Culture today is a remix. Kirby Ferguson told me so. So did Faris Yakob. We’ve become incredibly good at taking what already exists and making something new. From Warhol to GirlTalk, flipping the script has produced real creativity and moved culture forward. But at some point, it’s worth pausing and taking a look at the cultural road map and ask, “where are we going?” I think this is particularly relevant in regards to what have become three pieces of our cultural bedrock: LEGO, Star Wars and The Muppets.
These are more than brands, or products or franchises. It would be difficult to strip any of these out of our culture at this point, so deep and wide are their roots. I have no problem with that. In their own ways, all three have inspired, amused and thrilled multiple generations with their creativity and quality. But now remix culture threatens to strip these brands of their essence.
Star Wars: The Deeply Immersive Narrative Universe
I was 7-years old when the original Star Wars (Episode IV: A New Hope) came out. I’m acutely aware of the power of the original trilogy and it played a huge part in my adolescent interests. I’ve written in the past about Star Wars’ Deeply Immersive Narrative Universe, and I love the fact that things like the 501st Legion can exist. I think there is something great about expanding the use and definition of a brand. It’s what keeps it alive and relevant long after its original creation.
One and a half Stormtroopers.
But at some point, as fans, we stop expanding the narrative universe and start creating an inward-looking, self-referencing implosion. One that does no favors for the brand, but more importantly, does no favors for us. There’s nothing interesting anymore about photos like the one on the left. Not because it lacks quality, but because it lacks novelty. Here, take a look at the flickr set, all 365 photos. Again, all terrifically executed, but to what end? Where does this all lead?
LEGO and the Death of Original Creativity
Go to YouTube and type in Lego and you’ll be able to see just about every major current franchise has been “LEGO’d” by people: James Bond, Gears of War, CSI, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and yes, of course, Star Wars. Over on Flickr it’s a similar case: Batman, Halo, Indiana Jones, Mario. The LEGO community is of course diverse, and there are many that create their own, original efforts, but what gets shared via social networks is often the derivative culture-mining outputs. Recently, my 8-year old son built an “Awesome Store” with his LEGO’s. That’s great, he built it himself, from his own design. What did they sell at the “Awesome Store?” LEGO Stormtrooper helmets. Now, he’s eight, and he was using the Stormtrooper helmets because, from a store inventory standpoint, that actually makes sense. But why are 28-year olds basically doing the same thing?
Muppet Mashup Madness
The Muppets continue to be a vibrant brand, continuously integrating themselves with pop culture. Check out this Mad Men parody:
Or this Apple iPod spoof:
When the brand itself is doing things like this, I’m not sure that we need to use the Muppets for our own creations. Editing a Muppets video and setting it to hip hop music quickly exhausts the conceit. Muppets and Kanye, Muppets and NWA, Muppets and Lonely Island. Got it. Thanks.
It's not easy be green.
To some degree the property owners are guilty here too. They give us permission to act and think this way by doing these collabs with adidas. Recently, Kurt Anderson wrote about the death of style innovation over the last 20 years in Vanity Fair. I think this phenomenon falls into a similar area. Culture seems to be folding in on itself. By continuing to tweak, mash and mine the past, we run the risk of diminishing new cultural outputs. It reminds me of the mid-/late-80s English band with the possibly prophetic name, Pop Will Eat Itself.
As I said at the beginning, I don’t have a problem with remix culture, I understand it and know it is hear to stay. But it feels like we’ve exhausted the meaningful iterations that can be had from Star Wars, LEGO and The Muppets. Let’s agree to give them a rest, at least for a little while.
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Aaron
on Jan 26th, 2012
@ 1:04 pm:
I’ve noticed this a lot with movies — the film “Real Steel” is a movie based on Rock’em Sock’em Robots.
Seriously.
There have been some terrific creative works done (Harry Potter, for example), but it seems like derivative works pop up so often because the various media are seen as sources of INCOME rather than outlets for EXPRESSION. (The latter can certainly lead to the former, such as in the case of HP, but often not)
As long as an artistic medium can be used to generate money, I bet we will continue to see derivative and transformative remix work flowing through it, diluting most real creative work. I enjoy remix culture, but I also completely agree that without an adequate influx of real creative work, we will eventually run out of things to remix.
Rick Liebling
on Jan 26th, 2012
@ 5:41 pm:
I'm done with Star Wars, The Muppets and LEGO http://t.co/FrCTDdVX #stopremixculture
Plannersphere20
on Jan 26th, 2012
@ 7:33 pm:
I’m done with Star Wars, The Muppets and LEGO http://t.co/oyPtQ2z8
neilperkin
on Jan 26th, 2012
@ 10:36 pm:
I'm with @Rick_Now on this. I love Star Wars, Lego & The Muppets but do we have to keep culture mining them? http://t.co/Qxeg7izu
john v willshire
on Jan 26th, 2012
@ 10:36 pm:
I'm with @Rick_Now on this. I love Star Wars, Lego & The Muppets but do we have to keep culture mining them? http://t.co/Qxeg7izu
Kris Hoet
on Jan 26th, 2012
@ 10:48 pm:
I'm with @Rick_Now on this. I love Star Wars, Lego & The Muppets but do we have to keep culture mining them? http://t.co/Qxeg7izu
Paloma M. Vazquez
on Jan 27th, 2012
@ 12:08 am:
On rehashing culture nostalgia at the expense of originality RT @Rick_Now: I'm done with Star Wars, The Muppets & LEGO http://t.co/tjVoNQeM
Ben
on Jan 27th, 2012
@ 10:27 am:
And yet, the Lego continues to symbolize child-like exploration and inspires our rocket-scientists to-be. These rocketeers could have placed any figure they wanted…MASK perhaps or a Micro Machine car? They chose lego.
