Was thinking about this in relation to this Tweet – and note that my major quibble with it is the use of the words ‘fetishization of,’ rather than ‘pandering to.’ It’s true: Hollywood over-samples young people when making movies, and they’re unlikely to stop. And here, courtesy of the MPAA’s 2014 Theatrical Statistics Study, is why:
To break it down by age: according to those statistics, 52% of the population of the USA/Canada is under the age of 40, but under-40s make up 60% of USA/Canada moviegoers. 12-to-24 year olds make up 18% of the general population, and 34% of moviegoers. There has been a rise in older moviegoers (40+, in this context*) over the last few years, but it’s still a young person’s market.
Now, I don’t know whether this is a self-fulfilling prophecy or just a quirk of the way human brains are wired when it comes to movies. I’m sure that you could make arguments either way. What I do know is that it’s not that hard to get somebody my age to go see a popcorn flick that’s been directed and filmed with younger moviegoers in mind. So I’m pretty much expecting a diet that’s going to be heavily weighted in favor of popcorn flicks. And that diet won’t change much, any time soon.
On the bright side: Arrival looks like it’s going to be a hit, so maybe Hollywood can give more of that kind of flicks a shot.
Moe Lane
*Yeah, I’m not personally thrilled about having to call people above 40 ‘old,’ either.