The 1980s through the 2000s were the peak of the monoculture. Hollywood learned from “Jaws” and “Star Wars” that big-budget movies released in virtually every theater in the country at the same time could produce outsize returns. “Back to the Future,” “Batman,” “Jurassic Park” and the Harry Potter and Marvel series all followed. It was the era of tentpole blockbusters. To understand how things have changed, consider the case of anime, the Japanese animation style that used to live in the remotest corners of video stores and is now one of the hottest businesses in Hollywood. There may not be a lot of anime fans, but they’re a passionate group who turn out to theaters for hits like “Demon Slayer” and all subscribe to Sony’s streaming service Crunchyroll, which caters specifically to them.
I mean k-pop demon hunters took the world by storm. Maybe monoculture in entertainment is just as bad as monoculture in agriculture?
Quote Citation: Ben Fritz, “The Rise and Fall of the American Monoculture - WSJ”, Jan. 19, 2026 at 12:00 pm ET, https://www.wsj.com/business/media/american-pop-culture-history-ce8672f1