Writers and directors no longer aim to persuade us with compelling themes or innovate storytelling. Every picture — from Marvel’s CGI revolution to torture porn to the raunchiest teen comedy — follows the same formula: shock and awe. In a religious America, where traditional norms still ruled the day, sexual debauchery was genuinely transgressive. But today, when the 1960s free love ethos is both the norm and the ideal, there is a far narrower margin on what sparks a true thrill of rebellion. This fact is lost on Hollywood, which has been doubling down for decades. But a new survey suggests that a Gen Z desperately desires a paradigm shift. …

Writers and directors no longer aim to persuade us with compelling themes or innovate storytelling. Every picture — from Marvel’s CGI revolution to torture porn to the raunchiest teen comedy — follows the same formula: shock and awe. In a religious America, where traditional norms still ruled the day, sexual debauchery was genuinely transgressive. But today, when the 1960s free love ethos is both the norm and the ideal, there is a far narrower margin on what sparks a true thrill of rebellion. This fact is lost on Hollywood, which has been doubling down for decades. But a new survey suggests that a Gen Z desperately desires a paradigm shift.

[I’m not even sure it’s that deep. The problem with transgression is that it eventually becomes the norm, at least in terms of entertainment. When that happens, transgression from the older norm becomes tedious and redundant. — Ed]