Hollywood's Cinematic Universe Strategy Destroys Creative Storytelling and Cultural Sub-Creation
Source: https://www.facebook.com/americanspectator/. "Stephen Colbert Was Fired. Now He’s Trying to Ruin Middle-earth. | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics." March 26, 2026. spectator.org
The Gist
The author argues that Hollywood has become creatively bankrupt by constantly making sequels and spin-offs of existing stories instead of creating new ones. She uses Stephen Colbert's upcoming Middle-earth movie as an example of how the film industry prioritizes easy money over genuine storytelling, which she sees as abandoning humanity's natural role as creators.
Conclusion
Hollywood's practice of creating cinematic universes from existing beloved works (like Tolkien's Middle-earth) represents a destructive form of cultural stagnation that abandons true storytelling in favor of financial recycling
Premises
- Hollywood films have become dominated by leftist propaganda and poor storytelling despite commercial failures
- The film industry practices a shallow form of conservatism by endlessly extending franchises for profit rather than creating new stories
- Stephen Colbert's upcoming Middle-earth film with Peter Jackson exemplifies this problematic trend of recycling existing universes
- Cinematic universes are financially motivated shortcuts that reuse existing designs and worlds rather than creating original content
- This practice has caused Hollywood to lose its ability to tell original stories and function as 'sub-creators'
- Sub-creation (original storytelling) is an important aspect of human nature that reflects our similarity to the divine Creator
- Hollywood now merely comments poorly on great tales from wiser predecessors instead of creating new stories
Assumptions
- Original storytelling is inherently more valuable than franchise extensions
- Financial motivations necessarily corrupt artistic integrity
- Tolkien's concept of 'sub-creation' represents a fundamental human calling
- Past storytellers were inherently wiser than contemporary ones
- Audiences would prefer original stories if given better options
- The specific Colbert/Jackson project will necessarily be inferior to original works