
Entire narrative universes, meanwhile, are now conceptualized in modular form such that their parent companies can produce an indefinite number of reboots, sequels, and prequels, wringing as much value from the original product as possible. The same monopolism has yielded an astonishing boom in crossover content, as conglomerates seek to extract further rents by combining and reassembling their properties.
+++
I'm not thrilled with all of this, but this rap has some moments: "Colbert's 'Lord of the Rings' Rap Celebrates 20 Years Of The Greatest Trilogy In Movie History." You can comment here or at the Dreamwidth crosspost.
comments at Dreamwidth.