Apparently, Hollywood is scared to death because they can’t make crap and get rich like they used to. Lynda Obst points at videogames and other distractions (your guess) as reasons why teenagers are not as interested in visiting the movie theater and digesting their latest piece of shit. Gasp! Could teenagers have suddenly become smarter? Surely not.

The secret that is about to kill the movie industry turns out to be word of mouth. Woah! The idea is that, with the very quick methods of communication available today, all the marketing power in the world can’t make a turd sell well beyond its opening night. If people think a movie is crap, they will tell friends in a matter of hours and the movie will instantly tank.

The conclusion: Movie studios are going to have to work hard at making good movies for people who want to pay to watch them, instead of cashing in on cheap thrills for kids. Hopefully she realizes (although it’s not clear) that a whole generation of adults in our 30’s now also prefer to play a good game rather than watch a bad movie.

Of course, game developers must not lose sight of the lesson, lest we make the same mistake. According to many, we are already in the same boat as far as the crap-O-meter is concerned.

The article is equally irritating, humorous and interesting. The story about how the Doom movie took a nosedive after opening night is particularly thrilling.