Hey, guys.

Thought you might enjoy this article. Thoughts?

https://fee.org/articles/are-moviemakers-pandering-too-much-to-fans/

His essential argument comes down to an economic one. Movie making by focus group research to determine how much fanservice is required is a hollow way to make movies. Were movies not so expensive to make and so set on reaching a billion dollars of box office we might see less of the sort of fan service this author is lauding and that critics deride.

The first concern of making a piece of art should be making a good piece of art. Now with movies the only concern is making money. The studios don't care any more if their films are good. They care simply that we see them.

You are correct. But as a filmmaker, you have to decide what you're trying to produce. Are you creating a primarily artistic piece, or are you providing entertainment. I feel like the article is trying to say that there is room for both.

Entertaining and artistic are not mutually exclusive nor are they mutually inclusive. While the article does have an interesting point about IP laws being in need of a revamp there is a lot of "fanservice is okay because it sells" in there that rings as hollow as fanservice can. For every movie that walks that razor edge of putting "organic" fanservice in (serves the story, doesn't drag the story down or overwhelm it, doesn't bloat the story) there is one that is just crushed by the weight of everything they try to jam in (I'd point to Spider-man 3 and Green Lantern for examples of this.)

I tend to think Rogue One and TFA are movies unfairly lauded because audiences are distracted by their fan service.