Whimsy

How has audience taste in movie tone shifted over the past few decades, and what cultural or industry forces may explain why whimsical filmmaking now feels dated?

Audience taste in movie tone hasn’t moved in one clean line over the past few decades. The evidence points to a broad shift away from detached irony and toward sincerity, earnestness, and real world stakes, with a lot of back and forth along the way. At the same time, industry...