The forced destruction of popular media.
If you haven't heard about the disaster that was Joker 2
have a read of the thread here, it's a hoot. The TL;Dr is that it's fucking crap, to the point where most people assume the movie was a spite movie (
in the vein of a Spite house) people who enjoyed the first. However, it got me thinking about other 'spite' sequels and series and I realised that this happened for a while and I think I know why...
A quick rundown of shows I can think off, off of the top of my head, that had terrible final seasons or penultimate seasons, going against what the characters, universe and tone of the show were going for:
Lost - Went from must-see-TV and weekly viewing, back when we all huddled around the idiotbox as a family, turned into a disaster of plot twists that were so poor that they became a joke. The show in retrospect lost (ironic) its' appeal and died, never to be heard from again.
Dexter - A show enjoyed mainly by crime obsessed women but not without its' charms. Audiences were intrugued by the lead bad guy - Dexter, until the last season where it pisses in the face of fans.
G
ame of Thrones - Winter is coming for seven seasons, the greatest threat to the living, ended quicker than a fight with homeless nomads by a girl who can slowtime-super-feels-bad-arse-action-yeaahhhh an ending.
Alf - Captured by the government and ends up in a lab.
The list goes on: (I browsed the net for these, some I haven't seen)
- X-files
- Sienfeld
- Pretty little liars
- The walking dead
- Medium
- How I met your mother
- Quantum Leap
- Sopranos
- Will and Grace
- Killing Eve
- House of Cards
- Battlestar Gallactica
- My Name is Earl
- And on and on and on
Why then, are these series killed so badly, ended so poorly, that it hurts the show in retrospect? Bad writing? Perhaps. Pissed off actors sick of playing a character? Maybe. Directors who hate their audience? There's a good chance.
My theory? The reason the shows are ruined in retrospect is to stop you watching it again. With all of the Hollywood slop getting worse and worse as the years roll by, why would you subject yourself to shite when the series' mentioned above would give you years' worth of rewatchable entertainment.
Why pay shekels to subscripe to Goyflix or Slopney+ ? You wouldn't need to.
This idea doesn't end at films or TV. Games are delisted and remastered, worse than their original versions. RPG and 'endlessly' replayable single-player games that were once a staple of the industry are pushed aside for autistic lootbox games and forgettable, 'flavour of the month' multiplayer online slop.
If the studios can't stop you from pirating, sharing or buying DVDs cheap at the second=hand tat shop, then they will ruin the series so fucking badly that even thinking of rewatching Game of Thrones kills the concept in the crib.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.