Why Do Movies Feel So Different Now?

In this video I dive into what Metamodernism is and what it looks like in film, and chart how the movies have evolved since their modernist origins.

// Sources
[CC] To see which films I'm referencing, turn on "English (United States) - Movie Titles" under captions. For regular subtitles select "English"

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// Chapters:
00:00 "They Don't Make Them Like That Anymore"
01:00 What Do They Make Them Like Now?
04:46 The Metamodern Era
05:56 Modernism
12:40 Postmodernism
19:22 Metamodernism
27:44 Why Metamodernism?

// Films Referenced:
To see which films I'm referencing displayed in the video, turn on "English (United States) - Movie Titles" under caption settings.
Aftersun (2022)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Avengers Endgame (2019)
As I was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000)
Badlands (1973)
Barton Fink (1991)
Blade Runner The Final Cut (1982)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Babylon (2022)
Bo Burnham Inside (2021)
Bones and All (2022)
Chronicle of a Summer (1961)
Eight and a Half (1963)
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
F For Fake (1973)
Fargo (1996)
Glass Onion (2022)
High Noon (1952)
Joker (2019)
Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
Meeting the Man James Baldwin in Paris (1970)
Mirror (1975)
Modern Times (1936)
Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974)
No Country For Old Men (2007)
Nope (2022)
Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (2019)
Pearl (2021)
Pig (2021)
Persona (1966)
Psycho (1960)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Rushmore (1998)
San Soleil (1983)
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm - Take One (1968)
Synecdoche New York (2008)
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
The Fabelmans (2022)
The French Dispatch (2021)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
The Martian (2015)
The Matrix 4 Resurrections (2022)
The Menu (2022)
The Souvenir (2019)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Top Gun Maverick (2022)
Taxi Driver (1976)
White Noise (2022)

#ThomasFlight #VideoEssay #Metamodernism

[Charsept]

I used to say I miss the "campiness" of 90s movies. But now I'm starting to think what I'm missing is sincerity.
As someone who has enough issues to worry about in my real life, I seek out movies as a form of escapism. And a simple story let's me forget about the chaos for a couple hours.

[vurrunna]

My biggest gripe with modern film and media has always been the growing lack of sincerity. So many writers end up afraid that their audience won't buy in to genuine emotion and sentiment, so they cop out and end any genuine moment with bathos or irony, resulting in a story where it's hard to really attach to anyone. What's worse is that sincerity isn't even a problem for most viewers—rather, it's the way sincerity is expressed, and for what subjects. It's not that we don't want stories that encourage bravery or friendship or kindness; we just want them expressed in a way that matches our current beliefs.

[inklingite]

Here's a thought. I wonder if the reason why metamodernist artists are so obsessed with the postmodern obsession with narrative is that the average artist's art is increasingly informed by their experience of art rather than the 'real world.' By this, I mean that many artists during the modernist period were artists in conjunction with or following experiences as soldiers, lawyers, grocers, construction workers, teachers, mothers/fathers, etc. Whereas the average moviemaker now has probably been interested in and pursuing such a career since they were in high school, meaning that they don't get to experience the real world before they begin to actively pursue art. They grew up consuming media and thus their perception of reality has been dominated by that filter, and less balanced by other experiences of 'real life'. I realize this is an overgeneralization, as is the notion of 'real life', but I wonder whether the angst that pervades artists in part stems from the fact that they're not sure what value their art has, which stems from the fact that they've never done anything else that they can compare it to.
Just a thought...

[myas]

this breakdown of recent movies feels so accurate. everything has a sort of self-aware, self-deprecating undertone, and it feels almost more insincere and self-indulgent than the movies that take themselves seriously. as a young person, i feel a constant desire to prove that i don’t take myself too seriously (because then i am always in in the joke even if it is about myself.) it is a way to subvert criticism: if you point out what is wrong with yourself first, then no one can use it against you. it is the same thing with post modernism and meta-modernism. when directors and writers noticed the public pointing out inconsistencies and cheesiness in movies, they felt the need to make everyone laugh with them at the expense of their personal dignity.

[ken]

"A cynicism that tears everything down and leaves you unable to sincerely engage with anything" feels very, very real today.

