Legitimation

If didn’t know any better, I would assume Hunger Games Author Suzanne Collins got her inspiration from this article. In an almost disconcerting revolutionary tone, this piece documents a so-called turning point for the entity of the audience.
Much like every other ‘progressive’ opinion piece, it is all about legitimation. The article outlines a transition in the audience from purely passive, to one that instead creates its own content. The article, however, misses a very important point. There was no ‘turning point’. Since the very beginning, the everyday human has been producing odes, penning verse and producing some sort of media. Whether it be a 15th-century artisan creating a stained glass window as a tribute to his patron saint or a tween in 2015 making a Sherlock fan video as a tribute to their kindred spirit; Mr Cumberbatch.
There was never the Hunger-Games-type break from a tyrannous regime of stuffy Caucasians running a billion dollar industry. The simple fact is, two spheres exist; the sphere that makes stuff in the hopes that others like it and buy a ticket, and then there’re the people who buy tickets and occasionally hit that record button with everything on auto.
The article is simply highlighting the point that in recent years, technology has made it easier for the everyday human to create print, video and audio content. Even this is a misconception. Aside from her day job, my Grandmother’s hobby was photography. She shot and even performed photoshop-esque touch-ups during developing. That was around 60 years ago. Amateur disc jockeys have existed since that medium was established. Every second letter from the front at Gallipoli contains some sort of verse. No matter what stage in human history, If the work of a ticket-buyer was exceptional, they became a ticket seller. Thas how it still is now, only ticket selling is much more vogue.