Here’s a friendly reminder that, even though the news rn is scary and depressing, the answer should almost never be to “not watch because it makes [me] sad.” If the news upsets you, go out and try to change the world it reports. Ignorance is not bliss. #ignoranceisirresponsible
If your purpose in filmmaking is tied to the manual friction of the old tools, then yes, AI defeats it. To him, prompting skips the part of the process that he's interested in.
But if your purpose is to get the stories out of your head and build a universe, this tech is the ultimate engine.
Who cares? This constant need to critique films as if they are sports, pitting them against one another, is exhausting. Plus, you know, subjectivity. Film discourse on this app is far too fucking binary.
@sargent_jo90037 Buddy, I’m not refusing. You’re not listening.
The OWW being a quick, purchasable fix for problems the results in a dude wishing for a woman to love him rather than risk being vulnerable is so rooted in Gen Z socioeconomic anxiety that you have to be trying not to see it.
Coralie Fargeat is 49-years-old. She isn’t Gen Z.
I’ll grant you "Backrooms" and "Obsession", but "The Substance" has less to say about Gen Z than it has to say older generations of women.
The aesthetics of it are more focused on the becoming-monstrous of beauty standards.
@sargent_jo90037 You’re choosing to ignore the specific way the themes are being explored simply because you’ve seen those themes explored in other ways in previous movies.
@sargent_jo90037 And I’m telling you that it’s predicated on the themes of the movie. The way those themes are explored is key.
The One Wish Willow isn’t a Monkey‘s Paw, because it doesn’t grant wishes at a cost. Bear’s situation is wholly his own making as a result of his fear of vulnerability.
@sargent_jo90037 These are all prominent themes and motifs depicted in these films, almost certainly because the artists have felt these in their day-to-day lives.
@sargent_jo90037 Both artists who crafted these stories are of the gen these fears weigh particularly heavily on.
The post-9/11 generation raised by the internet, taught that vulnerability is cringe-y and that the future is within their grasp, only to inherit an abysmal job market and pandemic.
@sargent_jo90037 I said the exact opposite. Did you read what I said?
I said these fears aren’t new, but the specific approach taken in these films is uniquely filtered through a Gen Z lens.
@sargent_jo90037 "Obsession" - Gen Z's fear of being vulnerable/cringe as a machine that produces quick fixes to complex emotions.
"Backrooms" - Gen Z's striving for a future that is lost.
These are common fears, but how they manifest in these films from Gen Z artists is very particular.
In a world that traps people in constant cycles of striving for a future that has been lost, is there not something desirable about escaping into a world that at least promises more honest chaos?
This is, for me, the kind of horror "Backrooms" (2026) conjures.
Having now seen "Backrooms", yeah this guy is just yapping nonsense.
He’s psychoanalyzed the movie and reduced it down to something more simplistic than what it actually is.
The Backrooms was good but Kane betrays the premise by making it all about "processing trauma".
Its a mark against feature length cinema as an artform when a creator's youtube content can better explore a high concept.
Obsession is for people weaned on narrative storytelling who grade films on a curve of how many plot holes and loose ends they can spot, but Backrooms is for the real dreamers.
if you’re gonna come for my drag at least look at my resume. I’ve been recognized by the National Jewish Plays project multiple times. I’m not a big and fancy playwright but at least my work has something to say.