But Dune oozed confidence. Villeneuve bet that audiences could handle slow cinema. He bet that Hans Zimmer’s bagpipes and vocal drones would replace the need for a quippy Marvel one-liner. The film made $400 million and won six Oscars. Why? Because in an era of menu-driven content, Dune demanded ritualistic attention. It treated the viewer like an adult.
Here is how confidence became the most valuable currency in entertainment content and popular media. If 2010s television taught women to be "flawed but likable" (think Jane the Virgin or early Girls ), 2021 television taught women to be terrifyingly competent without remorse. confidence is sexy momxxx 2021 xxx webdl 540
While the Roy children are anxious wrecks, the show’s style exuded supreme confidence. The cold, expensive silence; the refusal to explain corporate jargon; the willingness to leave a cliffhanger unresolved for an entire season— Succession trusted its audience to keep up. In a streaming era of "second-screen viewing," Succession required you to put down your phone. That demand for attention is the essence of artistic power. But Dune oozed confidence
Conversely, Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up was a film riddled with anxiety disguised as satire. The constant cameos, the screaming matches, the hammer-to-the-head metaphor—it was the sound of a filmmaker who did not trust the audience to get it. It is no coincidence that a film about the failure to communicate is the least confident blockbuster of the year. Part IV: TikTok and the Rise of the "Main Character" Energy If 2021 had a catchphrase, it was "Main Character Energy." The phrase blew up on TikTok to describe someone moving through the world with unshakeable self-belief, whether walking down a grocery aisle or quitting a toxic job. The film made $400 million and won six Oscars