The Problem With Disney's Movies In One Word

you might have noticed something different about Disney if you sat down and watched well basically any of their films over the past six or seven years something has changed Disney has obviously bought their way into a business monopoly and while that may or may not be its own issue it's actually not what I think is wrong or the current state of Disney's films in fact I think what is wrong with Disney is a solvable creative issue all modern Disney movies are not bad they aren't all terrible pieces of entertainment but I do think that there's an inherent flaw in the way they're being made see I recently sat down at a surprisingly empty theater and watched the rise of Skywalker and something quickly occurred to me it's a movie almost entirely built upon a single word and that word is intertextuality and in this case the facade of intertextuality a couple of years ago Evan Pugh Shaq wrote a great piece titled intertextuality Hollywood's new currency it's a word you hear thrown around a lot in film school but what I don't think he knew at the time was just how out of control this idea would become with in Disney's films the introductory is a big word that means something very simple it's the shaping of a text meaning or in this case films by another text or again film it's the moment the race easily lightsaber or at the moment that the Avengers revisit the fight in New York in endgame and this can be done well in fact I'd argue that endgame uses intertextuality masterfully the toys with their nostalgia your emotions by bringing you back to the moment Hulk slams Loki in Tony's penthouse by bringing Thor back to Asgard on the last day his mother was alive but it's best used sparingly it's supposed to supplement the substance of a story it serves a meaningful function it can and should be more than fanservice then oh look at that and it's usually meant to be more than that it's meant to matter fanservice is cheap inter - to Ali when use well shouldn't be so what happens when you try to make it the entire foundation of your film hi Phelan it's an emotional story he found his disease I've actually remakes are the second biggest offenders here by their nature remakes are intertextual but if you pay attention or even if you don't you'll notice a simple trend amongst these live-action films take Lion King almost every moment of genuine entry from the 2019 remake comes from cheap emotional intertextual moments the hey I remember that from that movie I love 20 years ago moments the second Beyonce begins her verse on can you feel the love tonight the moonlight walk moment these feels so wonderful because they use your nostalgia as Evan put it as a weapon it's an attack on your emotions but ask yourself this outside of those moments what does this movie add to the story of the Lion King what moments stand out to you or take Beauty and the Beast at times a shot-for-shot remake of the animated movie is it Belle's opening number the shot of the rose be our guest Daisy's live-action remakes are so self-indulgent they're so self-obsessed that they lose sight of anything that isn't informed by what's already been created they believe that if they tout the technology if they hire Emma Watson that will forget that they've already given us those moments before or that they're only giving them to us again because they know we remember them fondly and to their credit they do try to extend it beyond fanservice they make them integral parts of their movies take Aladdin Disney used Aladdin's Avira bit off the course from their original tale it maintains all the things that were supposed to love genie the songs the carpet while only taking the mildest risks with the source material but it does take the risks unfortunately it relies on the big moments we already care about for audience reaction almost exclusively and then those moments end in the films still asks us to care about the moments that aren't those the ones that BR apart from what we know and love and it becomes increasingly hard to do so it's you trust me what did you say do you trust me yes when you feed your audience a bunch of those nostalgic intertextual moments when they become nearly ubiquitous it's incredibly easy to lose that audience when those moments ends we begin to seek out the nostalgia and present everything that isn't [Music] but I think it's actually Star Wars that best explains how intertextuality has absorbed Disney's own creativity and how doing it poorly turns into simple fanservice it can be enough that it does no I don't want to spoil anything so I won't but what I will say is that the very thing swallowing the creativity of the live-action remakes has totally cannibalized Star Wars this is not to say that films are bad that's not what I'm here to talk about what it is to say is that it's no surprise they've struggled to develop a true identity across three movies so much so that what's to find the new trilogy is an internal debate over intertextual attea or fanservice and strained from the expected in the end for worse or for better and service one out the problem is that in sexuality slowly spiraled out of control here first