Marc Andreessen on the State of Film and Hollywood

这段视频讨论围绕着电影的现状和未来展开，认为电影已经取代了神话、传说和小说曾经扮演的文化角色：捕捉、表达和保存一个文明最重要的方面。参与者表达了对好莱坞近期趋势的担忧，这些趋势削弱了这种艺术形式履行这一角色的能力。 谈话强调了自 2019 年以来电影质量和文化相关性的下降，并将其归因于多种因素。首先，流媒体服务的兴起改变了好莱坞的财务格局，通过 DVD 和联合发行等售后销售渠道，成功电影长期盈利的潜力消失，从而降低了制片厂进行创意冒险的动机。 讨论的一个主要焦点是影响好莱坞的文化转变，被定义为“信息”——一种对特定政治和社会意识形态的坚持。发言人描述了这种“信息”，涵盖了各种进步的社会正义主题，如何影响了剧本创作、选角和整体创意决策，导致电影感觉更像是政治宣传而不是艺术。这在好莱坞造成了一种“恐怖统治”，电影制作人害怕偏离公认的叙事，导致内容同质化。 讨论以保罗·托马斯·安德森的电影《一场又一场的战斗》为例，尽管导演才华横溢，但由于影片大量融入了 2022 年的社会和政治氛围，因此感觉过时。尽管这部电影可能获得奥斯卡提名，但它被认为是“发霉的”，与当前的文化时刻脱节。 对电影《埃丁顿》的讨论中出现了一种更为乐观的观点，该片被描述为自《好莱坞往事》以来第一部“大写字母 A 艺术”。这部电影的意义在于它直接涉及了近期事件，如乔治·弗洛伊德骚乱、新冠疫情、社交媒体和“觉醒主义”的兴起，而这些话题是大多数电影所回避的。《埃丁顿》因捕捉了现实世界中真实人物的真实经历而受到赞扬，这是许多近期上映的电影所缺乏的品质。 随后，谈话转向未来，推测好莱坞的“文化狂热”已经结束，一个电影制作人可以进行更多创意冒险的新时代即将开始。这包括制作喜剧，一种因需要避免敏感话题而遭受损失的类型，使得创作出有趣的喜剧变得困难。一个被引用的例子是新的《白头神探》电影，该片因其幽默和缺乏意识形态信息以及其商业上的成功而受到赞扬。 最后，谈话讨论了人工智能对电影制作的潜在影响。虽然好莱坞意识到了人工智能并谨慎地探索它，但存在抵制，尤其是在那些持有强烈社会正义观点的人中间。然而，使用人工智能的经济激励被认为太有吸引力而无法忽视。讨论进一步推测，人工智能将为那些缺乏传统电影制作技能但拥有强烈想法的个人开辟新的创意途径，从而可能使该行业民主化，并导致新的电影表达形式。

The video discussion revolves around the current state and future of film, arguing that movies have taken over the cultural role that myths, legends, and novels once held: capturing, expressing, and preserving the most important aspects of a civilization. The participants express concern that recent trends in Hollywood have diminished the art form's capacity to fulfill this role. The conversation highlights a perceived decline in the quality and cultural relevance of films since 2019, attributing it to multiple factors. Firstly, the rise of streaming services has altered the financial landscape of Hollywood, removing the potential for long-term profits from successful films through aftermarket sales like DVDs and syndication, diminishing the incentive for studios to take creative risks. A major point of discussion is a cultural shift impacting Hollywood, characterized as the "message" – an adherence to specific political and social ideologies. The speaker describes how this "message," encompassing various progressive social justice themes, has influenced screenwriting, casting, and overall creative decisions, leading to films that feel more like political propaganda than art. This has created a "reign of terror" in Hollywood, where filmmakers fear straying from the accepted narrative, leading to a homogenization of content. The discussion explores Paul Thomas Anderson's film "Once Battle After Another" as an example of a film that, despite the director's talent, feels dated because it heavily incorporates the social and political climate of 2022. Despite potentially earning Oscar nominations, the film is considered "musty" and out of sync with the current cultural moment. A more optimistic perspective emerges with a discussion of the film "Eddington," described as the first piece of "capital A art" since "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." The movie's significance lies in its direct engagement with recent events like the George Floyd riots, COVID-19 pandemic, social media, and the rise of "wokeness," topics that most films have avoided. "Eddington" is praised for capturing the authentic experiences of real people in the real world, a quality lacking in many recent releases. The conversation then shifts to the future, speculating that the "cultural fever" in Hollywood has broken, and a new era is beginning where filmmakers can take more creative risks. This includes making comedies, a genre that has suffered due to the need to avoid sensitive topics, making it difficult to be funny. An example cited is the new "Naked Gun" film, praised for its humor and lack of ideological messages, and its commercial success. Finally, the conversation discusses the potential impact of AI on filmmaking. While Hollywood is aware of and cautiously exploring AI, there is resistance, especially among those with strong social justice views. However, the economic incentives of using AI are seen as too compelling to ignore. The discussion goes further to speculate that AI will open new creative avenues for individuals who lack traditional filmmaking skills but possess strong ideas, potentially democratizing the industry and leading to new forms of cinematic expression.