TheGoose

Contributing writer for The Artifice.

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    The Psychological Edge of the Familiar in Successful Media - The Uphill Battle of Novelty

    A look at films in recent years that weren’t sequels or remakes that received fairly good ratings, but made little money at the box office. An example that comes to mind is American Ultra (2015), which received better ratings than many of the other films that opened the same weekend (all of which were remakes or sequels), yet was a box office flop. The film’s screenwriter, Max Landis complained that "American Ultra lost to a sequel, a sequel reboot, a biopic, a sequel and a reboot."

    This phenomenon seems self-perpetuating. These failed new ideas will cause studios to hesitate before investing in further new ideas, which seem risky. It may be more economically encouraging to go with a sequel or remake that is bound to make money, and we therefore find ourselves inundated by constant remakes and reboots (just look at Pokémon Go, which seems to be successful not because it is particularly good, but because its content is familiar).

    A few psychological theories could be invoked here in order to explain this phenomenon. One is the mere-exposure effect, a phenomenon wherein people tend to prefer things that they are familiar with (this is how subliminal messaging is thought to work). Therefore it could be possible that people are disproportionately likely to go out and see a film with a familiar name (such as the new Independence Day), even if it has worse ratings than something novel and unknown. Further, people tend to be risk-averse, and may want to avoid the risk of seeing something unknown and not liking it.

    • you are 100 % right. Nowadays people are taking the easy route by making more adaptations or reboots because its economically less risky. Audience will still want to watch a reboot or adaptations just out of curiosity. On the other hand, when there is a new idea for a movie out, people are less likely to watch it because of the fear of not knowing what to expect. – Tkesh 8 years ago
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    • It would be interesting to see how movie budgets have changed over time, say in the last 30 years or so, as an examination of the viability of indie films versus major studio films in theaters. Was the difference in budgets between an indie film and major studio movie larger or smaller than it is now, and what were the respective profits? – chrischan 8 years ago
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    Latest Comments

    I certainly agree that anyone taking Amy as “proof that all women are crazy” has got it wrong. Most films depicting this type of intense manipulation feature men at the reigns, and the reaction is never an equivalent “all men are crazy”.

    This disappointing reaction aside, I do think that Amy’s character is clearly a much more sick and twisted individual than Nick, who is largely victimized. Amy’s actions in the film are fairly indefensible, and appealing to Nick’s wrongdoings in order to make him seem like less of a victim doesn’t really help your point that the generalization of all women as akin to Amy is problematic.

    We must remember that the internet brings out both the worst in people, and the worst people, and that the loudest voices are not always representative of everyone’s thoughts. Hopefully plenty of people saw the film as an instance of feminist progress wherein a female character was depicted as being just as dangerous and insane as a typical male villain, which I believe it was.

    What The Audience Got Wrong About "Gone Girl"

    I haven’t yet seen Final Girl, but have studied the final girl trope this year and am very interested to watch it now. Your review of the trope and its many incarnations is extensive and impressive. One horror/thriller trope that may contribute to a discussion on the role of gender in horror film is the transgendered killer (such as the villains in Silence of the Lambs and Dressed to Kill). The depiction of these killers could tie in nicely with your discussion on Oedipal castration anxiety (particularly the one in Dressed to Kill).

    Final Girl: Horror, Action, and Gender

    It’s always nice when games at least attempt to explain the double jump, as you mentioned with Pyschonauts. The Metroid games (and certainly a few others) justify it by way of “rocket boots”, but I suppose the appeal of these games was never their realism!

    Double Jumping: Mid-Air Leaping's Chatterbox