Soft Power Slipping
“ Why did you fail?
He is too strong.
Did you really believe that strength has anything to do with whether you win or lose? You will always be weaker. You will always be smaller and at a disadvantage. He is beating you because you are allowing him to define the terms of the contest. You want to win? Change the terms. Improvise, adapt, cheat. Lean into your strengths, not his. Fight like a girl.”
The ability of Hollywood to give a profound philosophical message in the middle of an action movie or a spy movie is amazing. It can give massage of hubris from courtesan/escorts. It can give message of prolixity from a lawyer and so on. I love it when they do it. But it is a forgotten art. But I saw it again after many years. Here is another message:
“ I am a ballerina. I do not expect John Wick to help .”
India got this message long before the movie Ballerina was released. But the movie had nothing except this message. Then Operation Sindoor happened in May 2025 and everything changed. The threatening Ballerina was beaten.
Hollywood's Retreat
Hollywood had long ceased to be American Cinema. It was a global cinema industry. Its Star Track launched in 1960’sand was shown on India’s State monopoly television in 1980’s. Did Startrek shaped the imagination of mobile phone manufactureres? I always wonder. Hollywood’s huge sets and crashing cars earned fans allover world. After the Internet it leaped into the life of anyone who knew about torrents. And now, the OTT or Over The Top Platform which streams movies and television shows straight into every household.
Hollywood once dared to dream impossible dreams. Today it churns out safe content that satisfies algorithms but starves intellectual quest for novelty. The industry that gave us cinematic masterpieces now avoids creative risks like a hypochondriac avoids crowds. Others learned to fight like a girl while Hollywood forgot how to be brave. Several critical factors explain this decline. Each reveals how the dream factory became a content mill.
Comedy of Errors Failure
Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors remains Hollywood's most glaring creative failure. Not because studios tried and failed. They never even attempted it properly. Only * Big Business* (198 8) starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin made a genuine attempt. Two sets of twins separated at birth create chaos incorporate America. The film worked reasonably well but spawned no imitators. Hollywood treated it as novelty rather than proof of concept.
Why has no major studio attempted another adaptation since 1988? The excuses crumble under scrutiny. Identical twins are hard to cast. Modern CGI ( computer-generated imagery) makes this argument laughable. Studios routinely create entire armies of digital characters. Two matching actors should pose no challenge.
The plot feels dated for modern audiences. Hindi cinema disproves this completely. * Do Dooni Chaar (1968) with Kishore Kumar delivered perfect comedic timing. Audiences loved the mechanical precision of mistaken identity farce. * Angoor (1982) under Gulzar's skilful direction became a beloved classic. The plot worked brilliantly when film-makers had courage and understood comedy timing. Even * Cirkus* (2022) attempted the premise recently. While not entirely successful, it proved contemporary audiences still hunger for this type of entertainment.
Even more impressive was Hrishikesh Mukherjee's * Chupke Chupke* (1975). He created a comedy of errors without identical twins. No jewellery shop mishaps. No shipwreck backstory. Pure creative genius building farce from deliberate deception. Dharmendra plays a botany professor who pretends to be a driver. His wife Sharmila Tagore must maintain the charade. Simple setup. Brilliant execution. The complications multiply organically from character choices rather than plot contrivances. Mukherjee proved the essence of Shakespearean farce could be completely reinvented. You do not need the specific mechanics. You need the spirit of escalating confusion resolved through joy.
The real reason for avoidance is creative cowardice. Modern Hollywood executives worship data over intuition. Focus groups cannot explain why farce works. The mechanism seems too random for spreadsheet analysis. Crime thrillers offer comfortable predictability. Detective stories follow proven structures. Murder creates automatic stakes. Romance provides familiar emotional beats. These elements satisfy algorithm requirements.
But farce demands something Hollywood has lost. Faith in pure entertainment. Confidence that audiences want to laugh without cynicism. Belief that joy itself creates sufficient dramatic stakes.
