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Notes -
Obviously 3, but I wouldn’t express it in terms of corruption or selling out. It’s the totalitarian politicization of everything. Most critics afaict now believe their role is to judge movies for their supposed effects on society, not technical skill or the viewer’s personal enjoyment.
They’re not really reviews in the old sense, more like the stamp of a political commissar, similar to those advisory ratings for christian parents that simply subtract points for any cursing, kissing and not doing homework. Only the checklist goes: Are DEI casting goals achieved, oppressed classes portrayed positively, does it raise awareness of important political issues, do the oppressors get their comeuppance, etc.
A parallel with advertisement that may explain the woke capitalism phenomenom is the trend towards extreme identification of the consumer with his product. As Ed Norton says, ‘what kind of dining set defines me as a person?’. You can’t just like a good movie artia gratis, it’s serious business now, your self-image, and with it, the world, depend on it.
If you can manipulate people into defining themselves by their consumption choices, you get very motivated and loyal consumers. Similarly, you want your voters to be invested in your ideology with every fiber or their being, no decision too small to be left to personal quirks.
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