Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

Harry Potter and the Culture of AI | The Backdrop (Patreon)

Published:
2026-04-07 17:42:57
Imported:
2026-04

Content

This week's episode of The Backdrop is now available!Apologies for the delay on the Patreon post.

Files

Harry Potter and the Culture of AI | The Backdrop

OpenAI has announced the end of Sora, its AI video generation tool, after hemorrhaging money and users. The same week, Warner Bros. released the first trailer for their Harry Potter reboot, and it looks exactly like the successful film franchise that came before it. These two things are more connected than they might appear... This week Darren Mooney explores the economics of generative AI, why many modern adaptations keep looking identical to their predecessors, and the uncomfortable possibility that we're all getting exactly what we asked for. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SecondWindGroup Second Wind Merch: https://shop.secondwindgroup.com/

Comments

SCP 3887B

Setting aside the implication that fans of Star Wars Legends is why the sequel trilogy failed, the problem isn't that general audiences are willing to choose slop, its that we aren't given any viable alternative. Just like physical media, over time we are getting less quality push on us to the point that statistically that's whats going to be successful

Ryan A.

This, exactly. The AI slop content is so much better than what we get from the legitimate source because it isn't afraid to make mistakes and hitch at times.

SCP 3887B

That is absolutely NOT what I'm saying! Not sure where you got that idea. If you're talking about my comment on the SW Sequel Trilogy, let me go on record that at their worse, they were miles better than anything AI has ever made. Unless maybe you mistyped somewhere.

Colonel Sandurz

Another great video essay from Darren. This one left me wondering, in the context of some previous Backdrop essays, about the long-term viability of endless AI nostalgia farming based on properties that are meaningful to Gen X and Millennials (see, e.g., "The Hand-Me-Down Nostalgia of Skeleton Crew" [1] and "Maybe Kids Don't Need Superheroes When They've Got Chainsaw Man" [2]). Are the kids going to want AI videos of rehashed stories featuring Harry Potter and Darth Vader, or will they even care about those characters in the same way? And if they don't, what characters step into that role if we're no longer creating new ones, or at least not creating new ones with the same cultural resonance? And, finally, if the answer is that there are no such new characters, how can the model replicate itself going forward? I have some hypotheses, each grimmer than the last ... [1] https://www.patreon.com/posts/117434749?collection=206904 [2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/152939828?collection=206904

Davsau

I saw an argument somewhere recently, can’t recall where. Anywho, they suggested that the point of the Harry Potter TV show was not actually nostalgia, but rather to erase and replace the movies in fans’ hearts. Or at least that this is JK Rowling’s goal. That this is Rowling being a petty, hateful troglodyte towards the actors who rejected her by erasing their contribution to Harry Potter fandom, and that this is why it cleaves so closely to the films. Not sure I agree, but it was an interesting idea.

Marcus Cowen

Really interesting analysis. Thanks once again Darren.

Dan Chisarick

Compelling original content takes time to create. Building a community around new IP takes time. The impact of a new work takes time to digest. Fan contributions to a work are generally appreciated because of how much time they had to invest to realize their creation. The promise of AI is that it will massively reduce the time needed to create content.

Bj Last

Completely agree. As an example, I don't see the box office performance of the Disney "live-action" versions of things as proof that there's audience demand vs. a lack of options. Parent(s) want to take their kid(s) to a kids movie, their options are the "live-action" remake or nothing

SCP 3887B

Another thing that helps some studios, like Disney, is they have like 3-4 generations of nostalgia when everyone else has at best 2. So not only is it the parents nostalgia, but it could be a family long one.

bluemage27034

The proliferance of AI and its widespread acceptance being a result of nostalgia baiting audiences for decades is a very interesting perspective. I tend to think more about the suits and tech oligarchs pushing the stuff, not how some large portion of society actually wolfs it down.

Darren Mooney

I am a big fan of the idea of things being multifactoral, in that it is not as easy as one thinks to foist something the public doesn't want upon them - look at the Metaverse - but if you can cultivate an appetite for it, you're golden.

Darren Mooney

Yep. It's a complete rejection of the idea of process and context as relevant to engagement with an object. It treats the object as an end unto itself, and so the shortest most cost effective (to the company) path to producing that object becomes an ideal.