Hindi cinema makers trusted their audience's intelligence. They believed viewers would follow complex mistaken identity plots without constant explanation. Hollywood assumes audiences need everything spelled out. Characters must explicitly state their motivations. Plot points require multiple confirmations. This hand holding mentality makes delicate farce impossible. Farce requires precision timing. One mistimed beat destroys the entire structure. Hollywood's committee-driven development process guarantees timing problems. Too many voices offering contradictory notes.
The economics also discourage risk. A failed farce looks foolish. A failed crime thriller still seems serious and important. Studio executives protect their careers by choosing dignified failures over embarrassing successes. Yet this reasoning misses obvious opportunities. The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare's most internationally performed play. The basic situation translates across all cultures. Separated families seeking reunion create universal emotional connection.
Streaming Platforms
Streaming platforms should theoretically encourage more experimental content. Lower production costs. Niche audience targeting. Direct viewer feedback. Instead, streaming metrics reward addictive binge watching over memorable individual experiences. Algorithms favour psychological manipulation over genuine entertainment.
Meanwhile, international content fills the gap Hollywood refuses to fill. Spanish television creates genuinely surprising narratives. Korean cinema takes bold creative risks. India’s Telugu RRR (2022) exemplifies this creative courage. The film embraces impossible action sequences and emotional grandeur. It refuses to apologize for entertainment ambitions. Audiences worldwide responded with genuine enthusiasm.
Hollywood watches these successes from the sidelines. They analyse the formulas without understanding the spirit. They commission market research instead of trusting creative instincts. They prefer the established success of the “Culpa” series of Spanish language dubbed in English over creating anew one.
Algorithm Trap
Artificial intelligence and data algorithms now drive Hollywood's fundamental creative decisions. Studios analyse successful formulas and demand endless repetitive variations. Original ideas get systematically rejected for not fitting proven mathematical patterns.
Netflix's recommendation engine directly influences content creation decisions. If crime thrillers generate high engagement metrics, more crime thrillers get automatically greenlight. The system rewards repetition over innovation. * Stranger Things spawned dozens of 1980s nostalgia projects. * Bird Box triggered post-apocalyptic thriller development. The * Queen's Gambit* inspired competitive game adaptations. Success breeds imitation with mathematical precision. Focus groups and test screenings generate data points that override artistic vision consistently. Directors must satisfy audience research metrics rather than telling personally compelling stories.
Justice League (2017) suffered extensive reshoots based on test audience feedback. The final product pleased neither critics nor general viewers. Committee-driven optimization produced mediocrity disguised as broad appeal. Box office prediction algorithms evaluate script potential using historical comparison data. Projects get funding approval based on mathematical similarity to previous successes rather than creative innovation.
Studios minimize financial risk by copying proven formulas exactly. Superhero franchises dominate release schedules because they generate predictable international returns. Original concepts struggle for development funding unless they mirror existing hits. The Marvel Cinematic Universe exemplifies this algorithmic approach perfectly. Each film follows nearly identical story beats and character development arcs. Individual creativity gets sacrificed for franchise mathematical consistency.
International box office considerations further constrain creativity. Complex cultural narratives get simplified for global algorithmic optimization. Content must translate easily across diverse markets using mathematical appeal calculations.
Writers increasingly pitch concepts using “It is like X meets Y” formulas rather than describing truly original ideas. * Deadpool got pitched as Wolverine meets Comedy. * Logan became * Unforgiven meets * X-Men . Creative teams learn to speak in algorithmic combinations rather than developing unique artistic visions.
The economic logic appears compelling initially. Data-driven decisions should theoretically improve success rates and reduce financial risk. But algorithms optimize for engagement metrics rather than lasting cultural impact. Shows that generate immediate binge watching do not necessarily create memorable experiences or loyal fandom.
International content increasingly fills the creative void left by Hollywood's algorithmic obsession. * Squid Game succeeded globally precisely because it defied algorithmic predictability. No American studio would have greenlight such an unusual concept using traditional data analysis. * Money Heist built international popularity through character complexity that algorithms typically discourage. The show's success proved audiences' hunger for genuine surprise over mathematical optimization.
These international successes embarrass Hollywood's algorithmic assumptions. Viewers want authentic creativity more than statistically optimized content. The data was measuring engagement without understanding satisfaction.
