ANiCO - Another Response to Ryland -- Still Much To Do About Originality (Pre-Class Post?)

Because I'm a terrible poster and I want to get credit for any ludicrous thing I say.

Refer to THIS for back reference.

I try to answer Ryland's question "are thoughts and ideas in our contemporary society only considered 'original' if they are widely accepted and popularized in the PRESENT MOMENT (regardless of the idea being thought of before)?"
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Ahh, now THIS is good. ;)

I am familiar with both movies (and because so, Disturbia pisses me off). It's also a reason why I feel like I'm the only one who hated Avatar (because its exactly the same as Dances With Wolves, only prettier and catering to our sci-fi, hyperreality fetish). I got a lot of heat for slamming Avatar, and when I explained myself, people had no idea as to what I was talking about. The only thing Avatar was innovative about was the manner in which it was built, but no one outside of techno-geeks can comprehend that.

I guess with this concept, originality can only go as far as what the generation is aware of. I'm an oldskool junkie, so I'd like to say that these reproductions of plots with contemporary settings are STILL unoriginal, but it's hard to contend with the mainstream. It's pessimistic, but I think what is "truth" depends wholeheartedly on how many people believe it.

Given that, I would put forward that originality stems from "how-many-different-ways-can-you-tell-the-same-thing" rather than a whole new concept from itself.

But isn't that the essence of contemporary "pop culture"? Only dealing with what's happening in the current generation without much regard for the past?

Another example could be Quentin Tarantino, but I think he walks a much finer Postmodern line. People say he steals from other old spaghetti western movies and compiles them into a shmorgishborg of old ideas into something new. I personally love all of Tarantino's movies because its a good postmodern example of the hyperreality and this concept of copying something enough and mashing them together to turn it into something original. I still think his movies are unique, even when I'm aware he's pulling it from other things. Maybe it's his admittance to pulling from other material that makes it genuine for me.