Does Hollywood Have an Originality Problem?

Hollywood is in the business of making money, it's quite obvious to see that. Certainly every human is interested in living rich. Hollywood is the biggest example of this.

Does this issue lead Hollywood to give up their art of film making original films for the money making schemes though or has Hollywood just run out of ideas?

The biggest money-made movies this year all revolve around already established cinematic universes and characters already created in previously written literature.

If we go back to the past year, the biggest blockbusters were a second reboot of a certain teenage webslinging superhero, the third movie of a trilogy about Apes, a movie about an Amazonian warrior woman that has been around for ages, a movie about an old man wolverine, a movie about a sitcom group in space and their baby tree, and a movie about a monster clown. All of these have been around forever and are long established characters of the Hollywood landscape. Nevertheless though, these are what make money, and it makes you wonder, is it these characters that make money the reason we haven't seen many original films out of Hollywood in years or is it the fact that Hollywood after being around for almost 100 years has started to run out of ideas?

For this we only have to look back at last year's award shows. The two big frontrunners Moonlight and La La Land were the winners for almost everything, and although the Oscars and Golden Globes can tend to be the place we find the most original work due to their disdain of blockbusters, La La Land was a movie simply based on musicals of the past and Moonlight was based on a man's autobiography. So maybe Hollywood is just having a tough time coming up with new ideas.

The truth is blockbusters are what people want to watch, yes, but original ideas are not the dime a dozen they were in Hollywood back in the years of Casablanca and Rocky. There could be some sad ways to look at this: that it may be the end of originality in Hollywood for a while. Or there's a great way to look at this: that if you're a blockbuster popcorn type fan, they might just be getting the respect they deserve soon from the award shows we all love.

So with this new knowledge of knowing that Blockbusters could be the next medium of Hollywood, should we be excited or upset? Certainly it depends what type of fan of film you are. Certainly the average moviegoer is going to the cinema for a few hours of either laughter, fright, or excited viewing and isn't one to really care too deeply about the film. They just wish to escape from the issues of their lives by vanishing into the lives of others. Whoever the character may be. Whether it be spiderman, Wonder Woman, or Pennywise, the average moviegoer isn't thinking about the artistry of this blockbuster movie, they're just trying to appreciate the movie and feel emotions. That's after all what movies are made for. For certain moviegoers it could feel like an end to an era, maybe you're upset that the originality has died out, yet there is a certain sense of optimism that can be seen from this. Because originality is in trouble doesn't mean it's completely gone. Think of the fact that a young aspiring film maker or screenwriter could gain confidence from this issue and believe that their dreams and their originality could be exactly what Hollywood is looking for and is needed at this point. Even more though is maybe the blockbuster will now be forced into the face of the academy forcing them to realize that just because a film has an explosion or big knockout punch or ultimate final fight doesn't mean that the movie isn't worthy of the awards or isn't just as much of art as the other films that have been pushed as the rightful Oscar winners for so long. And maybe, just maybe, things might just change for our favorite superheroes and Jedi with the chance of a Golden Statue.