Creative Constraints
Even irrelevant considerations creep into creativity. Hollywood enforces subtle control through hairstyle casting decisions. Women with short hair get roles emphasizing competence and emotional restraint. Romantic vulnerability remains systematically forbidden.
Robin Wright's blunt bob in House of Cards became synonymous with icy resolve. Kate Winslet's shift to shorter styles coincided with trauma-heavy roles. Morena Baccarin, despite Juilliard training, remains locked in reactive supporting roles. Her short hair seemingly prevents leading role consideration in romantic contexts.
Halle Berry's iconic pixie cut associated her with strength and stoicism across decades. Even after her Oscar win proved dramatic range, she continued getting competence-focused roles. Charlize Theron's short-haired characters consistently involve violence and emotional suppression.
The visual shorthand functions like algorithmic sorting. Long flowing hair signals romance and emotional openness. Short hair means controlled, cerebral, and cold. This binary coding flattens character complexity before scripts even get written. Kalinda Sharma aka Archie Punjabi in * The Good Wife* proved that this obsession with hair is unreal and illogical but Hollywood has its own rules to follow.
International cinema offers enlightening contrast. French and Italian films regularly cast short-haired women in romantic leads. Audrey Tautou's pixie cut in * Amélie* (2001) became synonymous with whimsical romance. Her appearance enhanced rather than limited her character's emotional accessibility.
Inspiration void
Hollywood also lost inspiration sources. Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon is the ultimate depiction of human memory’s failings. It was first remade by Hollywood as The Outrage (1964), Hero (2002), and countless TV episodes. The multiple perspective structure appeals to algorithm-minded executives. They can explain it in meetings easily.
But Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai offers much richer possibilities. The basic plot works perfectly as a crime thriller. Experienced criminals recruit desperate amateurs to defend a community against organized crime. Modern technology could make the action sequences spectacular. The character dynamics translate directly to contemporary settings. Yet nobody attempts serious adaptations. Seven Samurai demands ensemble storytelling skills Hollywood has lost. Each character needs a distinct personality and motivation. The story requires patience building relationships before action sequences.
House M.D. was real derivative sequel of Sherlock Holmes. Hugh Laurie's medical detective combined puzzle-solving with philosophical depth. The show understood intellectual fulfilment beyond personal trauma. His pain fuelled diagnostic brilliance rather than mere self-pity. Ballard is struggling to get though. Mentalist is another success story. Monk is being remade in Hindi. Person of Interest took Snowden allegations and made it a real-time story. Hell on Wheels with its chaotic script looks good if we compare with today’s work.
Current Hollywood prefers single protagonists over complex group dynamics. Focus groups cannot track seven different character arcs simultaneously. Algorithms optimize for simple narrative structures. There are no more con artist shows like * Hustle or * Leverage . No more * Italian Job or * Ocean's 11 or * 13. These provided perfect material for sequels but Hollywood produces nothing challenging anymore. It recycles less challenging work. Many versions of Qulpa made in spanish. Many versions of Terminator List* . It is like betting on same number indifferent casinos.
Collateral movie worked beautifully. Old material in an entirely new colourful bottle. * Tulsa King offers interesting recycling that feels engaging and fresh. House of the Dragon is a poor copy of Game of Thrones . But * the Westworld wins hearts. A futuristic sci-fi shot in Wild, Wild West settings. This series wins the creative best title in recent years.Barring these few nothing deserve mention anymore.
Reacher recycles familiar material but entertains through careful character building around the central figure. The pattern emerges clearly. Hollywood occasionally succeeds when it recycles cleverly or trusts strong character work. But it cannot consistently generate original concepts anymore. The industry either copies its own pastor imports international successes.
Bleeding on Canvas
Hollywood's most damaging trend involves creators using scripts as personal therapy sessions. Writers and directors project their emotional wounds onto characters. The result reflects privileged dysfunction rather than universal human experience.
The Crown (2016-2023) spent six seasons dissecting royal family dysfunction. Every relationship is portrayed as fundamentally damaged. * Big Little Lies (2017-2019) explored suburban mothers hiding dark secrets. Domestic violence. Adultery. Manipulation. Child trauma. * Mare of Easttown (2021) gave Kate Winslet a detective role defined entirely by personal loss.
