So many of Post MCU Pop Movies are so mortified of being seen as “corny” or “campy” (misunderstanding the concept of Camp btw) or what have you that they’ve become allergic to sincerity and conviction.

I don’t wanna blame any one thing but they’re an easy thing to point to as to why so many movies feel the need to “assure” us “we know this is silly & we’re in on it too” which can be fine in doses but after a while those pompous weirdoes making cringe start feeling like an oasis

I’ve seen the 1995 MORTAL KOMBAT derided as “not taking anything seriously” or as camp or cheese but having just rewatched it and having seen the 2021 movie that’s not true at all. That movie is sincere af! It wholly embraces the ridiculousness of its concept w/ total conviction.

Contrast that with MK2021 which not only strips us of any sort of lavish imagery for a stifling sense of verisimilitude; it constantly and consistently “so that happened” apologizes for itself at every opportunity where it could have just played straight.

For camp/cheese there’s the 1994 STREET FIGHTER movie. But even then the joke isn’t coming from winking or knowing or undercutting/apologizing. It’s bc the movie by nature is an outright Farce/Spoof/Send Up Hollywood Genre moviemaking.

But larger point, playing something straight with sincerity and conviction isn’t the same as Being Serious All The Time No Place For Fun. And likewise camp or fun isn’t the same as having *no* sincerity. But in this current era we’ve not only conflated things we’ve flattened them