Turn off the phone. Dim the lights. Watch something that makes you feel alive.

But 2024 and 2025 are proving that audiences are rebelling against mediocrity. Look at the massive success of sprawling, ambitious projects like Dune: Part Two , Oppenheimer (yes, a three-hour biopic about a physicist broke a billion dollars), or the emotional gut-punch of The Last of Us .

You don't have to watch the new Star Wars show just because it exists. You don't have to finish a book you hate. You don't have to listen to that podcast just because it’s #1 on the charts.

We don’t need infinite scroll. We need a good story we can sink our teeth into. Here is my challenge to you: Stop treating entertainment like a chore to get through.

We want to feel the heat of the desert, the weight of history, or the ache of a character’s loss. Passive viewing is out; visceral experience is in. For the last decade, irony ruled pop culture. Everything had to be a meta-joke. Characters had to wink at the camera. If a moment got too sincere, we had to undercut it with a quip.

In a fractured world, the media we choose to consume is the wallpaper of our minds. Choose wallpaper that inspires you, challenges you, or makes you laugh until your stomach hurts.

Let’s be honest for a second. How many times have you finished a movie or a TV show this year and immediately thought: “Wait, what just happened?”

Not because the plot was confusing, but because you were scrolling on your phone for half the runtime.