Disney World's "Private City" Canceled?, Millennials/Gen Z Break Up with Instagram, The Real Reason for the Netflix Demise (The Five for 04/22/22)
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It’s Friday, so let’s dive into Culture & Commentary.
[one]
Kicking off with a couple of related stories of the traditional stances of political parties flipping.
The first is that the state legislature in Florida voted to remove Disney World’s “private city” status.
The bill passed by the legislature on Thursday would eliminate the Reedy Creek Improvement District, as the 55-year-old Disney government is known, as well as a handful of other similar districts by June 2023. The measure does allow for the districts to be reestablished, leaving an avenue to renegotiate its future. The bill now moves to DeSantis’ office to be signed into law.
The move comes as a response to Disney’s opposition to the much talked about Parental Rights in Education law.
This is a flip, because the political left is supporting Disney’s right to maintain a private city, while the Republican Party is dismantling it.
Normally, the idea of a private city would be a small government/libertarian idea.
One final note on that…Disney has a private jail. Again, that sounds like abolishing Disney’s local power in Florida lines up more with the policies of the political left (like abolishing private prisons) but that's not what we're seeing.
Elsewhere, Tucker Carlson, the #1 rated cable news host, interviewed Amazon Union leader Christian Smalls this week, showing support for unionization.
This comes in start contrast to far left freshman Rep AOC, who blew off an appearance for the union efforts, even though some of the workers live in her New York district.
Amazon workers at the Staten Island warehouse voted this month to become the web giant’s first unionized US workers.
The vote was 2,654 in favor and 2,131 against unionization, according to National Labor Relations Board officials.
Carlson said it was odd for Amazon to be disputing the vote to unionize given that the company has sought to put on a progressive face.
“I certainly am rooting for you,” Carlson told Smalls.
Smalls has proven himself to be an adept spokesperson who stays on the workers rights message and tends to stay away from partisan trappings.
That didn’t stop Andrew Sullivan of left-wing watchdog group from criticizing smalls for talking to the Fox News Host.
So, Media Matters wants Americans to support unionization…just not Americans they disagree with?
It’s an odd flex, considering Republican Senator Marco Rubio has been moving towards a pro-union position in the last year, and policies with bi-partisan support are more likely to become reality.
One one hand, I want to call these incidents outliers. Carlson is much more of a populist than most on the political right.
And the Disney “private city” issue, removed from the political weight of the Parental Rights in Education Act, would be normally be condemned by the political left.
But on the other, maybe these aren’t “outlier” moments…maybe these are just glimpses of early adopter behavior.
After all, the two main political parties have switched sides before.
[two]
Can’t say I saw this one coming. Young people are bailing on social media in droves.
Gen Z is social distancing — from social media.
Zoomers are known for being glued to their phones, but some twenty-somethings are taking a stand against all-consuming apps such as TikTok and Instagram. Calling them “toxic” and “obsessive,” these young people say they’re regaining control of their time by stepping away from the scroll.
And the anti-app wave seems to be catching on — new research reveals that Instagram is losing its grip on the next generation. According to a recent survey commissioned by investment bank Piper Sandler, only 22% of respondents between the ages of 7 and 22 named Meta’s popular photo-sharing platform as their favorite app, down from 31% in spring 2020.
“When you delete it you realize you don’t need it,” 20-year-old Gabriella Steinerman told The Post. The economics major dumped both Instagram and TikTok back in 2019, and said the relief she felt after unplugging was almost immediate.
And that’s not all young people are quitting…
[three]
And speaking of things Millennial and Gen Z are dumping, add “conventional retirement accounts” to the list.
The Daily Wire reports:
The 2022 Investopedia Financial Literacy Survey asked over 4,000 American adults in the Gen Z, Millennial, Generation X, and Baby Boomer generations about their saving, investing, and taxpaying habits. Among other findings, the investment dictionary revealed that 28% of Millennials — those between the ages of 26 and 41 — expect to use cryptocurrencies to support themselves in their latter years. Nearly 20% of Gen Z — those between 18 and 25 years old — said the same.
Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X also foresee their cryptocurrency assets yielding stronger returns than their holdings in stocks, real estate, or mutual funds.
“For younger investors, cryptocurrency is clearly not just a fun asset to trade in order to make fast money,” Investopedia editor-in-chief Caleb Silver explained. “They are depending on generating returns from cryptocurrency to build wealth and fund their retirement, which is concerning given the lack of education around investing in crypto, and the fact it is still not regulated by the industry.”
“Concerning given the lack of education about investing in crypto.”
Know what else there’s a lack of education around?
Public school and colleges completely skipped over the inflation that’s robbing the working class of savings and any forward progress.
I’m not the first one to notice this…but a good way to understand how much inflation has hit the working class is to look at The Simpsons.
When the show debuted in 1987, it was possible for a family of four to make it on a single blue collar income, own a home and two cars.
But as money has become softer, that reality died.
I don’t speak for all Millennials…but from what I’ve observed, many of my peers have looked at the current system and decided “what do we have to lose?” by investing in crypto as a long term play.
