Court jesters, freak shows, and rabid $5 whores locked in a virtual MMA-style octagon while engaging in perpetual slaughter and disembowelment of each other for dominance; that's the current state of entertainment business.
Court Jesters
Entertainers of the 20th century were basically glorified court jesters. Instead of being hired by monarchies and nobility, they had agents, signed contracts, and were propelled to stardom in the film, record, or performing arts industries. They would act, recite, sing, perform, dance, or prance around once showtime started; or as also agreed upon in the fine print.
To get ahead, the jesters of the previous era perfected their craft to a level that got them signed, and the motivated ones worked hard to keep their gig. To keep interest alive, they changed with the times; and the best of them had substance in their art which offered something deeper than surface level glitz, in turn creating many classics that will endure the test of time.
Most seasoned veterans from this epoch will giddily share stories about their glory years, but they're likely to also have plenty of tales about failures, seedy deals gone awry, and encounters with shady motherfuckers. With most of the undesirable moments happening behind closed doors and out of sight from public view, the jesters were able to maintain a glamorous reputation while acting as if few or no problems existed at all.
Forebodingly, the murky waters at the dawn of the internet brought upon a sea of change for the jesters. Nearly all were wounded by monetary losses from illegal downloads or black market sales of their products; while some of the industry's finest had their images tarnished by scandals, widespread tell-alls, or salacious rumours that were easily propagated in the new media.
In today's world, the living legends from this era are kept propped up by their decades-long financial successes, name recognition, live performances, and extensive back catalogs. Additionally, the Boomers and Gen Xers aren't ready to say goodbye to their jesters quite yet. Eager to show their kids and grandkids how great their generations were, they keep the jesters alive; for once the jesters die, they will too.
With court jesters of the bygone era still hanging on by the skin of their teeth like dinosaurs shortly after Chicxulub, new breeds have evolved and started taking over the entertainment industry of the 21st century; the freak shows and rabid $5 whores.
The Freak Shows
As the age of social media ushered in, anyone with some sort of abnormal skill could record themselves performing their trick in front of a camera and awe the masses. The primordial phase of this new medium showcased the goofballs versus the freak shows. The goofballs offered short-lived chuckles, while the freak shows offered displays of more awe-inspiring superhuman-ish performances which led to them being the first to gain real traction.
The freak shows are usually Millennials repurposing cool old tricks from their parent's generation as they film themselves, and they pass their novelties off as something new and fresh; as if nothing pre-2000 existed before. The freakiest of them perform in juiced-up styles, in robotic perfection, in venues not traditionally used, with body parts not traditionally used, or with some custom-made unique object that provides an otherworldly "What is that?" wonder to the viewer.
The freak shows are most impressive to people from developing countries who had never seen such things before, or to those who never bothered to get out of the house and buy a ticket to any sort of pre-internet artistic performance.
The look-at-me, cover song, and reenacted performance style of the freak shows often lacks the ability to marry original content with a sense of magic like the court jesters did. Undeniably, the freak shows with x-factor have honed their craft and are impressive. However, viewers are often left with a sense that the performer has spent too much time in isolation, seems a bit socially awkward, and is desperate for attention; thus leaving large swaths of their audience feeling momentarily inspired but a little hollow inside once the show is over.
The surviving court jesters occasionally try their hand at competing with the freak shows in the new medium, but they often wind up looking like parents trying to be cool at their kid's party.
There's also an intergenerational hybrid breed of jester-freaks that do their best to maintain the dignity of the era they grew up loving while attempting to reach a similar legendary status, but continually fail to do so because they lack a sufficient budget and a world with an attention span.
With an audience in constant seek of something new and fresh, the best of the established freak shows desperately clutch onto their demographic and try to keep them interested; while the weak wither away and are easily replaced by the rabid $5 whores.
Rabid $5 Whores
After two decades of an industry experimenting with how to turn online media into dollars, Gen Z was the first generation to learn about online entertainment from age 0–granted they didn't have parents who restricted access. The result is a new breed of performers who figured out how to use algorithms to their benefit, and they're willing to do just about anything for attention and a chance to make $0.01 per click or stream; if they're lucky.
Without shame or hesitation, they commit faux pas such as staring straight into the camera and/or make complete jackasses out of themselves in front of millions of people.
Some of the R$5Ws are unquestionably skilled, but watching them can sometimes feel like being a chaperone at a party filled with sexually awkward teenagers who are probably sneaking a sip of booze behind a closed door when you're not looking. Likewise, like a rabid salivating dog in heat ready to mount the camera, the R$5W performers can also leave viewers wondering which potential mate the newest picture or video was made for; surely not just for the random viewer.
For the R$5Ws, class and decency are a thing of the past. Followers, subscribers, and influencer status surely matter most, and as long the advertisers keep paying the R$5Ws for their services, the R$5Ws keep on trucking and... well. After all, with enough tricks, continuous revenue streams of $5 adds up. Some even get rich.
Discretely, the remaining court jesters and freak shows marvel at the R$5Ws, and some may even want to abandon everything they've worked hard for and known values for a chance to enter the R$5W's realm of money earned from desperate performances or lame humour; but the court jesters and freak shows are more akin to high class escorts who know their value, and most of them just can't bring themselves to stoop that low.
The Battle Royale
The court jesters, freak shows, and rabid $5 whores will continue their fight-to-the-death for the foreseeable future with no clear winner in sight.
Viewers may dream of entertainment filled with performers that possess the class acts of the court jesters, the skills of the freak shows, and willingness of the R$5Ws; but in order to achieve that, a majority of viewers must do something they are no longer accustomed to... paying good money for their entertainment. When cheap entertainment reigns supreme, so do low budgets and low quality.
In truth, all performers throughout history have always been a mixture of court jester, freak show, and rabid $5 whore; and any new entertainer entering the industry will need to embrace one or all of these qualities... there's no other option.
No healthy-minded individual would ever dare enter the entertainment industry. For eternity, entertainment and the arts have been a battle royale of outcasts and kids with a messed up family life who fling themselves into a never-ending fight to make a living with a skill they worked hard, or not-so-hard, to achieve.
New MMA octagons sell online for as low as $1,000 or less, so set a real one up in the backyard and invite all of the local community's entertainers over for a brawl. Enjoy the show.