After every vacation, my friends and I debrief. We go through the agenda: the work we struggled with, the work we have not done, the hours we have slept, the books we have read, and the things we have watched.
In an era where new films and shows are released at a speed faster than light, but shows take years to be renewed, the average student cannot keep up during term. Cue, the vacation!
Between my first and second year I watched TV like there was no tomorrow. Ironically enough, I don’t remember much of the particulars. However, after questioning my friends about what films and shows are emblematic of the 2020s, I came to a clear conclusion: there will be as many answers as people. The responses ranged from Encanto, Spiderman, Top Gun: Maverick, Fantastic Four, Squid Game, Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Wuthering Heights, East of Eden, and more.
Even this small list provides plenty of data for analysis on the values, ideas, and expectations that affect the output of the audiovisual culture and industry. As a history student, I am propelled by a higher power to focus on the conclusion that speaks most to my heart.
The likes of Oppenheimer, Wuthering Heights, East of Eden, Society of the Snow, and Hamnet, regardless if fictional or based on real events, speak to our sense of insecurity regarding the present. The glimpses to the past, regardless if fictional or real, highlight stories that are rooted in a time unknown to most students. 1940s US, 19th Century America, 1950s Uruguay, and 16th Century England will only ever be acquaintances to us.
Recent years have been characterised by a global pandemic, inflation, the rise of the right-wing, financial insecurity, wars – and those are simply the broad strokes. But the aforementioned films and TV shows speak to the insecurity, fear, and anxiety people are experiencing globally. That is not to say that our existence is purely defined along these negative lines; we all still smile, love, and cry of laughter. When we watch Society of the Snow we are reminded of the resilient human spirit, the worth of life, and the value of friendship – personally, I also feel beyond grateful that I have never had to experience a tragedy of such scale. I shan’t spoil too much in the hope that it might encourage people to watch the film.
Similarly, Oppenheimer, which has its controversies, refers to the anxiety felt by the progress of science. The film’s approach to the deadliness of scientific inventions, in this case the atomic bomb, is hardly touched upon. What is most striking is the omission of the victims of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Whilst this criticism of the film stands, this piece of media still prompts people to discuss these issues with a look into how science will affect the outcome of political disputes, which recently – more often than not – has developed into wars or genocides.
In a similar vein, the Spiderman films, The Batman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Sinners further play into our tendency to look to different worlds to find ways to understand our lives. The difference between these two groups is that the latter films are not looking into the past but create a new world of superheroes and mythical creatures, like vampires. The first group, by contrast, allows us to see that our feelings, emotions, reactions, and worries because of our current situation are not unusual. We see some comfort in how our ancestors (or their fictionalised versions) dealt with their contemporary struggles.
On the other hand, films with superheroes are a way in which we cope with such anxieties. Spiderman goes around saving New Yorkers, as do the Fantastic Four, so, in these manifestations of our imagination, we create personas that can save us. I am gravely unfamiliar with the superhero genre, but the few times I have watched these films I find myself wishing that the world did have real superheroes to help people in burning buildings, natural disasters, and from abuses of power (although that may be Robin Hood’s jurisdiction).
Any attempt to try and pin down the tendencies of the audiovisual industry of the 2020s will lead to sweeping generalisations. Everything I have said can be disputed and ripped to shreds. Regardless of that, it can be said that my thoughts on this matter are rooted in my own insecurities surrounding the world’s future. It is undisputable though that one message is clear: art, in all forms, is political. Art and politics cannot be separated, as the former is a medium through which we can express ourselves and communicate with others. Therefore, we should never underestimate any artistic medium.