http://boingboing.net/2012/01/26/toronto-teens-send-lego-minifi.html
Rick Liebling
on Jan 27th, 2012
@ 2:44 pm:
@bsbnyc Huh, just wrote about those yesterday: http://t.co/lBgwUQBk #adorable #fb
Ben Bloom
on Jan 27th, 2012
@ 2:46 pm:
#starwars Follow up: I’m done with Star Wars, The Muppets and LEGO by @Rick_Now http://t.co/4juhEzdu
Bénédicte Ibert
on Jan 27th, 2012
@ 4:38 pm:
Thoughts on Retromania : I'm done with Star Wars, The Muppets and LEGO http://t.co/GY2a48eQ
AMI Artifx Media
on Jan 27th, 2012
@ 8:02 pm:
I’m done with Star Wars, The Muppets and LEGO http://t.co/vjsn36v5. I'm not….mananana
Armando Alves
on Jan 28th, 2012
@ 12:41 am:
I’m done with Star Wars, The Muppets and LEGO (by @eyecube) http://t.co/LJFO19Fj
Roberto Estreitinho
on Jan 28th, 2012
@ 10:42 am:
I’m done with Star Wars, The Muppets and LEGO (by @eyecube) http://t.co/LJFO19Fj
... and dos Santos
on Jan 29th, 2012
@ 9:07 am:
I’m done with Star Wars, The Muppets and LEGO http://t.co/oTJ0M7Ny
This Week In Brand Strategy And Marketing | My Blog
on Jan 30th, 2012
@ 5:37 am:
[...] I’m Done with Star Wars, a Muppets and LEGO (on rehashing enlightenment nostalgia, during a responsibility of originality) [...]
Katie Watson
on Jan 30th, 2012
@ 12:00 pm:
RT @Rick_Now: I'm done with Star Wars, The Muppets and LEGO: Lets Move Away From The Re-Mix Culture: http://t.co/ZauddkAT
nathan miller
on Jan 30th, 2012
@ 1:04 pm:
Star Wars, Lego and The Muppets as symbols of the cultural singularity? http://t.co/8JyUkk9A
nathan miller
on Jan 30th, 2012
@ 1:04 pm:
Star Wars, Lego and The Muppets as symbols of the cultural singularity? http://t.co/8JyUkk9A
nathan miller
on Jan 30th, 2012
@ 1:04 pm:
Star Wars, Lego and The Muppets as symbols of the cultural singularity? http://t.co/8JyUkk9A
nathan miller
on Jan 30th, 2012
@ 1:04 pm:
Star Wars, Lego and The Muppets as symbols of the cultural singularity? http://t.co/8JyUkk9A
Nigel Brown
on Jan 30th, 2012
@ 1:04 pm:
Star Wars, Lego and The Muppets as symbols of the cultural singularity? http://t.co/8JyUkk9A
Nigel Brown
on Jan 30th, 2012
@ 1:04 pm:
Star Wars, Lego and The Muppets as symbols of the cultural singularity? http://t.co/8JyUkk9A
Nigel Brown
on Jan 30th, 2012
@ 1:04 pm:
Star Wars, Lego and The Muppets as symbols of the cultural singularity? http://t.co/8JyUkk9A
Nigel Brown
on Jan 30th, 2012
@ 1:04 pm:
Star Wars, Lego and The Muppets as symbols of the cultural singularity? http://t.co/8JyUkk9A
Hijack Media
on Jan 30th, 2012
@ 1:09 pm:
[good read] I’m done with Star Wars, The Muppets and LEGO http://t.co/VHqP1HEH
Dave Treston
on Jan 30th, 2012
@ 5:19 pm:
Great blog post on why we need to give Star Wars, LEGO, and the Muppets a break. http://t.co/28IZ27R4 via @PSFK
annnolan
on Jan 30th, 2012
@ 10:08 pm:
Worth a read – RT @Rick_Now: I'm done with Star Wars, The Muppets and LEGO http://t.co/sJvb40Wh
Manuel Portela
on Jan 31st, 2012
@ 3:59 pm:
I’m done with Star Wars, The Muppets and LEGO « How soon is now? http://t.co/uOnoyOM4
Arnd Jan Gulmans
on Feb 3rd, 2012
@ 9:30 am:
Pleidooi voor originaliteit in plaats van de zoveelste retro / remix / parodie met #LEGO, #Starwars of #Muppets http://t.co/ScvGyaKw
trndmrkr
on Feb 3rd, 2012
@ 9:50 am:
lets #innovate, plea for original creativity oposed to yet another retro campaign #Starwars, #Muppets thanks @arndjan http://t.co/6kyL0uZ4