Pop Culture Has Become an Oligopoly

The absolute dominance of the market isn't solely an ideological problem: it's also a practical, material impediment to storytelling, including the kind of stories that might be dangerous in a good way, or at least aesthetically interesting and worth having around. All we have is what the market gives us; all the art we enjoy was determined at some

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Until the year 2000, about 25% of top-grossing movies were prequels, sequels, spinoffs, remakes, reboots, or cinematic universe expansions. Since 2010, it’s been over 50% ever year. In recent years, it’s been close to 100%.

On one hand, we have a booming Creator Economy, with an ever-expanding democratization of tools for production to anyone with an idea. So much so, that according to 1,000 surveyed Americans by Zine, 86% of people believe there is an overwhelming amount of entertainment available today.

Yet meanwhile on the other hand, we seem to have also found ours... See more