Broadway is all but dead. Television ratings continue to decline. Fantasy literature is increasingly indistinguishable from camp parody. University degrees cost more and are worth less than ever before. But since I generally despise Hollywood and the trivial medium of film, I can only regard the news that women now make up the majority of moviegoers and ticket buyers as great news.
Yes, folks — women go to the movies more than men do…. Another line that I want to bury for good is that young men go to the movies more than anyone else. That’s just bullshit. Younger men don’t go to the movies more than younger women. Younger people in general go to the movies more, but based on the MPAA numbers of frequent moviegoers (ones who go more than once a month) in the coveted demographic of 18-24, women make up 3.4 million filmgoers while men make up 3.1 million. Suck on that Hollywood!
This development, even more than big high-definition flatscreens and digital piracy, will marginalize the film industry. From church pews to college lectures, once women become the majority and quite reasonably have their preferences catered to, men are driven away. And it’s a cautionary tale to game publishers who have been hearing the siren song of “the female gamer” for fifteen years now.
It’s really not that difficult. Women are more open to male entertainment than men are open to female entertainment. A woman might not go see Star Wars 20 times, but she won’t mind seeing it once or twice. A man, or at least a straight man, would rather slash his hand with 20 papercuts before rolling it in salt than go to see the Sex In The City movie even once. So, as incredible as it sounds, we can expect the movies to be further dumbed down from what is an already abysmal level.
Needless to say, this transition point suggests that fantasy sports, MMOs and games with episodic content are only going to get bigger. And it also may explain why the bottom dropped completely out of games with movie tie-ins last year.