I was just watching a video by a YouTuber I’m subscribed to, Greg Owen, about Millennial writing, and he and several commenters made an excellent point:
Sincerity is largely missing in today’s creative works. The reason anime is as popular as it is, for example, is that no matter how over-the-top the plot and the characters are, they are played completely straight and serious without any asterisks. They buy into their own product, have fun, and encourage you to dive in as well. And you do, and you have the time of your life.
This is especially true with transmedia. It’s much harder to sell a big story when you’re being ironic about it, when you can take a risk (that I’d argue shouldn’t even really BE a risk) and be sincere and win audiences that way. You gotta commit to what you’re selling because if not, who will?
This is the video if you wanna watch it for yourself:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NGSkq9WeNcI&pp=ugUEEgJlbg%3D%3D
