Junior Theme Reflection

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My paper was about the Disney empire, and why their growth was bad for the industry. It explores not only how Disney turned from a small comic studio to a billion dollar conglomerate, but also how its growth affects smaller theaters, independent filmmakers, and us. Disney is a money making machine, and everything it does is fine-tuned to maximize profit, and that means, sometimes, manipulating us. With the release of Disney Plus and its established ownership of Hulu, Disney has turned our society from people who go out to the movie theater once a week to people who binge watch on our phones every night. "Eight of the top eight highest grossing films of 2019 were made by Disney" (CNBC).

When I started my research, I was set on exposing Disney to all of their wrongdoings. But as my research went on, and as I wrote the counter-argument and interviewed an executive at Disney, I noticed that Disney is definitely not a monopoly. They may be big and have a lot of control, yet in this capitalist, consumerist society, this is kind of a good thing, and according to Mark Ryan, the executive, the reason why they are ahead is because of constant innovation, not because they are evil. He claims other companies like Warner Bros/Netflix have the same 'tools' as they do, and their lead is fickler than it may seem at times. Yes, it is very important to support local filmmakers/theaters, and not watch all your movies from your phone. Yes, Disney has 40% of the box office. Yes, some Marvel films are shallow cash grabs. But there are way worse problems out there than Disney. I'm glad I chose this topic because I want to work in the film industry and it is important I know about these corporations. One day I might even work for Disney (probably not).

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