Hollywood is in a weird place right now, to be sure. In 2015 alone we’ve seen reboots, remakes, or sequels of "Jurassic Park," "Mad Max," "Jem and Holograms," "Poltergeist," and "National Lampoon’s Vacation."

It’s a conflicting time for us Chevy Chase fans.

Of course, it’s not just cinema that’s getting all the love. Heaven knows there have been plenty of video game reboots as well. Some of these reboots have been met with considerable success, like the 2013 remake of "Tomb Raider." Others haven’t been quite so pleasant for us consumers.

Using microtransactions to kill both your childhood and your wallet.

This isn’t anything new. Mass-media has been cranking out rehashes of old properties for over a decade now. Still, it’s hard to shake the feeling that these remade properties are more profitable than ever. After all, "Jurassic World" topped one billion dollars in under two weeks.

With the upcoming release of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and the recent release of the much anticipated "Fallout 4," it seems like a good idea to take step back and look at the industry trend of franchises.

First of all, let me remind you that big budget franchises aren’t new. Sequels, at least as we know them, are a product of the “New Hollywood” of the 1970s. Long story short, Hollywood realized it was easier to hype a film up than to simply to ship a film out to theaters and cross its fingers. Well, the whole hype-train thing really caught on and movie trailers became a big deal while "Jaws" got seventy sequels.

“We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

I’d also wager that the internet played a role in this. While nostalgia has always been a powerful factor in media, the internet gives people a medium to express their enthusiasm for the intellectual properties of their youth. So, instead of simply building a shrine to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you can just go to an imageboard or Tumblr to share your love of the pizza-swilling reptiles.

Just, uh, maybe not these pizza-swilling reptiles.

Finally, let’s really consider who’s making these properties. Think about it this way. Let’s pretend that some kid back in the nineties played a little RPG called "Earthbound," and he liked its humor, story, and ominous tone. Twenty years go by and this little boy grows up to be a game developer. Lo and behold, his game is reminiscent of "Earthbound." Is this a coincidence? It's probably not.

In all fairness, I pretty much described the development cycle of "Undertale." Which you should go play, incidentally.

I’ll put it this way: kids who grew up playing video games and watching films are now old enough to make video games and films themselves. Even if they don’t work on the properties that they loved when they were young these adults are going to put out products that are reminiscent of the things that they used to find cool. How many crew members of "Jurassic World" do you think grew up watching "Jurassic Park?"

The thing is that studios realize that, not only there a safe market for these old properties, but, usually, there’s enough people who were passionate enough about the original to put out a decent film.

Oh, but wait, it gets better. See, the process is cyclical. Once a franchise is reestablished, you can repeat the process. Think back to "Star Wars." Enough people were passionate about the originals that George Lucas and 20th Century Fox were able to put together a new trilogy over twenty years later. Even better? Disney’s doing basically the same thing again.

Now, none of this is to say that reboots and sequels are bad. I mean, remember how awesome "Mad Max: Fury Road" was? We just need to realize that there’s a risk here that studios will put out lower quality products if there is an guaranteed audience. So here’s some basic advice, you can appreciate these old properties without getting caught up in the hype engine of the new films. At the end of the day I’m in the same boat as you. I’m going to go see "The Force Awakens" when it releases and I certainly play my share of video games sequels. But new entries in a series don't devalue the older works and they shouldn't distract us from new IPs.

Like "Undertale!" Did I mention "Undertale?"

On that note, let’s cross our fingers and hope that the new "Star Wars" is a good film on its own terms. May the force be with you.