{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Let's Appreciate","title":"The Economics of Self-Commodification","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":555,"description":"’ve been really fascinated by nostalgia recently, specifically how it defines culture and therefore the economy (such as the Super Mario Bros movie, Marvel Cinematic Universe, constant reboots, the monetization of familiarity). We love the past.\n\nSusan Sontag’s view on this was that that we engage in a cult of nostalgia allowing us to focus on commemorating the past vs critically engaging with the present. We like to stay in pristine museum walls versus building new things! As Svetlana Boym wrote in the very poignant The Future of Nostalgia -\n\nWhat is crucial is that nostalgia was not merely an expression of local longing, but a result of a new understanding of time and space that made the division into “local” and “universal” possible. The nostalgic creature has internalized this division, but instead of aspiring for the universal and the progressive he looks backward and yearns for the particular.\n\nAnd to be fair, I do think there is a place for nostalgia!\n\nIt’s nice to share the past with people, and memories are the foundation of our personhood. But from an economic perspective, it can get a bit skewed. As Derek Thompson1 points out -\n\nIt's crazy how many different forces in Hollywood are pushing toward infinitely recurring IP loops. Original stories need to shoot the moon with reviews and buzz to have a chance at $100m, while middlingly reviewed renditions of familiar IP throw up $200m w/o breaking a sweat.\n\nIt’s cheaper to be nostalgic!\n\nLess risk, both for the consumer and the movie producer.\nWe operate in a risk minimization bubble with these really big cinematic productions\nBut this can be problematic because these big movies often serve as a cultural anchor, giving us a sense of who we are on a really, really big generalized scale (I don’t personally align with these movies, I am sure many others don’t but I am generalizing). And when the anchor is floating in a sea of endless iterations of the past, how can we imagine anything different as a...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/9L7Z8eLaXgIxTTm8CtFGqspOjKgR503kPd8-Dl8TwDw/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzQ2NDQxLzE2OTg2/NzU2NzAtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}