Teenagers were once considered the lifeblood of the movie industry, but judging from the poor box office returns over the Memorial Day weekend, they don't seem to care that much anymore. They do care, though, about passionate, four-hour-long YouTube videos, cringe-worthy crush stories, and how to get really, really horny.
The film industry had a bad weekend
This Memorial Day weekend was a box office disaster for the movie industry, the worst in nearly 30 years (COVID-adjusted). Two of the weekend's biggest hits ( Fury Road prequel Furiosa and Garfield ) failed to make more than $30 million at the box office, largely because young people don't care about movies as much as they once did.
There are a lot of theories about this extremely bad weekend - tickets were too expensive; we're seeing the results of a cast strike; it's part of "sequel fatigue"; neither Garfield nor Furiosa was very good, but here's my point: It's part of a generational shift away from movies altogether, partly due to the industry and partly due to larger cultural forces.
As of 2019, 18-24-year-olds still make up the largest share of moviegoers, and Hollywood really missed that mark this weekend. "Furiosa" stars teen hero and box-office star Chris Hemsworth, which should appeal to younger adults, but it's also based on a TV series that began in the 1970s. Hollywood seems to be missing out on another key demographic this weekend: the little kids pestering their parents to take them to the movies. Garfield, based on an ancient comic book, didn't seem to capture their imagination.
In a broader sense, no matter what you put on the screen, I don't think most young people get the culturally reinforcing vibe from movies that they used to. Instead, it comes from peers online, which is a faster, more relevant form of feedback. Moviegoing is in decline across the board in the U.S., and the convenience and low cost of watching movies at home seems no match for the hassle and expense of local theaters.
What does "egg eyes" mean?
The term "egg blindfold" has been trending among TikTok's drug-addled corners this week. It refers to a method of smoking weed with a vape pen (aka “dabbing”). "Blinker" is slang for inhaling on a vape pen long enough that it starts to blink, indicating a stronger draw than expected. "Egg blinders" is a term coined by TikToker 448smokes in this video, tap for five seconds, then take a quick break, then inhale for four seconds, take a quick break, another four seconds, take a quick break, another four seconds, take a quick break of four seconds , and then hold for eight seconds. This is a lot to remember for a drunk person, but it is said to produce the feeling of an egg in the throat and can be very, very high. I know there is no lethal dose of marijuana, but if I tried this I would definitely die, or at least have to watch the video below a few times.
TikTok’s #lostmymind trend: What do you do for your crush?
Remember truly caring about another person to the point of becoming obsessed with them? Neither do I! But young romantics on TikTok are sharing the cringe-worthy, embarrassing things they do to impress their crushes in a series of videos that might just melt your icicle heart. For example, cast a love spell on them, ask your dad to take paparazzi-style photos of you, try to dunk at a beer pong game, pretend to like anime or Bruno Mars. I admire the courage it takes to post these videos because they are truly embarrassing, but also heartwarming. If you want to enjoy it, just check out the video clipped with this sound.
Google's AI delights the internet with misinformation instead of disappearing
Google launched AI-assisted search this month, with the search engine often returning results culled from Gemini AI rather than just the links people would expect. To call it unsuccessful would be an understatement. Users quickly noticed that Google's AI came up with some seriously unhinged answers. It tells users to stick cheese on pizza, recommends eating rocks every day, claims dogs participate in professional sports, and the cure for depression is to "jump off the Golden Gate Bridge." Google has reportedly responded by manually recording answers to these specific questions, and they appear to be reducing how often AI results appear in searches. (I say they "seem" to be cutting back because if you search "Did Google turn off AI search results?" you won't get back an answer to that question.)
Viral Video of the Week: The Star Wars Hotel Fiasco
This week's viral video highlights the power fans have over major corporations. YouTuber Jenny Nicholson recently posted a video detailing her experience at Disney’s Star Wars Hotel, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. For more than four hours, Nicholson described and showed footage of every aspect of the experience, concluding that the experience was terrible and that the weekend's price tag of around $6,000 was too high. (This is consistent with Lifehacker's comment.)
Even though it was free and worked well, staying at a Star Wars hotel sounded like a nightmare to me, but Jenny saw it from the opposite perspective: She was a 100 percent fan. She paid the price for the vacation, wanting so badly what Disney promised—a fully immersive Star Wars weekend—but seemed to be thwarted every time. She's exactly the kind of person who should be happy after the experience is over, but according to Nicholson, rather than being a LARP across the galaxy, guests are tipping money for "add-ons" every time , yet very little is actually known about it. work.
Her disappointment is genuine and her logic is flawless. As a result, the video was viewed millions of times and picked up by CNN, NPR and other news sources. Star Wars hotels are closed, but you wish Disney and other owners of beloved intellectual property would take a few hours to think about what happens if you don't do a good job of managing the creative output that fans love.
