> so much content, it can keep me continually engaged
I find the total opposite to be true. I desperately want more engaging content to feed the gooey goblin in my brain but the overwhelming majority doesn't cut it and this was before AI.
Almost every show I see on netflix, tiktok I glance at, or reddit post is absolute unflavored mash potatoes. Content for content's sake. Feed me more content like scavengers reign and less frankenstein remakes or super hero slop.
Also, we might have become spoiled by having found content that aligns with our interests at all. Like an Overton window, we have been slowly realigning our desires to expect better and even better content.
We truly might be addicted and are slowly becoming unsatisfied with the simpler, more nuanced pleasures in life.
There's way more good content available than an employed adult human has time to consume. I have watched five great seasons of TV this year (Frieren, Apothecary Diaries, Dandadan, Blue Box, Stranger Things, all on Netflix) and zero movies (no time with kids!), and have read twelve good books (ranging from prize-winning literature to incredible graphic novels). I have zero time for anything else besides two other hobbies, both of which involve the creative act: coding, and writing fanfiction.
When I hear "there's nothing good available," I assume the person is a dullard. Like where are you looking that you can't throw a rock and hit something worth watching?!
One reason I enjoy anime as much as I do is because most of these stories are written by a single person with maybe an assistant or two and an editor, they're not designed by committee.
I somewhat enjoy Stranger Things but it's falling into the space where I can write the next line of dialog in my head for whole scenes. Whereas it started out poking fun at tropes like doing exposition or relationship development at moments of maximum danger it's turned into a long sequence of Obligatory Scenes that feel increasingly forced.
> a long sequence of Obligatory Scenes that feel increasingly forced
You're describing mainstream entertainment in general. I started noticing this with the storyboard-as-film, action-by-numbers "Raider's of the Lost Ark". (I won't even waste my time on super hero films.)
It blows my mind that anyone can consider Stranger Things to be great anything. It's utter dross. It's like our standards have dropped massively over the last 50 years in almost every way, in literature, music, journalism, politics, movies, and TV.
Maybe the problem is that you're looking for content to consume, instead of art to enjoy and participate with. The distinction is important because how you frame a problem changes how you solve it.
I find the total opposite to be true. I desperately want more engaging content to feed the gooey goblin in my brain but the overwhelming majority doesn't cut it and this was before AI.
Almost every show I see on netflix, tiktok I glance at, or reddit post is absolute unflavored mash potatoes. Content for content's sake. Feed me more content like scavengers reign and less frankenstein remakes or super hero slop.