The folks at Ankler are discussing the Barbie/Oppenheimer pair, observing that it breaks out of the Tech Tyrant model and restores the old Hollywood way of working. Rushfield notes that the techies were trying to create algorithmic certainty by running endless remakes of reliable ‘brands’. Entertainment doesn’t work that way.
Semiquoting:
We’re SHOW people. We do big crazy unexpected things. You can’t predict it. You can make an educated guess. There’s no shortcut. You have to MAKE THE MOVIE and let the audience decide. The more at-bats you have, and the more different things you’re willing to try, the better chance of succeeding.
Reminded me of a remarkably similar quote from the old Hollywood. Louella Parsons interviewing John Wayne in 1951.
Well, Louella, we all know there’s a great deal of luck attached to this industry. You can’t hit a home run every time at bat, but I can assure you that as long as they keep putting me in pictures, they’ll be getting my best effort.
Incidentally, Wayne and Louella spent a considerable part of that interview keeping Lady Edgar off their backs by shouting the required verbatim anti-communist slogans. Unlike Henry Wallace, they understood that you have to pacify satanic tyrants if you want to get your job done. Martyrdom is worse than useless. You will NOT be remembered as a hero. Your destruction will HELP the tyrant.
Polistra's Mill 