Day: September 12, 2005

Over the summer I’ve grown kind of tired of hearing about the Hollywood movie slump. Then this fall a survey came out which indicated that the major reason that people aren’t going to the theater is that the movies just don’t interest them enough. Big surprise.

I’ve formed a personal theory about entertainment trends. I think Americans are more interested in long story arcs and character development than they used to be. The movies that were huge sucesses in the past few years were all movies that stood alone, but were also part of a larger story. Lord of the Rings, Spiderman, X-men, Star Wars, I’m sure there are more, but they’ve slipped my mind at the moment. TV has also trended this way. Sit coms with their static characters are not as interesting as dramas with arching storylines. Shows like Lost and 24 take this even farther where each episode is only a fragment of a larger story.

I personally like this trend that I’m seeing. I like seeing characters develop and grow. I like story writing that shifts in response to character growth. It’s one of the reasons I like reading Schlock Mercenary, which incidentally fits right in with this trend.

So, am I seeing something that isn’t there? Are there movies/shows that uphold my theory? Are there movies/shows that disprove it? What do you think?

Link has planned his future. When he grows up he is going to be a gadgeteer and a game maker and a movie maker and a soccer player. He’ll be all these things in rotation, but every fifth week he’ll take a break and just play.

My response to this solemn declaration? “Wow Link, that sounds like fun!”

I just got back from my county health department. Both Gleek and Patches were WAY overdue for immunizations. Gleek got 5 shots and was a very brave little girl about it. Patches, who got 6 shots, screamed and had to be restrained. It took far longer than I expected or wanted it to. I’m an emotional mess because watching my children be injected with possibly harmful liquids does not make me happy.

I wrote in detail about immunizations last year: (http://www.livejournal.com/users/sandratayler/2004/10/07/) I’m too tired to think that coherently today. Today I gave in to health department reasoning and pressure and had both of my little ones given the pertussis vaccination. Apparently incidences of pertussis are on the rise. They also got varicella which is one I’ve never had to deal with before. Whee.