Two characters resolving their differences rationally… you don’t see that in the movies because it’s not exciting. It’s more exciting to watch superpowered individuals scream at each other, yell, bash each other mercilessly, destroy millions of dollars worth of property, explode things, yell some more, fight some more, destroy more stuff… THEN after about a billion dollars worth of CGI destruction, figure out they can team up and work together to save the day. Sometimes. Or they just stay enemies and promise more destruction in the sequel.

It’s not just superhero flicks. We see characters behaving like this in just about every hit movie. Yelling and fighting as the first resort, the first, best way to resolve differences. Childish behavior is more entertaining than adult behavior.

That’s our entertainment. That’s what we watch. We flock to the theaters and our streaming services for these scenes. We make movie studios, which give us an endless diet of this, rich.

Now… look at the culture we live in. I don’t know if our culture reflects back into our entertainment or the other way around. I suspect it’s a mixture of both. Either way, it’s not a positive trend for society.

I’ve got nothing against superhero flicks. They can be very well done. I just miss seeing rationality & calm being shown as things to aspire to. But that doesn’t put asses in the theater seats these days.

I also miss heroes who want to do the right thing just because it’s the right thing to do. It’s so rare when we get them nowadays (I’m looking at you, James Holden). But we’ve fallen too much in love with anti-heroes, and we cheer them when they hurt others. I loved Breaking Bad as much as the next fan, but I’d like to see more characters from the other side of the hero street. I think it would do us some good.

Here’s a video from Critical Drinker that touches on what I’m saying. I don’t agree with every point, but on the idea that everyone acts like children in modern movies, he nails it.