Any cultural critic can complain about the lack of creativity in American popular culture right now and the unmet ¡°hunger for a certain kind of popular art¡± amid so much institutionalized unoriginality.
It¡¯s a bit harder to give writers or filmmakers specific marching orders. What exact kind of popular art are we missing? What specific achievement should American creators be aiming for?
Nevertheless, let¡¯s try a thought heading into the new year, one occasioned by recent social media discourse, my Christmas shopping and personal interests, and the box office success of ¡°Wicked.¡± If I were giving out assignments for would-be invigorators of our stuck culture, I would suggest new experiments in the national fantastic and a quest for the ¡°Great American Fantasy¡± story.
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