This pattern is not coincidental. Many Hollywood creators have experienced failed marriages and complex relationships. They write what they know. Unfortunately, what they know has become increasingly disconnected from mainstream audiences. The * write what you know* principle becomes toxic when writers only know divorce, dysfunction, and privilege. They create echo chambers where healthy relationships seem unrealistic or dramatically boring. It is now rare to find a working married relationship in any movie or television show in Hollywood. It has been happening for decades.
Phil Collins offers a powerful counterpoint. His multiple divorces inspired universal songs like In the Air Tonight and Against All Odds. Personal pain became art that spoke to anyone experiencing loss or longing. The difference lies in universalization versus self-indulgence. Collins took specific heartache and crafted melodies that millions could relate to. He transformed private wounds into shared human experience. Hollywood creators often remain trapped in their particular dysfunction. They recreate their specific traumas without expanding into universal themes. The art becomes therapeutic for creators but alienating for audiences.
In India, Amitabh Bachchan demonstrated this essential principle perfectly throughout his career reinvention. Despite well-documented private marital complexities, he chose to embody aspirational family values on screen rather than processing his marital dysfunction, through his performances. This represents the crucial distinction between art that serves audiences versus art that serves creator therapy. Great entertainment transcends individual circumstances to connect with universal human longings and cultural values.
House of Cards (2013-2018) too exemplified this problem. The series portrayed marriage as purely transactional. Frank and Claire Underwood showed no genuine affection or mutual support. Their partnership existed only for political advancement. This dynamic reflected certain Hollywood power couples who stay together for career benefits. But it offered no insight into why most people actually choose marriage. Love. Companionship. Shared dreams. Mutual support through difficulties.
The show's creators could not imagine these positive motivations. Their personal experience provided no reference point. So they defaulted to cynicism disguised as sophistication. European cinema offers instructive contrast. Films like * Amour (2012) explore marital devotion through terminal illness. * 45 Years (2015) examines how past secrets affect present relationships. These stories acknowledge relationship difficulties while maintaining belief in enduring connection.
American productions increasingly treat commitment as naive or oppressive. Independence becomes the highest virtue. Any compromise for relationship harmony appears weak or codependent. Netflix algorithms reward emotional intensity over intellectual complexity. Shows that generate strong feelings get renewed regardless of their actual insights. This encourages creators to mine their darkest personal experiences for content.
International content increasingly fills this gap. * Call My Agent ! (2015-2020) from France portrays relationships with both conflict and genuine affection. Korean dramas often centre around family loyalty and romantic devotion. * Crash Landing on You (2019-2020) became globally popular by showing love that overcomes impossible obstacles. These productions do not ignore relationship problems. They contextualize them within broader human purposes. Love serves something larger than individual gratification. Family provides meaning beyond personal convenience.
Mumbai Mirror
Mumbai’s Hindi cinema loves to copy Hollywood and unashamedly named itself * Bollywood. It is also cinema which is ashamed of it’s medium i.e. Hindi. Artists * always talk in English in public. They conduct shows in English. Bollywood also followed Hollywood's path toward creative bankruptcy with remarkable precision.
Post-2020 Bollywood box office numbers reveal the devastating scope of this decline. Major star vehicles consistently failed to recover production costs. * Laal Singh Chaddh a (2022) starring Aamir Khan earned only ₹60 crores against a ₹180 crore budget. * Shamshera (2022) with Ranbir Kapoor managed ₹42 crores from ₹150 crores invested. The pattern repeated across every major release. * Bachchhan Paandey , * Heropanti 2, * Samrat Prithviraj , * Jayeshbhai Jordaa r all became expensive disasters. These were not marginal failures but complete audience rejection. Names of movies reveal desperation which could not be defined by proper names but producers were clueless.
Meanwhile, Telugu cinema filled the vacuum with spectacular international successes. RRR earned over ₹1,200 crores worldwide. * Pushpa The Rise generated ₹373 crores globally. * KGF Chapter 2 collected ₹1,215 crores across all markets. The contrast reveals the same creative dynamics destroying Hollywood.
