CLASSMATE'S BLOG RESPONSE: Conglomeration (And Why It Is Not Always Evil)

Earlier today, Kaylee Arnett wrote a nice, researched blog post on conglomeration. While the information she said was true, I believe that conglomeration is not, as she said, only [benefiting] the businesses...[so that] we don't get anything out of it".

Conglomeration is when a larger company absorbs smaller companies. It can cause job loss, less competition, and less diverse content. Conglomeration also is efficient and brings in more money. While conglomeration has its flaws, I do not believe that is the sole reason behind no variants in today's media.

Kaylee, you listed some nice information about the most popular movies of 2012, but the thing is, I think you over-generalized the whole "no original movies" thing. Yes, they are produced by the same sort of people, however, they are all very original, in my opinion. Lets review:

• Avengers-- Yes, the concept has been used before, and overused in the process, but I can honestly say this film was not disappointing. Joss Whedon, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Hiddleston, and Scarlett Johansson are just some of the main reasons I'd say this movie was a major success. They each brought something original to the table through their acting, which made the over-used concept of superheroes something amazing. The conglomeration could've killed this movie, but it did not at all. And I await Avengers 2. 
• Skyfall-- Actually, this one was kinda bad. But I don't think conglomeration caused the failure. I think what killed it was the over-usage of James Bond's character without variation from former films. 
• The Hobbit and The Hunger Games-- Just because it's based off a book does not make it bad. They were actually really good movies. 
• Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2-- Can we not bring Twilight into this? Conglomeration doesn't have anything to do with the quality of it. The quality of the concept, I'm afraid, never existed. 

Now, to be perfectly honest, you crossed one of my personal lines when you talked about TV crime shows. Because I am writing this response after watching the much-awaited season 11 premiere of NCIS, and I can tell you, these TV shows are not conglomerated to the point where they're the same. The writings are completely different. The characters are unique, the crimes are based around real-life situations, and the storylines are so well-organized and well-written. My sister and I have been obsessed for about two years, and the show just gets better with age. If conglomeration had an effect on NCIS, it wasn't a bad one. I mean, sure, the other shows listed are similar, but NCIS is unique because it is different. There's much more emphasis on character development and storyline than other crime shows, and before you say it is just alike the other shows, I urge you to actually watch it.

To summarize, I feel that conglomeration is a problem sometimes, just not with some of the examples you named. I mean, to go so far as saying there "NO original movies" is a big accusation, because the bigger problem you're focusing on is something known as "bad writing", not "lack of originality".