By Sean Harris ’11
THE ROUNDUP

Hollywood is constantly evolving.

Whether it is something as superficial as better special effects or much more ground breaking with creative new minds coming into the movie scene, every generation of film has their own unique style.

The question is what is the current generation of film defined as.

To look forward,  it’s necessary to look back to the years of the first blockbusters. Films like “Star Wars,” “Jaws” and “Indiana Jones” were revolutionary movies, capturing the imaginations of their audiences.

Blockbusters have gradually become bigger and bigger, and going hand and hand with that, are better special effects.

Coming into the current generation of film, the geeks have won Hollywood. Comic books are constantly being adapted, and the budgets for blockbusters have never been larger.

These massive budgets make studios antsy to take risks on anything new. This is the reason that there are so many reboots and remakes recently.

Having a distinguishable name like “Transformers” makes the people much more interested than something original and fresh.

Attracting this general audience also means that the story will probably be something generic, since the studios want to make the most possible money. Taking risks scares potential audiences.

Movies can’t afford to take their time anymore. They have to leave the viewers satisfied and entertained with all the flash of a fireworks show. They can’t afford to be subtle.

And if it’s not a marketable object, it’s usually a marketable name. A movie like “Inception” that has a name like Christopher Nolan behind it is still original and marketable.

I’m not saying that all marketable movies are bad. But it’s sad to think that Hollywood has just become a machine churning out the same formula time and time again.

If this generation of film is defined by anything, it’s defined by marketability.