[leonardo.diCATio]

How soundtracks have changed is one thing that drives me nuts. Modern movies are afraid of silence, so they CONSTANTLY have to have some song playing. But, sometimes you NEED silence to convey certain emotions.

[jenniferdonaldson]

I just watched the Barbie movie and thought immediately about this video essay that I watched months ago. The Barbie movie is a perfect example of metamodernism.

[Syfonen]

This is what C.S. Lewis had to say about deconstructionism, which is closely tied to post-modernism.

“You cannot go on 'seeing through' things for ever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it. It is good that the window should be transparent, because the street or garden beyond it is opaque. How if you saw through the garden too? It is no use trying to 'see through' first principles. If you see through everything, then everything is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To 'see through' all things is the same as not to see.”

[JonesyTerp]

I will never cease to be amazed by people who are smart enough to fully flesh out ideas that I myself can only "feel." I'm 48 year old. When it came to movies I knew something had changed, something was different, but it was just a feeling. I wasn't smart enough to really pull it together. It was nice to be able to roadmap it.
Small aside: The entire video I was thinking "there is something familiar about this guy". Then it came to me; he's wearing what I knew 25 years ago as Marine Corp Woolly Pully.

[MICHAEL-vych]

I have always considered good movies as ones that take me on a journey. Not necessarily a physical journey as having the characters jumping around from place to place, or even necessarily a mental or spiritual journey, but that feeling that time dilates during the course of the movie. You only spent an hour and a half watching it, but you feel like it took you around the world and back in that short time. That, as opposed to movies that have you sitting there wondering "is this thing EVER going to end?"

[Alice-kurs]

11:42 This is kinda how I felt watching Gran Turismo. I went into the film almost expecting to come out thinking it was bad because I knew the plot was straightforward based on the trailer but they actually did the predictable structure so well and I thought it was amazing. It surprised me that that simplicity can still work nowadays. Helps that the acting was great too.

[FromGroundToMud]

1. Don't talk down to the audience
2. Feelings over ideas
3. "How" is as important as "what" and "why"
4. Be sincere to yourself and to the audience

[markm]

Community is a great example of metamodernism. It's well known for its 'parodies', but it always uses these high concept references and moments to create humour, connection and emotion between the characters. Its a very traditional, warm sitcom that warps and changes to view itself through different lenses.

[willywonka]

Easily the best essay you’ve ever written. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for.

[nikovidya]

You can see this trend outside the arts in people's every day behaviour too. Often when speaking to older people there's a genuity and sincerity that comes across, while speaking to millennials or gen z it's easy to pick up on their self-awareness, irony or at worst anxiety and embarrassment.

[mromutt]

My main takeaway is "So I am not crazy!" lol This video basically puts words to a feeling (that many of us have) that we didn't know how to express or explain.

[arkheavyindutries]

It is like we live in an era of self-doubt, where creators don't feel the confidence to tell stories they want to tell. Perfect originality is a myth. Everything is partially based on something else, one or many things all put together. It is the unique point of view of every individual that brings something new and valuable to the public. The reality is that there are surely an infinte number of stories that are worth telling and filming.
They don't need to be apologetic, sarcastic, referential or self-referential. Sometimes obsessing about trying to be unique cancels all the things you want to talk about in the first place. Yeah, maybe not everybody is interested in your story, but twisting and inserting quirks everywhere is just going to obscure the true story that you want to tell.

[naarealy]

Ultimately, art imitates life imitating art. Our stories have become meta modern because we're searching for glimmers of hope and romanticism in a world that has become increasingly bleak. Modernism is too idealist to be believable, but meta modern allows escapism without denying reality.

[AidenIlkhani]

"I think a big part of why we see this kind of self-reflectivity (in meta-postmodernism) is that viewers and artists feel self-conscious about art that is just passive entertainment".

I think this is the crux of it and not just about the relation between meta and post, but in essence an explanation of how each new "wave of change" to any expressive medium is based on its desire to analyze, deduct and ultimately escape the previous generation that precedes it. Also, it describes the genius of David Lynch.

[NoMuckYou]

The ability to treat this like a short film is great. Being able to incorporate the concepts you’re discussing not just as examples (clips from film) but even more so using them yourself as editing and writing techniques is so great!