"This entirely disingenuous Stranger Things cartoon made for kids in order to make them nostalgic for a show they haven’t seen which is itself nostalgic for a time that might as well be prehistory to them. Why is this made?"
I am HERE for the shade!! I agree that the 'Stranger Things Tales From '85' is beating a dead horse at this point for the money. They've milked the hell out of the Netflix's show plot line with both the animation spin-off, and the live-action play — exclusive to London & New York, and not available on streaming.
At the end of the Stranger Things Netflix series, I genuinely made a promise to myself to not watch any media that drags out for years while playing in their fanbase's faces. As for any new media the Duffer Brothers create? I could care less, the way that they've written Women characters has them on my banned media consumption list.
The Hollywood we grew up with and still love always walked a fine line between art and commerce. For that era, nostalgia wasn't an obstacle; it was a springboard. If it weren't for a healthy balance of risk and reverence, we’d never have seen Alien, Star Wars, The Terminator, Back to the Future, The Matrix, Pirates of the Caribbean, or the first decade of the MCU. These films prove that the problem isn't nostalgia itself—it’s how it’s being weaponized today. 😒
What we’re seeing now is the result of studios finding a cheat code for guaranteed returns. The industry has become dangerously beholden to quarterly earnings, shareholder sentiment, and stock prices. As long as the numbers stay in the green, creative soul is treated as an optional extra. Add to that the rise of streaming algorithms—which provide a level of data-driven surveillance we’ve never seen before—and you have a recipe for the creative madness currently gripping the big studios.
At first, audiences were happy to see their favorite stories continue. But the decline in quality has become impossible to ignore. We’ve traded ‘lightning in a bottle’ for assembly line production. On top of that, many of these beloved franchises are being weighed down by heavy-handed messaging that often feels detached from the story itself. 😶🌫️
The audience is finally waking up from this sequel-induced trance. There is a growing hunger for something original, something that feels human rather than algorithmic. Your article is a perfect reflection of a sentiment that’s bubbling over: the safe bet is no longer safe.
Today many believe the pendulum is starting to swing back. Analysts are already seeing the cracks in the franchise model, and the creative community is exhausted from working on assembly lines. We might be closer to a creative renaissance than we think. And there’s a reason to be optimistic—Hollywood will eventually have to remember how to tell stories again, if only because the old tricks are finally running out of steam. 😊
The nostalgia in Stranger Things is turtles all the way down!
"This entirely disingenuous Stranger Things cartoon made for kids in order to make them nostalgic for a show they haven’t seen which is itself nostalgic for a time that might as well be prehistory to them. Why is this made?"
I am HERE for the shade!! I agree that the 'Stranger Things Tales From '85' is beating a dead horse at this point for the money. They've milked the hell out of the Netflix's show plot line with both the animation spin-off, and the live-action play — exclusive to London & New York, and not available on streaming.
At the end of the Stranger Things Netflix series, I genuinely made a promise to myself to not watch any media that drags out for years while playing in their fanbase's faces. As for any new media the Duffer Brothers create? I could care less, the way that they've written Women characters has them on my banned media consumption list.
The Hollywood we grew up with and still love always walked a fine line between art and commerce. For that era, nostalgia wasn't an obstacle; it was a springboard. If it weren't for a healthy balance of risk and reverence, we’d never have seen Alien, Star Wars, The Terminator, Back to the Future, The Matrix, Pirates of the Caribbean, or the first decade of the MCU. These films prove that the problem isn't nostalgia itself—it’s how it’s being weaponized today. 😒
What we’re seeing now is the result of studios finding a cheat code for guaranteed returns. The industry has become dangerously beholden to quarterly earnings, shareholder sentiment, and stock prices. As long as the numbers stay in the green, creative soul is treated as an optional extra. Add to that the rise of streaming algorithms—which provide a level of data-driven surveillance we’ve never seen before—and you have a recipe for the creative madness currently gripping the big studios.
At first, audiences were happy to see their favorite stories continue. But the decline in quality has become impossible to ignore. We’ve traded ‘lightning in a bottle’ for assembly line production. On top of that, many of these beloved franchises are being weighed down by heavy-handed messaging that often feels detached from the story itself. 😶🌫️
The audience is finally waking up from this sequel-induced trance. There is a growing hunger for something original, something that feels human rather than algorithmic. Your article is a perfect reflection of a sentiment that’s bubbling over: the safe bet is no longer safe.
Today many believe the pendulum is starting to swing back. Analysts are already seeing the cracks in the franchise model, and the creative community is exhausted from working on assembly lines. We might be closer to a creative renaissance than we think. And there’s a reason to be optimistic—Hollywood will eventually have to remember how to tell stories again, if only because the old tricks are finally running out of steam. 😊