Episode Details

Okay, we admit, in recent episodes we have sounded more negative about popular culture. That’s justified. At the same time, secular pundits can sound even more negative about decent pop-culture traditions. For example, just two years ago, some critics spoke like movie theaters and the whole cinematic experience were finished, passé, the end! They assumed we’d all be sitting at home in lockdown with our streaming services, watching made-for-TV-movies and shows. Today we instead see theater movies roaring back. Some studio CEOs are taking harder looks at the flaws of streaming. How can Christians evaluate that strange impulse to spy trends ahead of time and predict our culture’s future?

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Concession stand

• In this episode we get to be more positive about popular culture! That’s okay.
• God gave people the ability to share amazing stories, including in theaters.
• Idolatry of movies is bad, but you can also enjoy movies for great reasons.
• Moreover, there’s something very wholesome about respecting The Past.
• In this episode, we inspect a weird issue when people tried to reject theaters.
• We’ll draw a lot from one example, HBO Max, because it’s now a special case.

1. Why did critics and corporations think theaters would shut down?

• In short, a lot of this started because of the 2020 lockdowns.
• Understandably, some studios panicked; their revenue is based on crowds.
• Meanwhile, some critics seemingly wanted to be first to predict doom.
• In a clickbait age (itself a descendant of “yellow journalism”), alarmism sells.
• More legitimately, if this had proved a terrible virus, crowd events might end.
• But they have not, and those who gambled opinions and money on it failed.
• Disney moved all its Pixar movies and a few Marvel movies to streaming.
• HBO Max tried day-and-date release for all its movies, even epics like Dune.
• In short, everyone was ready to say: Down with theaters! Up with streamers!

2. What happened when corporations gambled on longer lockdowns?

• In summary, the predictions and the resulting gambles seem to have failed.
• Arguably, big studios like Disney and Warner Bros. weakened their brands.
• “Event” movies rely on exclusivity in “special places.” Now they’re common.
• You’ve already got fandoms in dispute (see ep. 122). This stuff doesn’t help.
• Fans rebelled anyway, insisting on seeing Dune on big screens (see ep. 87).
• Many critics and fans then began recalling, “Oh, yeah, big screens are great.”
• Then came Spider-Man: