Weekly Writing Challenge #1:

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In recent decades, the film industry has undergone a dramatic shift and fallen from the heights that it once soared. As the industry has grown larger and larger, films have become more and more profitable. Hollywood routinely spits out millionsto make a film with the sole intention of earning billions. The majority of the time, the intentions of these corporate fat-cats are completely transparent, and they will gladly dish out millions of dollars on big names and flashy CGI that assaults the senses, because this is the winning formula that continues to earn them money. To date, the most expensive film ever made was Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, costing a whopping $379 million. The fourth installment in the series, it went on to make an estimated $1.04 billion despite its abysmal rating of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. Although the film probably hasn’t been spoken of since it was released in 2011, the sweet smell of that $1 billion lingered in the air long enough for executives to churn out the even worse Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge a whole 6 years later. The film performed even worse than its predecessors and failed to hit the $1 billion mark, making only $794.9 million at the box office. Most people would be quite content making such a profit, but once Disney had hit $1 billion with their previous installment, they wouldn’t settle for anything less. This franchise is just one of dozens that will continue to beat a long-dead horse just to squeeze out the last few drops of cash before moving on to their next operation. This is quite worrying, as it shows that Hollywood execs really couldn’t care less about whether their films have any merit, as long as they make money. This leads to a gross over-saturation of mediocre, formulaic movies that tread all over genuine films made by talented visionaries and steals the recognition from them that they deserve. 

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Imagine this: It’s a brisk Friday night. You just got off work and are heading to the theatre with a couple friends to see the infamously horrendous Cats. The pimple-faced sixteen-year-old at the counter gives you a look of shame and disgust as he hands you your ticket. You get in line to buy some snacks, the stench of butter flavour stinging your nostrils. As you sit down in your seat, popcorn in hand, a troublesome thought snakes its way into your mind. Did I really just pay $16 for this? You try to justify it to yourself. At least I can laugh at how bad it is, right? And then the guilt sinks in like a lead balloon with the realization that you have just directly supported this monstrosity. After two excruciating hours, the curtains close and the lights come on. As you leave the theatre with your friends, a homeless man on the corner asks you for some spare change. You wish you could give him some, but you’ve just gone and spent everything you had on the ticket. Was it worth it?