limitation in modern entertainment
Hi,
These are my personal observations regarding the state of modern entertainment across different angles.
Limitation in art
Popular belief suggests that creativity means freedom, unrestricted and abstract. Something fluid, with no apparent structure. Creativity and art have this kind of openness that is supposed to not be boxed or constrained. However, there are medium that celebrate the limitation like 14 lines in sonnet and 3 lines in haiku which produced thousands of creations and high quality writing. The limitation seems to create a depth in the creations, which allow us to connect and relate with it.
It’s 2025 and we have seen the state of current creations (movies, shows, music, art, entertainment stuff in general). New content is being made every single day and everybody can make it. We have the abundance of entertainment without needing it to be exclusive to television, radio or cinema anymore. Day by day, we can see how overproduce and overconsumption of media changed the creativity and context surrounding creations. AI generated content (mostly slop) are the result of the way we see content; entertaining and fast-paced, while removing the context of why creation exists in the first place.
Creation cost vs sincerity
We have seen the older films, produced with lower budget and more technological constraint compared to decent films nowadays. A big budget film doesn’t mean it will produce a great story. The earlier A24 films have some of the unique stories to tell with way less production cost from the giant studio. We have seen a new trend of remakes, which I assume the studio want to test their new tech in filmmaking but unfortunately, pushing people away from the already well-loved media. Old films (original to the remakes) are loved and adored for generations because of the limitation it has. No one is impressed with CGI or big bad 3D anymore unless it has a compelling storyline. Sincerity is gone when the main agenda is to pump more billions than ever.
Robin Hood, 1973s
A few weeks ago, I watched Robin Hood, an old Disney film made in 1973. 52 years ago, kids’ films were less stimulating and light hearted. It has the same quality of hand painted illustration of bedtime stories. At that time, they didn’t have 3D models or advanced tech to make animated contents easier to produce. Almost everything has its own friction, from animating to painting background scenes, but somehow the art and story lasted for more than 50 years. I’m honestly surprised at how calm the story feels. It didn’t have a distracting sound effect to attract our attention, or overly bright color palette or fast paced song. It has a story to tell and tell it in a way our grandma tells a story with sincerity and patience. Limitation will drive those qualities ahead because they don’t have more cost to surpass for it to be overly profitable.
Limitation in modern entertainment
Back in the day, a DVD store felt like a discovery realm. We can find thousands of obscure, straight to DVD films for date night. We can do the same nowadays with streaming platforms by searching the specific title that is somehow buried under shiny new titles everyday or straight up not available on the platform. The streaming platform is a money machine for big studios. It is easier for them to pump out more series and shows while successfully manage to isolate the said media from the public by having bad search algorithms and poor promotion. In the end, people need to rely on word of mouth to find something they will like.
the good old place
Older shows with physical media tend to have a better legacy because of the ability to reach the public through the third space, like DVD stores, compared to tens of streaming platforms with different price points and region availability. I don’t want to endorse piracy but at this stage, piracy has become a method to archive and expand the availability of the medium. Despite so many licensed platforms available, the emerging piracy websites reflect the current exhaustion of the people. Maybe something is not right despite the convenience.
Limitation in personal creation
I used to be that teenage girl reading fanfiction on Deviantart (out of all places, I know) and it single-handedly made me interested in the English language (not native speaker here). There was something so appealing and charming to engage in fan contents from around the world. There is a running joke about how non-native writers wrote the most gut-wrenching fanfiction ever. We tend to make use of what we have in personal creation. Fan content is a side project born out of passion and love for the medium. Not everyone has a degree in the English language or even speaks the language to write it. Sincerity that flourish despite the limitation is what makes art enjoyable and relatable.
Limitation in consumption of media
Based on worldbank data, internet penetration around the world has reached 70%, which is doubled compared to 10 years ago. Even 20 years ago feels like a different timeline in terms of technological advancement. The acceleration of media consumption is supported by the pandemic, where lockdown and isolation become the way of life for most people especially in big cities. It was a short, 5 years or so, however the effect is what we can see today. People need constant stimulation regardless of what they are doing. An empty mind is deemed unproductive and a waste of time. Go listen to a financial podcast while jogging, or listen to a show with 2x speed while driving. You have to know everything, be involved in as much discourse you can find and have an opinion on everything until at the end of the day, you exhaust your mind while all the information we gathered are fleeting and surface level.
video essays
I envy people that read 10 books a year but they read it deeply and actually engage with the writings, creating deep dive passionately and having a discussion on a small forum with likeminded people. Or someone who watches films and is able to dissect the themes and cinematography, making connections to other resources and again, share their findings. We have seen this a lot via Youtube video essays. It takes a certain kind of dedication and patience to gather this kind of depth while the younger generations have an attention span epidemic.
Conclusion
The medium of entertainment has evolved from a whole building to a smart gadget in our pocket. We are connected to limitless access and constant streams of new content everyday. Because of this, the context behind creations often changed. Why we create and why we care about it? Because it’s a humane things to do. Human find connection through creations. If we allow a generative, robotic platform to imitate how we connect, maybe it’s time to put some limitation in order to pour our attention on a right place.
Note: I wrote this on my substack and decided to share it because I genuinely find this topic interesting to be shared with readers here.