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> how badly Hollywood used to gatekeep entertainment Hollywood still gatekeeps.

2muchcoffeeman 4y ago
I don't know you can keep blaming Hollywood. I've been watching english subtitled shows for decades. Before high speed internet was affordable, people were sharing fan subbed anime. Dudes at university would show up with their RAIDs with multiple seasons worth of anime. Back then we still measured RAM in megabytes. Things have only gotten easier to watch.
- benreesman 4y ago
  Eh for awhile my Apple TV was starting to seem like the asymptotic limit of how easy it could be to watch what I wanted at the price of subsidizing a bunch of empty suits in Hollywood. Then at some point everyone with an IP catalog started launching a streaming service and at the rate it’s going I might re-learn how piracy works because I value my own time enough to be pretty much over trying to figure out if my show du jour is on Disney Plus or Viacom Prime.
- madrox 4y ago
  I think we're both seeing a generational difference here. Those of us who remember those times know in our bones how much better things are...even if you don't want to look that hard. That was 15+ years ago. A lot of HN probably wasn't around to remember. I don't want this to be a "kids today don't know how good they have it" post, but that's playing a role. However, that attitude is probably what's going to keep driving things to get even better.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- newbie2020 4y ago
  Yeah but that’s illegal
- Fargoan 4y ago
  I bought fan subbed Dragonball Z movies off of eBay when I was a kid in the early 2000s. I still had dialup, downloading wasn't an option.
- bdowling 4y ago
  > Before high speed internet was affordable For years before that, people were sharing fansubbed anime on VHS. There were networks of fansubbers and distributors sending tapes through the mail.
ninkendo 4y ago
Right but you don’t need Hollywood as much any more. Lots of streaming companies original content isn’t “Hollywood” in the traditional sense. Not to mention all the other ways of consuming entertainment nowadays… Hollywood doesn’t really have the power to gatekeep any more (outside of maybe the Oscars, but that’s a tempest in a tea pot.)
- antonymy 4y ago
  Considering the precipitous decline in Oscar viewership over the last decade, it's safe to say Hollywood's death grip on American film and television is all but broken these days. The jump in the most recent Oscars viewership has more to do with tabloid antics (i.e. "the slap") than anything else, and even then it was still the second worst year on record.

I don't know you can keep blaming Hollywood. I've been watching english subtitled shows for decades. Before high speed internet was affordable, people were sharing fan subbed anime. Dudes at university would show up with their RAIDs with multiple seasons worth of anime. Back then we still measured RAM in megabytes. Things have only gotten easier to watch.

benreesman 4y ago
Eh for awhile my Apple TV was starting to seem like the asymptotic limit of how easy it could be to watch what I wanted at the price of subsidizing a bunch of empty suits in Hollywood. Then at some point everyone with an IP catalog started launching a streaming service and at the rate it’s going I might re-learn how piracy works because I value my own time enough to be pretty much over trying to figure out if my show du jour is on Disney Plus or Viacom Prime.
madrox 4y ago
I think we're both seeing a generational difference here. Those of us who remember those times know in our bones how much better things are...even if you don't want to look that hard. That was 15+ years ago. A lot of HN probably wasn't around to remember. I don't want this to be a "kids today don't know how good they have it" post, but that's playing a role. However, that attitude is probably what's going to keep driving things to get even better.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
newbie2020 4y ago
Yeah but that’s illegal
Fargoan 4y ago
I bought fan subbed Dragonball Z movies off of eBay when I was a kid in the early 2000s. I still had dialup, downloading wasn't an option.
bdowling 4y ago
> Before high speed internet was affordable For years before that, people were sharing fansubbed anime on VHS. There were networks of fansubbers and distributors sending tapes through the mail.

ninkendo 4y ago

Right but you don’t need Hollywood as much any more. Lots of streaming companies original content isn’t “Hollywood” in the traditional sense. Not to mention all the other ways of consuming entertainment nowadays… Hollywood doesn’t really have the power to gatekeep any more (outside of maybe the Oscars, but that’s a tempest in a tea pot.)

antonymy 4y ago
Considering the precipitous decline in Oscar viewership over the last decade, it's safe to say Hollywood's death grip on American film and television is all but broken these days. The jump in the most recent Oscars viewership has more to do with tabloid antics (i.e. "the slap") than anything else, and even then it was still the second worst year on record.