I've been thinking a lot the past few days about how a finished project, or the direction a project is taking, can change so drastically from its original vision. And the heart that is lost in the process.
While it's not a movie, Glee is one of my favorite TV shows and that's what started the ball rolling on this. At least it used to be one of my favorite TV shows. But this second season has not lived up to the first and that makes me sad. It used to be about overcoming adversity, believing in yourself, supporting your friends and following your heart - even when where it leads is a scary place. But it is becoming more and more about high school drama, "I love my boyfriend, but I can't get over you," "you slept with my girlfriend," and on and on. Unfortunately, this is what the "teen" audience seems to want to see, since it's what 90% of the shows are about for this audience. So it makes me think that Glee is selling out to the pressures of the studio and the audience to produce what is popular and not what Ryan Murphy's original plan was.
Of course, this happens all the time. See my earlier post on Twilight and how the movie could never live up to the message and feeling the books portrayed. Someone, somewhere, decided it needed to be all about the romance and sexual tension and everything else was lost.
But at what point does the creative drive and heart of the creator get completely lost? At what point is the product no longer an extension of the writer/director? Is Hollywood simply producing what they think people want to see and creativity be damned?
This is one reason I loved Inception so much. Christopher Nolan dared to step outside of the box and create from his soul. True, it was still an action-packed, adrenaline-inducing ride (what the audience "wants") but he didn't stray from his vision. Then again, he both wrote and directed the film, so he was able to retain more control.
That makes me wonder who makes these decisions and what makes them such experts? There was a great "teen" show on WB years ago called Veronica Mars. It was great because it wasn't just about the shallow, over-dramatic lives of teenagers, it was about a strong, confident, smart girl who tried to solve real-life crimes and supported her friends through crises. The show was cancelled after three seasons. Yet crap like Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson Creek, Degrassi, One Tree Hill.... on and on and on... all run for years!! And their entire premise is high school drama and the depiction of high school in a completely unrealistic way.
Bottom line is this: To me, and I'm sure to millions more like me, I watch a movie or a TV show because of the story, the dynamic and well-developed characters and the message. I want to relate to the characters, I want to put myself into the story and live through them. I want to feel something. The last thing I want is another cookie-cutter story, whether it be about high school drama, vampires, aliens or the end of the world... Just tell me a story, preferably a new one!
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