Does Hollywood have writer’s block?
A TV fan laments the lack of story-telling today
Picture it. It’s the late 2000s. You’ve had a long day and you sit down, ready to binge watch your favorite show for a few hours. There are countless options to pick from. 2009 was a beautiful year for TV shows.
You can watch The Vampire Diaries if you’re looking for something mysterious. There’s Glee if you want to see a musical. You can watch Desperate Housewives if you’re a fan of melodrama. There’s Community for my comedy lovers. This is just a handful of the shows that existed during that time, and they’re all TV fan-favourites.
This was an era where the creative juices were flowing. TV producers, show runners, and writers were moving as though their lives depended on their work. As the kids say, “rent was due.”
They had work to do. They showed up, they showed out, and they gave it their all. They gave the best that they could. The same cannot be said for the current time we are living in.
In the age of streaming, it is safe for one to think that they would have many shows to pick from. We have Disney+, Netflix, Crave/HBO Max, and more. Unfortunately, for many of us, this leads to choice overload. I cannot tell you how many times I have sat down for an evening of entertainment, only to spend hours scrolling through Netflix and the multitude of other streaming platforms, and in the end, watched a show I have seen a million times already.
This leads me to the question, are we all just confused? Is Hollywood boring? Or perhaps TikTok has ruined our attention span to the point of no return? Which is it? It might be one of those reasons, or some combination of all of them.
Personally, I think the main issue is the lack of creativity in content. Often times, the shows that get rave reviews, are based on famous books. It is difficult to find an original show that resulted from the minds of a brilliant team of writers.
I believe that AI has a role to play in the death of creativity. We are losing our critical thinking skills and our analytical skills are fleeting. What is the point in using our brains if AI can write for us, think for us, and create for us?
Showrunners in Hollywood need to understand that we want to see original concepts, we want to see fresh faces, and most importantly, we want shows that are warm and comforting. Everything is too dramatic, or too traumatizing. I am not watching a show to be reminded why the world is a dreadful place. I am watching a show because I would like to escape from the doom that is reality.
This might be a good reason why K-dramas have risen to fame over the years. Although there are a large number of sub-genres within South Korean cinema, the vast majority of Korean shows bring some sort of comfort to viewers.
Additionally, as unrealistic as they are, I find the fact that they tend to be slower paced makes them far more realistic. When I find myself watching a Western show, I am immediately thrown into a world of trauma and horrible, cringe-worthy writing.
I don’t understand why we have to watch people, even teenagers, making out and having sex within the first thirty seconds of the first episode. I also find that Western shows add gratuitous nudity that adds nothing to the story. To me it just seems to indicate that Hollywood is running out of ideas, if they have not already run out of ideas.
There seems to be some sort of comfort to be gained from watching older shows. For starters, the concepts are more original. They also focus on a niche aesthetic that just soothes the soul. This is why a show like Gilmore Girls is still loved by many. It has its drama, but it is also a show that is extremely warm and comforting. I find solace in the quiet town of Stars Hollow and its quirky characters.
Everything about Gilmore Girls, from the characters, to the setting, to the writing is original. Its creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, has her own distinct style and aesthetic. You can see this from her other Amazon show, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Gilmore Girls has an original concept. Despite its warmth, it is a show that focuses on the difficulties of mother-daughter relationships the women in the show experience. It does not try to be what it is not. It remains true to its storyline, and this is why it stands the test of time.
The issue with many shows today is that they come across as altruistic, preachy, and fake-deep. They try too hard to relay some sort of message, and this leads to the message actually being lost.
Moreover, they shove traumatic scenes in your face, often with little to no warning at exactly what is on the way. There is nothing wrong with difficult subjects. In fact, they are important to portray. The harsh reality is, many difficult topics in shows are often portrayed with negligence.
There are very few writers and showrunners in Hollywood who are consistent in their writing and story-telling. Ryan Murphy is another phenomenal writer who is known for the iconic hit series American Horror Story. There is also Marc Cherry, the creator of Desperate Housewives, a show I always go back to simply because it focuses on a ‘quiet’ suburban community with its scandalous characters. Despite its flaws, it remains a beautifully written show in my opinion.
From Desperate Housewives, to The Vampire Diaries, to Gossip Girl, older shows will forever remain in our hearts. The comfort they bring to viewers is unmatched. And for this, they will stay in our hearts forever.
XOXO, Gossip Girl.