[four]
There’s been no shortage of online chatter about Netflix losing 200,000 subscribers.
Alleged reasons for the downturn include “get woke go broke” to blaming password sharing.
The truth is much more simple and straight foward…there are just more good streaming services to choose from.
Variety reports:
How much wider can people open their pocketbooks and wallets for streaming? Penetration of subscription video-on-demand services stood at 81.4% in the first quarter of 2022, according to Kantar, compared with 81.6% in the last quarter of 2021. Ad-supported streaming services continue to grow, according to the market-research firm, but that too is slowing. Penetration of ad-supported services stood at 25.3% in the first quarter, compared with 24.4% at the end of last year.
Simply put, the nation’s leading streamers may have reached an intriguing new phase: maturity. “We are seeing growth in new subscriptions at new services like Peacock and Paramount+ versus the more established services of Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ and Amazon,” says media analyst Michael Nathanson in a Wednesday-morning research note.
Observations:
A. Cost isn’t really a factor here (some streaming services are as little as $5/month), so the fact that the number of people using streaming services isn’t increasing means…the remaining 20% of Americans probably won’t ever use streaming TV. There are still some people who prefer traditional cable/broadcast TV.
B. Outside of Stranger Things (which has been on hiatus for 3 years and returns in May), Netflix hasn’t managed to land a cultural hit at the level of Game of Thrones or Yellowstone.
C. It’s entirely possible that the Cuties controversy and shows like He’s Expecting dropped the subscriber base, as both shows are two examples of entertainment no one asked for.* When a streaming network makes shows people don’t care about, they burn cash and fail to attract new subscribers. We
*except pedophiles, in the case of the former. Cue woodchipper sound.
[five]
The last time childhood besties Ben Affleck and Matt Damon wrote and acted in a movie together, the result was the Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting.
A quarter century later, the pair are teaming up as an acting/writing team again for a movie about Air Jordan sneakers, in which Nike pulled off the long shot of signing Michael Jordan and became one of the biggest athletic and fashion companies in the world.
Affleck, who won best picture for Argo, is filling the director’s chair.
No timetable on when this will be filmed, but it can’t get here soon enough.
Colson Baker (aka rapper turned punk rock star Machine Gun Kelly, who is almost single-handedly bringing rock music back to the pop charts) is starring in a movie with comedian/SNL Cast Member/Mr. Kim Kardashian Pete Davidson and rapper Mod Sun.
The whole thing feels like a Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up) movie, and I personally hate stoner comedy…but the projecte is noteworthy due to the sustained output of MGK, who could become this generation’s biggest star. MGK and Mod Sun also wrote and directed Good Mourning.
I’m going to be sitting this one out, but it’s too big not to acknowledge.
First trailer here.
The trailer dropped for the next big Marvel movie, Thor Love and Thunder. For this outing, Natalie Portman (Black Swan, V for Vendetta) will apparently move from token girlfriend to superhero in this one. Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, The Fighter) and Russell Crowe (Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind) are also joining the MCU with this movie.
In theaters July 8th. First trailer here.
The Harry Potter craze appears to be ending, as the latest in the franchise, The Secretes of Dumbledore, opened this weekend with just $43 million at the box office, less than 10% of the take from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2.
Secrets is the third in a five-film prequel franchise, although those plans may be quickly changing after such poor box office performance.
Apparently a studio head said “give me something like Yellowstone meets Reacher with a dash of X-Files thrown in” and the Dark Winds TV series was born.
Set in the Navajo Nation in the Western US, the series follows two Reservation detectives hunting for a murderer over a vast swath of land.
The series is clearly veering away from the neo-western that’s becoming popular, as it’s executive produced by George R. R. Martin. Expect aliens. Or the supernatural. Or…something.
First trailer here. On AMC/AMC+ starting June 12th.
This one is getting the coveted Sunday night time slot, which means the network is betting big it will get a hit.
My favorite show of 2022 (so far), Reacher, will film seasons 2 and 3 back-to-back, at least according to rumor, due to lead actor Alan Ritchson’s busy schedule. If you haven’t watched season 1 yet, check it on Amazon Prime Video.
Two new images dropped from Amazon Prime’s upcoming Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power TV show, and they look notably less CGI than the trailer, which was heavily panned by fans.
The prequel, based on the writing of JRR Tolkein, will debut on September 2nd, with eight episodes in the first season.
If you somehow missed the first (very CGI) heavy trailer that debuted during the Super Bowl…here you go.
Looks like Spotify isn’t renewing their podcast deal with former President Obama. The 44th POTUS’ joint podcast with music legend Bruce Springsteen was a notorious bomb (and almost certainly a very expensive failure for the company).
NEW MUSIC: Pusha T has a new single that feels pretty buzzy for the legendary rapper’s legion of fans.
Oklahoma country/Americana artist Zach Bryan released another song off his forthcoming 34 song album (you read that right).
The Wonder Years, who dominated the evolving pop punk scene throughout the 2010’s, return with another offering that shows how strong songwriting has kept the band relevant fore more than a decade.
Until the next one,
-sth