My Cake theory, in the laws of diminishing returns in the Pirates of the Carribbean films and other similar franchises

I was watching Jenny Nicholson talking about the pirates movies getting worse and it struck a chord with some of the things that I think about how franchises get worse and it reminded me of my theory that I came up with a while ago that I call the cake theory.

In essence the filmmakers are like a bakery making cakes and for some reason they land on one that is especially popular - it might be that they just made it really well, it might be the spirit of the time, it might be that there is a festival in town but for whatever reason it goes absolutely crazy on sales. So when they come to making a second one, they ask everyone what they really liked about the cake. So they hear that people love the chocolate chips, the icing, and the base. So they think, "ok, well if the previous cake was popular think how popular the next cake will be if we make it entirely of a three times as thick base, with three inches of icing and giant chocolate chips".

This is what the following movies are. They are big thick slabs of references pointing at the things you liked before and telling you to enjoy it. And it's just overwhelming but in comparison to the previous cake that was a very good cake but also perfectly balanced between the sweet bits and the filler, this is just a sickly, unrealistic mess.

"But if we make it in the same volume again, then it'll just be the same cake/movie again!"

Exactly - we don't want to come to your bakery and have the same thing again. We'd just eat the original cake again.

Instead, we come to your bakery because you make interesting cakes. So make a new one, even if it is in the same series, with the same care and attention with the previous but something new - and if you want to reuse elements from the previous, do, but use in moderation and make it work with the overall recipe. We won't be upset that we don't have it in there if the product is good. When I come to your bakery I'm saying "I liked that cake. What else you got?"

Submitted August 01, 2020 at 06:01PM by troutmaskreplica2 https://ift.tt/3fhGwl5