I just ran across the Critical Drinker's series of youtube videos on "Why Modern Movies Suck," and especially the one entitled, "They're Written by Children." Fascinating comparisons of how things like emotional loss and command relationships are conveyed in early Star Trek movies as compared to more recent examples. I don't think I can communicate that in writing -- you have to see it. But, I was fascinated when he got to his reasons for "why" this is happening. I don't agree with all of them. For example, one was basically that making movies is expensive and you have to appeal to the widest possible audience. I don't think that's substantially more true today than it was in the 1990s or even the 1940s. But, he then goes on to say:
I've said before that a character is only ever as smart, capable, and resourceful as the person writing them. And, well, you don't need me to tell you that Hollywood creatives these days aren't exactly paragons of tough, stoic, confident self-reliance. They're the kind of people who consider mean tweets to be on par with mass murder. In fact most of them have lived the kind of safe, comfortable, sheltered lives that previous generations could only dream of, never experiencing anything even resembling hardship, adversity, or danger: the kind of stuff that actually builds character, self-confidence, life experience, and generally makes you a more interesting, capable person.
A commenter to that video adds this:
I think part of this ultimately comes down to the life experiences and history of the individuals actually writing the story. Since you mentioned Star Trek, let's look at Gene Roddenberry for example… this is a guy who flew 89 combat missions during WW2 and worked as a commercial pilot after the war. He later joined the LAPD and eventually got involved in the entertainment industry after becoming a liaison on shows like Dragnet. My point is that all of these life experiences fed into his ideas and inspirations when it came to Star Trek (as well as more traditional inspirations such as other works of fiction like John Carter of Mars and Tarzan).
Now compare this to people like Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci who co-wrote both of the JJ Abrams-directed Star Trek movies. The two of them met in high school, and after university went straight into writing for syndicated television, which eventually led to progressively bigger and more high-profile gigs.
My reason for making this comparison is: what inspiration did the latter duo have to draw from when writing THEIR Star Trek? The answer is nothing except for previous Star Trek (and other sci-fi movies). That's why Star Trek into Darkness was such an inept, lacklustre rehash of Wrath of Khan, because Kurtzman and Orci remember watching that movie as kids, and have fond memories of it, but have nothing new or original to actually bring to the table.
In other words, "Modern movies suck because the people making them don't have anything worthwhile to say, and they don't have anything to say because they haven't really lived." Some of the commenters suggest that life experience can be gained vicariously, possibly by reading biographies, and I suppose that's true. But, I know in my own case, the lessons etched on my soul by experience may be illuminated and explicated by what I've read of the experiences of others, but they are the lessons I really know.
Anyway, it's a fascinating video, and I highly recommend the 15 minutes or so it takes to watch it.
