The Sky Has Been Falling for 120 Years 🌩️
Hey everyone,
You've probably seen the news: Darren Aronofsky just released "On This Day… 1776," a short-form Revolutionary War series created through his AI studio with Google DeepMind. SAG voice actors, AI visuals.
I haven't watched it yet, so I'm not here to tell you it's good or bad.
But I AM here to talk about the reaction — because we've seen this exact movie before.
And I mean that literally.
1903 — "The Great Train Robbery" comes out. Audiences panic at the image of a gun pointed at the camera. Some people want films banned entirely.
Late 1920s — Sound arrives. Silent film purists, including legendary filmmakers, declare it a gimmick that will destroy the art form. Chaplin refuses to make a talkie for years.
Then it was color. Television. Home video. CGI. Digital editing. Streaming.
The sky has been falling for 120 years. And yet here we are — with more ways to tell stories than at any point in human history.
Now it's AI's turn to be the villain.
Look, I get it. There are real ethical concerns. We should absolutely have conversations about compensation, attribution, and impact on working artists. Those conversations matter, and I'm not dismissing them.
But the instant pile-on? The "AI slop" mockery before most people have even watched it? That's not thoughtful criticism. That's fear wearing the costume of principle.
An Academy Award-nominated filmmaker is experimenting publicly. Taking a risk. Whether this project lands or not, he's pushing into territory most of Hollywood is too scared to touch.
For those of us in this community — many of you would never have had access to traditional production resources. These tools are giving you a voice. That's not a threat to creativity. That's an expansion of it.
So yeah. I'm going to watch Aronofsky's series with an open mind. Maybe it's great. Maybe it's rough around the edges. Either way, I'd rather see someone swinging than an industry paralyzed by the same fears it's had since a train first rolled toward a camera.
What do you think? Have you watched it yet?
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Lawrence Jordan
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The Sky Has Been Falling for 120 Years 🌩️
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