Filmmaking technology continues to improve and revolutionize our movie-viewing experience. Innovations like high definition, Blu Ray, IMAX and 3D have captivated audiences into purchasing specialized entertainment sets to experience these upgrades from the comfort of their own homes.

The entertainment industry has consumers in the palm of its hand. With such loyal customers, you would think they would reward their patrons with quality productions to play on their state-of-the-art equipment. Instead, writers and producers have become lazy. Rather than taking the time to write a new and creative story, they decided to take extremely successful movies and either make lesser quality sequels or simply remake them. This way, writers do not have to put as much thought into their work, audiences are already familiar with the plot, and the film industry still gets to make a profit.

The saying “if something isn’t broken, don’t fix it” comes to mind when thinking of all the movies that have been turned into two or three or even seven part series in the past decade. The first “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie was a masterpiece with an all-star cast. It had a creative and intriguing storyline and was very fun and exciting to watch. Transformers and Spiderman had incredible special effects and brought two of America’s favorite childhood comics to the big screen. Even the first part of the Saw saga was imaginative, disturbing and had one of the best twist endings I have seen from a horror movie.

None of these films were “broken.” They proved to be hits in the box office and popular blockbusters. Producers saw their success and could not help but try and push these plots until they lost all originality. From that came two movies that included Keith Richards as a pirate, Peter Parker falling into an “emo” phase, and countless attempts to try and fit as much gore into 90 minutes of film as possible. It was sad to see quality movies be tainted by their weaker counterparts. Unfortunately, they were selling like gold and the film industry was raking in cash from the box office.

This trend has evolved into something that no one could have seen coming. Before, producers thought it was acceptable to remake the same story only once every few years. Now, two movies about Snow White are coming out simultaneously. The same characters, the same plotline, and the same famous “mirror mirror on the wall.” Teachers and professors throughout my education have been preaching to me that I need to be creative and innovative if I want to succeed in life. All I have to do is join the entertainment business and recycle old ideas and become rich. So much for ingenuity.