I'm watching the Walking Dead season finale right now and from watching all of the previews of new movies and video games it seems like most of the visual entertainment that arises nowadays are either sequels or spinoff series. Now i know that from the podcast that originality is defined by re-inventing ideas from the past, and by that definition sequels and spinoffs are not a crime against originality by any means. Yet, what does this mean for fresher, newer ideas?
Of course while talking about fresh ideas its probably necessary to define what exactly constitutes a fresh idea. I can see why some individuals may see fresh ideas as any idea, but what if I proposed that a fresh idea is not the least amount of past inspiration, but the most amount of past inspiration. When individuals are creating sequels and spinoffs their primary inspiration comes from the world that was already created for them or by them. The rest of the story is of course taken from their own minds creation, which is a whirlpool of ideas gathered from their past. So take out the primary inspiration of the previously created world and what do you have? A complete work of art that is the product of the mind's unparalleled capacity to take the vast experiences of the past and make it into an extraordinarily unique universe.
In my mind it seems like the prevalence of unique universes are fading. Do you think I'm right by saying this? It may be a rash statement since I'm basing most of what I said here from a 90 minute T.V. watching experience and only my own knowledge. However I would like to hear your opinion on what makes a "new idea" and if these are indeed fading.
I think it's really hard to have a "new idea" there are over 7 billion people on this planet, and rising, not counting the generations of people before. So to get a truly new idea that was in no way influenced by previous ideas that these people had is pretty hard. You could argue that The Walking Dead Comic books, which came before the original Walking Dead Series, are not original because there were already books/movies about the zombie genre.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, I think that 100% original ideas are fading. I don't remember the last time I've seen a 100% original idea, but I think there are alot of these original ideas that have yet to gain popularity.
I one-hundred percent agree with all of your points. Now that I think about it I wonder if it is even possible to have a completely new idea. Like you said there are billions of people on this earth each with their own take on ideas.
DeleteIn my opinion, it is almost impossible to form a new idea because everything has already been thought of before, even if its a different variation of the idea. Like Michael Abegg stated, there are over 7 billion people on this planet. It is hard to come up with a completely new idea that hasn't been already thought of before.
ReplyDeleteI think that while the idea that "new ideas" are fading is a newer concept, I don't think it is actually a new practice. In my latest post I explore this a bit more, but ultimately I don't think that the recycling of old ideas is necessarily a new fad or really an issue. All inspiration comes from somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren. I think it is almost impossible to form a new "idea" and the concept of a new idea has never been there. Almost every idea has come from a previous idea, which it builds upon. I have never heard of anything being a completely original idea.
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