it's the Millennium Falcon then the lightsaber then Leia then art sued and Luke then Lando and slowly the trilogy began to be a series of moment chasing nostalgia bait under all of it was a great story but when the last Jedi tried to beer from the self-indulgent and self-reliant course it was met with a swift reversal in the rise of Skywalker a conflict of identity marred again by Disney's self obsession with the past of its IPs stars is again by its very nature a series of sequels and thus can't escape some intertextual moments but they shouldn't become a crutch they shouldn't feel cheap dan service II they shouldn't be relied on to make up for the lack of storytelling creativity it's almost as if Disney believes that we aren't smart enough or capable enough of understanding a new story a star wars who substance isn't built on poking our emotional attachments the Star Wars is interested in creating new memories and when that intertextual battle begins to come across in the film's themselves it's harder to invest as a viewer in the things you don't already recognize it's Disney boxing themselves into a corner of their own creation but it's not impossible for Disney to handle these things properly sample endgame is a journey of inter text or revisiting of moments of characters that add something to the story that aren't just there to manipulate seeing New York through a different lens furthering Tony's understanding of himself his father and his family it's a series of moments that build up to a perfect crescendo one that makes sense if you isolate the force awakens as one film bb-8 pulls the curtain off of r2 and that's it we realize quickly r2 is simply there for us to go Hey look at that but an end game it's a series of moments that matter that make sense sure some moments like Hulk in the elevator are there for laughs and a bit of Avengers nostalgia but the story itself isn't built upon them cap sees Peggy again and it informs his entire character Thor returns to Asgard ok this the wine cellar is just down here my father used to fish in the same reality coalescence Disney is capable of creating massive films that tell interesting stories but it's not revelatory to acknowledge that it's become easier for them to scrape the bottom intertextuality isn't just as I haven't put it Hollywood's new currency its Disney's new game plan of everything that isn't a superhero and actually even the things that are the problem is in the process Disney is losing sight of why people watch their movies in the first place it isn't the moments it isn't a rose petal falling or r2 being uncovered it's the stories it's the journey to those moments that make those moments impactful to make those moments matter and Disney stopped taking the journey seriously maybe it's stop taking the journey altogether and instead has begun chasing the moments it's an attempt at inner text that reads as baseless fanservice in almost every film they've out over the past six or seven years they've forgotten what matters because the moments look great in the trailer and because those moments so great those moments sell the tickets but we've grown up we know these moments too well to be fooled by the moment they're recreating to be tricked into feeling the same way we felt when we first experienced them maybe it's time Disney grows with us [Music] that is a wrap on today's episode of nostalgic if you enjoyed it as always press that like button down below and if you haven't yet done so press subscribe also hit that little bell next to the subscribe button l is just a notification belt just make sure you're actually notified when I upload which is the only real way to know when I've actually put something out and on your screen as always our two more episodes of our installs you can click on either of these to see things I worked on recently or in the past and I will see you in the next one

Channel: Nerdstalgic

Views: 2,415,167

Rating: 4.9142518 out of 5

Keywords: star wars, marvel, disney, star wars rise of skywalker, rise of skywalker, lion king, disney live action, avengers, endgame, disney movies, nerdstalgic

Id: 2RIcKhYpZPc

Length: 9min 17sec (557 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 09 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to /r/saltierthancrait! Please familiarize yourself with this post for the rules and guidelines of this sub before participating. If you are experiencing any problems or have any issues, please use the report function or do not hesitate to contact our moderators directly. Remember, while STC is a community for discussion and critique, it is also peppered with satire. Take what you read here with a grain of... salt. Thank you and May the Force Salt Be With You!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Gagarin1961]

Maybe JJ really did have total control and actually wanted to do these things. But this guy is right about that it does seem in line with what Disney wants. “We know it will upset literally everyone if we remake fucking Star Wars, but we also know that we make a billion dollars retelling the same old stories, so we need you to do both.”

[u/MitsukoFillion]

Lol it’s creepy and weird.