“There is no such thing as a new idea” –Mark Twain
Whenever I read this quote by Mark Twain it bothers me immensely. As a media creator it is like he is belittling me or mocking me in some way as if what I do doesn’t matter anyhow, it has been done before and it will be done in the future. It is much like “All you need is Love” by the Beetles, where “anything you can do that can’t be done.” Both quotes parallel my frustration with the current growing problem in the film industry, postmodernism. The remakes, sequels, prequels, part twos and the trailers that give everything away is the issue. Everything is a representation of a representation (as I learned in film school). We have been ruined by over exposer to elements of movies that we know what we are going to get and continue to ask for the same thing because we like the comfort of the expected. Movies have become tailored for the audience instead of for the artist conforming them into a stock that studios bid on instead of pieces of art.
The first, and only time that I saw The Breakfast Club I hated the predictability of it. I had been so exposed to the same type of movie over and over that I knew exactly what was going to happen and I was given just that. I now realize that it wasn’t The Breakfast Club that was at fault, but all the movies that duplicated the same effect that made The Breakfast Club a hit. Everything was repeated for the sake of money therefore completely hindering me and other children born in the postmodern era of truly appreciating the risks that were associated with breaking the clique system at your school for the sake of a new relationship.
This has created a sort of appreciative handicap that won’t allow for our generation to fully understand and crave great movies. I don’t believe that I am qualified to fight that however, as I too fall victim to this. I am infatuated with postmodernist movies and I can’t say I am known for my love of “artsy” movies, but I believe that postmodernism can be redefined.
It is not that new movies can’t have new ideas it’s that the industry is scared for change. Change involves risk which alas brings resistance. Originality is a part of the human genetic code; it just has to show more in a world becoming dominated by man-made technologies. The point is to not let your work and yourself become replicable. I cannot accept defeat by the words of Mark Twain, giving in would make everything meaningless. Imagine an even more endless procrastination battle between ability and motivation. I don’t want to continue being wrongfully exposed to ideas that are just versions of the original feeling and intent. I hope that I can make my pallet more defined and correct for the sake of growing and leaning as not only a person but as a human. Originality cannot be dead or else I’m out of a job.