Superstars like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, and Salman Khan live in bubble worlds of private jets, international properties, and celebrity social circles. Their films started reflecting these jet-setting lifestyles instead of middle-class Indian realities. When they try to emulate a normal middle class on screen, it looks like overacting. Today these megastars are selling washing powders, toilet cleaners, soft drinks and automobiles on television screens. This is a tacit admission of their worth.
The copy paste attempt of Bollywood continues. * The Trial: Pyaar Kaanoon Dhokha* , the series starring Kajol, is a direct adaptation of The Good Wife. It is a translation without adaptation. It often sounds ridiculous in strange settings. There is another Television show named Good Wife featuring Priyamani in the lead role set in Chennai. It has been criticized for being a less effective adaptation. Hollywood original outshines both. Hollywood sequel Good Fight is the worst political writing that can be added to a good plot. It burns down the concept. It becomes a documentary to show the differences between Democrats and Republicans. Story is an appendage.
English obsession killed Hindi cinema. It is a fact also proved by success stories of many new artists who did notwork in glamorous roles. Pankaj Tripathi, Manoj Bajpayee, Raj Ku mar Rao and Ayushmann Khurrana, gave back to back box office success as ordinary middle class person from urban India who is uncomfortable with English. The media ignores this stark reality and helps Bollywood to jump off the cliff of cultural irrelevance.
Music's Decline
Western music for a person from India is raw and natural. In India, music is a traditional art in which children start from young age and spend years if not decades of training. There are exceptions like Kishore Kumar and Shrya Goshal but that is rare. Western music, on the other hand, is all about spontaneity and natural talent. This makes it interesting.
Popular music always and in every culture is a fusion of the best. Artists choose elements that showcase their strengths and enable authentic expression. Historical artists fused genre elements based on artistic vision. They created memorable music by serving creative truth rather than category definitions. Today's industry often reverses this process. It fits artists into predetermined categories optimized for algorithms rather than authentic expression. The most enduring music happens when genres serve the artist, not when artists serve the genres. This is exactly the problem in the USA today. Artists are trying to fit every song into Hip Hop music.
In the 1980s, Western music reached India without the internet or streaming. People paid double the price for imported vinyl records and cassettes. HMV and T-Series sold premium-priced music that was worth every rupee. Songs like The Righteous Brothers' Unchained Melody and Wham!'s Careless Whisper crossed continents because they had something rare. Musical substance.
Today's billionaire music performers deliver spectacular shows. Their music has the same depth as their costumes. Expensive fabric with nothing underneath. Ask yourself this question. Can you hum any song from the past five years? Now try humming Unchanied Melody, Bohemian Rhapsody or Hotel California. The difference reveals everything. Phil Collins' * Take a Look at Me Now and * Against All Odds survive in memory decades later. Even when illness freezes names and faces, the melodies remain. You can hum them to AI and recover the artist. Music lives longer than the name of the performer.
Whitney Houston's * The Bodyguard* soundtrack still moves people. Michael Jackson could make anyone dance from anywhere. His music had universal appeal. These songs carved permanent grooves in cultural memory. New releases disappear into the streaming void.
Real singers still exist. They perform in obscure venues. They cannot afford the grandiose sets that dominate today's market. Dana Winner possesses exceptional vocal ability but does not chart. Instead, AI channels steal her performances and repackage them for clicks. The algorithm rewards the theft while the artist remains invisible.
Leonard Cohen had a voice that should not have worked for popular music. Deep and gravelly. Almost spoken rather than sung. Yet his poetry in Hallelujah and Suzanne created a lasting impact. Today's industry would reject him for lacking marketability.
Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Joe Cocker, and Louis Armstrong all had distinctive voices. Not perfect but emotionally powerful. Rod Stewart's raspy delivery and Kurt Cobain's raw emotion connected with millions. The industry once celebrated these unique sounds. Today's chart toppers need social media campaigns and visual spectacles to create artificial viral moments. The music alone cannot carry them.
Music creation has become algorithmic. AI generates melodies and beats. Producers follow data-driven formulas for viral potential. The result feels manufactured because it is. Every song targets the same streaming metrics. Every artist follows the same visual-first play-book. Every song is turned into hip hop, whether it fit the genre or not.
