With She-Hulk: Attorney at Law–what feels like the zillionth Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) entry–American television hit an all-time low. As you might expect from a show campy enough to be called She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, it reeks of feminism; the in-your-face, women-are-superior-to men-in-every-way kind of feminism.But even this isn’t the show’s biggest problem.Its biggest problem is that it shouldn’t even exist. It has no reason to exist. Every second of the show’s uncomfortably bad trailer screams of being unnecessary, unwatchable, and forced. Almost as if MCU content is guaranteed to pull in loads of money–regardless of quality.I am not alone to point this out (even the left-leaning Daily Beast hates the show). Nor am I alone in pointing out that Hollywood has inundated the industry with tired, hackneyed cash grabs… just like She-Hulk.Audiences love to gripe that it’s been years since Hollywood had a truly original idea; that the golden age of storytelling is dead. Spinoffs, reboots, and sequels dominate the summer movie cycle. (This summer’s biggest blockbusters included Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World: Dominion, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Lightyear, and, of course, a few MCU flicks–all of which owe their success almost entirely to name recognition.) SEE ALSO: It Isn’t the Government’s Job to Keep Kids Safe on TikTok; It’s the Parents’ Responsibility The small screen suffers from the same unoriginality. She-Hulk is already the fourth MCU television series this year. Other prominent shows, Obi-Wan-Kenobi, Andor, House of the Dragon, and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, are spinoffs of more successful works.Even music today feels more like an industry, less like an inspired art. Today’s hits are cookie-cutter songs mass-produced for Top 40 pop radio.Forgive me for being overly critical of the entertainment industry. It really makes no sense to rail against a business for its incessant stream of cash grabs when we are the ones who turn out our wallets. Every time. Without fail.We faithfully march to the movie theater for every blockbuster hit. We whine that franchises have become dull and uninspired. Yet we watch every entry.When I say American television hit an all-time low, I really mean American culture hit an all-time low. It’s not that She-Hulk is any more debauched than other entertainment. (Morally, Hollywood has done far worse.) It’s the fact that we’re bored enough to watch the show, though it be unnecessary and stale, that proves just how lethargic we’ve become.She-Hulk is the byproduct of a bored society. A society where creators don’t even have to try. Where our most revered artists put a man in a rubber suit, slap an MCU label on his chest, and intoxicate us all. Again and again and again. A society where people are so desperate to watch something, they’ll watch anything. SEE ALSO: Backlash Against Disney Wasn’t Overhyped, Unfortunately. Its “LGBTQ Agenda” is Very Real Meanwhile, entrepreneurship is dead. Creativity is failing. The pioneering spirit that built this great nation from the ground up is a relic of the past. We, as a people, don’t pursue new ideas; we don’t innovate. We consume more than we create… and don’t feel an ounce of shame about it.We’re addicted to our screens, addicted to the bread and circus; powerless to resist the entertainers who spoon-feed us recycled garbage.Don’t get me wrong: I have no quarrel with entertainment itself. Nor is my quarrel with those who entertain us. I only warn against sclerosis, decadence, and a fatal deficiency in innovation–these plagues can cripple even the most affluent nation in no time at all. It’s time to get off the couch. It’s time to create and build and take new risks as if the very future of our static society depended on it. It’s time to shake ourselves out of this stupor and see that the world outside our window is so much bigger than our TV screen.Jakob Fay is a staff writer for the Convention of States Project, a project of Citizens for Self-Governance.
