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But it is just simmering, we're not at a boil yet. Culture takes time to move.

So what do you think about this?

Which brings us to this simmering pot of OC content getting more eyes, more attention. I think in the next decade, its very possible that there will be an explosion of original work and characters from pop culture and the underground to basically reset this stagnated period. Which is great news!

And again, not all of pop culture is bad, but when everything is rather safe and predictable, then where's the risk for the audience? The thrill of something unexpected?

And what about AI? I think that on some level, the rise of AI content has made people hunger for things only we can create.

The most interesting things to happen in pop culture the past few years has mainly been in the pop music space with "Not Like Us" and "Brat Summer."

It feels like that this wall of stagnation really hits us from the visual media space, and I think people are just ready for new art, new ideas.

DC and Marvel is an industry who's whole menu is reheated nachos. And don't get me wrong, nachos (reheated or fresh) are still awesome, but at a certain point it just stops *working* for some folks. In fact, basically all of pop culture has become an arms race of who is best at reheating nachos.

suffers from a lot these trends that audiences and critics are aware of. Disney and Pixar will only greenlight anything if its the safest possible venture and so mainstream film animation has become boring and allergic to innovation. There have been standouts (Spiderman) but its still safe, not new.

Remakes, sequels, spin offs, and film adaptations have been the bread and butter for mainstream media and its really hard to feel amped up about a lot of movies today. That's not to say that these are necessarily bad, Wicked is a great example of how the art of adaptation is good, but it still...

I'll try to keep this short since I have to prepare for work.

Pop culture in the past decade has, from a critical perspective, taken a sharp decline. A lot of films look flat, their editing is bad, and the color grading is depressing, narratives are predictable, and its a LOT of remakes.