Contemporary artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and Ed Sheeran show talent. But do their songs have the staying power of Elton John's * Candle in the Wind or * Sacrifice ? That ballad still tops charts decades later. It carries emotional weight across generations.
Artists now earn from live shows, not recordings. A single concert brings more revenue than album sales. This creates pressure for theatrical productions over musical excellence. Taylor Swift's tours generate billions through elaborate staging and costume changes. The songs become the background soundtrack to the visual experience.
Coldplay recently packed 134,000 people into the world's largest stadium in Ahmedabad, India and set a world record. Chris Martin has a beautiful voice. But he is obsessed with hip hop integration and stage theatrics. Millions may clap at his performance but he looks ridiculous in performance. He should try solo work that showcases his vocal talent without the spectacle dependency.
Compare this to Bryan Adams succeeding with * Everything I Do, I Do It For You* . Simple guitar work and authentic emotion. Current artists hire teams to manufacture relatability. The pain is scripted. The emotion is focus-grouped.
Music videos now drive success more than melodies. TikTok clips matter more than full compositions. Artists spend fortunes on visual production while neglecting songcraft. The medium has overwhelmed the message. Performance is alive and vibrant. Music is struggling. Not the industry but the music itself.
We do not even know if concert voices are real anymore. Live performance has become sophisticated lip-syncing. Backing tracks and pitch correction are standard. What was once the Milli Vanilli scandal may now be routine industry procedure.
History shows that authentic voices eventually breakthrough artificial barriers. Artists like Stevie Wonder with I Just Called to Say I Love You and ABBA's I Have A Dream became universal experiences. Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers' collaboration on Just the Two of Us reached across cultural boundaries. These songs defined eras. Bob Dylan's nasal delivery seemed unmarketable until it was not. The Beatles' Two of Us succeeded through melody and harmony, not production tricks.
Unchained Melody sung by Righteous Brothers in 1965 is equally melodious today. It happens to be my favourite thogh it was sung for a previous generation. I was born later. The Everly Brothers' * Crying in the Rain needed no visual gimmicks. Ray Charles' * Hit the Road Jack commanded attention through pure vocal power. These artists succeeded because the music itself was irresistible.
The 1980shad limited distribution channels. Radio stations and record labels curated selections. Only the strongest songs survived the filtering process. This created shared cultural experiences. Everyone knew the same hits because choices were scarce. Streaming offers infinite options but zero curation. Millions of songs are uploaded daily. The paradox of choice has destroyed the concept of cultural consensus. No single song can achieve the universal recognition that defined previous eras.
Enrique Iglesias created hits like Bailando, Hero, and Somebody's Me that crossed language barriers. His father Julio Iglesias did the same in his era. Both relied on melody and emotion over spectacle.
Celine Dion's * My Heart Will Go On , It is * All Coming Back to Me Now , and * The Power of Love* became global anthems. These songs succeeded because they contained genuine musical substance. They did not need viral marketing campaigns. But neither of them are authentic Americans.
Even contemporary artists like Adele prove the hunger for authenticity. * Chasing Pavements* felt outdated until it dominated global charts. Traditional ballad style still resonates when delivered with genuine emotion.
Looking forward
The easy money through quick debt creates problems in creativity. Expression of talent becomes production. Creativity becomes a business. Stage becomes conveyor belt and ceases to be a platform of projecting art.
The solution requires fundamental transformation. Hollywood must stop being creatively self-destructive and rise above the personal problems that currently constrain its storytelling vision. Let stories speak for itself. Stop creating characters before the story.
The wheel can turn again. The current system rewards visual presentation over musical substance. But audiences still hunger for genuine emotional connection. The artist who combines authentic talent with strategic presentation will reshap e the landscape. Good singers exist in every generation. The infrastructure must change to support them. Alternative funding models. Different streaming algorithms. New platforms that prioritize musical quality over engagement metrics are need of the hour.
With the soft power of American cinema and music suffering from retarded creativity, the art business is also in gloom for reasons other than lack of talent. We will explore art auctions in the next chapter.
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