BigBlackSea
All Star
The weirdest aspect to me is the way viewers have been turned into corporate shills for Disney. On some level it reminds me of when 50 Cent was talking about soundscans and sales nonstop. Then there's this weird identity based aspect where any criticism results in you being accused of dismissing the voices of marginalized and minority creatives. We're literally watching a robot adopt and appropriate social justice language in order to sell you braindead, artless children movies.
???
Corporations caught on (or have always known) is the way to secure the dollars is through hearts and minds. I don't know the cause of it, frankly, just that we are in a generation of stunted individual.
Like everyone needs a parental figure to latch onto and stan, and opportunists use that to their advantage. It's so common to see people have parasocial relationships with Twitch streamers, stan their workplace as a family unit, and go hard in the paint for their "team" e.g. Disney adults fanboying for the brand, grown ass men worshipping Iron Man. Maybe it's just the times we live in. Financial insecurity seems to be the hallmark of the times, with many wanting to regress to a time where Mom and Dad had to shoulder the burdens of life, which provided many with a shield of ignorance to the worries of independent living.
IDK, someone smarter can probably word it better than me.