Art and Culture # 83
The Cult of Chasing Trends
-For the Uncensored!
It’s hard to remember a time when friends, peer, and the media were all chasing a trend to help people find that next subject or movie to help people find what they want. Movie studios will look at what people like and then try to set the trends. If you ever had a pog collection, don’t worry, I did too. Commercials used to appeal to everyday people. Top directors, like Ridley Scott, Michael Bay, and Zach Snyder all started their careers in commercials. Commercials used to make trends. Ridley Scott’s first big break was directing the epic commercial for the Apple II, which was about a 1984 scenario being interrupted by a woman in gym leggings, twirling a computer into the big gray television screen.
Trends are important to culture. Trends help people have a common ground. Trends helped create long lasting legacy media, as Star Wars did for the 1970’s until 2016. Studios, movie and game alike, often follow trends from Asia, too. Mangas, in 2022, dominate the Barnes and Noble section, are so massive they dominate where the movies and films used to be. And Mangas are important to a visual readers who want more than just traditional American comics. All of these are good qualities that can come out of trends. Without Elden Ring, From Software’s 2022, epic smash hit, sold over 12 million copies, creating new fans out of the much respected and fear, Souls like, games.
When Paris Hilton was seen eating a Carl Jr.’s burger, it blew up the Internet. It meant that if you had a big supporter, you could do anything in a commercial. But unfortunately trends do have their downsides. The Apple II commercial was so riddled with cost, and the board did not appreciate the lack of focus Ridley Scott brought to the Apple II trailer. The Disney Star Wars Trilogy was so tone deaf that it wanted to be a Dune clone, removing itself from the material George Lucas and the fan fiction writers brought to it. And From Software’s Elden Ring, when it sold 12 million copies, was tweaked at the end, lowering the power of the summons characters, and erasing whole playthroughs on the patch updates.
What is the outcome of trends? It’s that many millennials won’t create their own trends or make the effort to create a trend that they created. If setting the trend was the job of the media, social media is now the wild west, where people can create whole careers out of their own brand, and set their own audience expectation.
If the trend of middle class social media artists, a work schedule can be pointless, because if you know your audience, you’re always working toward the same goal. But trends, for anyone, requires vision, and taking out loans, too. But also doing other requirements. Making friends with other writers, drawers, youtubers, and being an unexpected entrepreneur. Getting business cards. Setting up interviews with other podcasters. Doing the hard work of what a team could and should be able to do. You can hire people to help out in any department you don’t feel comfortable or don’t have the right skill set. But who really wants to remember a trend like the fidget spinner, or they cringe when they think about the ice bucket challenge?
-Louis Bruno is the author of more than 19 books, including, The Michael Project, The Michael Project: Book 2: The Lost Children of Eve, Thy Kingdom Come, The Disintegrating Bloodline Part 2: Chaos, The Data Chase, The Disintegrating Bloodline part 3: Solvè, The Disintegrating Bloodline (and the original text re-released in 2019), Apocalypse Soldier, The Data Chase, Selection: The First Book of the Life and Death Saga, and Blinking Eyes: The Second Book of the Life and Death Saga, Hierarchy of Dwindling Sheep, The City of Sand, The God of Curiosity, To the Moon and Back, The Villain Lives and The Villain Lives: The Divided Pinpoint, Come Home, Young One. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English from University of Phoenix. His books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu. He can be found on Gab, https://gab.com/thereallouistbruno, Minds https://www.minds.com/lbruno8063/. Instagram @lbrruno8063 and @louisbrunoofficialbook. Our Freedom Book https://www.ourfreedombook.com/thereallouistbruno17. Twitter: https://twitter.com/LouisBr88881650. He has written for the Intellectual Conservative and Ephemere. His newest book, The Voices Are Alive is out now: https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/louis-bruno/the-voices-are-alive/hardcover/product-mvggdg.html?page=1&pageSize=4. Also, if you can’t subscribe so that you can get members only content, please be sure to share the articles, as well. If you do Subscribe and pay, as well so you can get my articles in your inbox every time, and access to the paid articles that some readers won’t get to see. If that doesn’t tickle your pickle, I am also selling merch from t spring, if you want to help support me in other ways. I sell hoodies, shirts, phone cases, and trying to find something there loved ones would like. Link is here: https://thereallouistbruno.creator-spring.com/listing/too-many-strings-not-enough. https://thereallouistbruno.creator-spring.com/listing/duck-fuckery. Every little bit helps in the war against Big Tech. Thanks for reading.