Bland,for Fans of Everything: What Has the Netflix Algorithm Done to Our Films?

The same as music. Dumb down the genres once they are almost the same: Metal, rock, pop. Tons of cross-polinated chords and riffs, so the genre can be followed by almost anyone. Ditto with the lyrics.

So, Netflix it's doing the same. And Marvel with the comics, where every hero it's just the same but with different weapons.

And the books, too. A good 90% of best sellers are utter crap, really streamlined stories so everyone can follow the plots as if they were cheap soap operas.

In the end, you need to go elsewhere (niche books and media) to find something worth your dollars/euros.

Something it's wrong when some people writting fiction in Gemini (not AI, protocol) both in English and in Spanish can hook you better than any random library.

And don't let me start on AI produced crap from Amazon and Spotify...

Worse yet, watch just ONE kdrama and all I get see kdramas.

It's fascinating that the driving force here was human-driven capitalism enabled by enhanced data collection, and not data-driven decision making at all. It's risk-aversion that's draining art of its artistry, much like the effect of risk-aversion in other industries like defense. Consider how the US department of defense tends to waste money on the same old prime contractors making the same old missiles, while other places like China are utterly devastating us on technologies that radically undermine our advantage that we'd historically considered "too risky" like drones.

I wonder what the next "drones" will be for the entertainment industry? World simulation models like Genie turned into some real-time generated mix of a shared experience of movies and video games?

These days, on the occasion that I ignore my inner voice and watch a Netflix production I seldom enjoy it and frequently dump out of it early. The only solace I have is my tricorne hat and Jolly Roger meaning that at lest I didn't contribute to the film's existence.

> Through the mass production of cultural goods, the culture industry created a situation where individuals were passive consumers rather than active participants in cultural life. This, they argued, led to the homogenization of culture, where difference and critical thinking were stifled in favor of conformity and consensus.

https://journalism.university/media-and-communication-theori...