A common anecdote among people living in the modern age of social media is the evidence of a decline in the quality of the entertainment we consume. Many critics and movie-goers have agreed that we have found ourselves in the worst era of film-making history. A surplus in sequels, remakes, and lazy story writing have flooded the big screens and television channels. What streaming services and social media have done to the entertainment industry recently was thought to be isolated to fiction, but has recently shown that it can infiltrate the sports world as well. This is no more apparent with the recent fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul that was streamed on Netflix.
Clearly the boxing match was set up as a way for Jake Paul to get more publicity and become more relevant to more people. Heavy coverage by news outlets and social media posts had everybody talking about this fight. Recycling characters is a common trope that has shown up in several big franchises to make a quick buck, and this is exactly what can be seen here. Bringing back Mike Tyson from retirement just to fight a pseudo-celebrity is a clear attempt to bring more viewers to the sport of boxing. This maybe would have worked, but the fight was a disappointing watch for all who viewed it.
Was the fight staged? It’s unclear whether or not Mike Tyson was made to lose, but the fact that it’s in question proves the artificiality of the match. People don’t want to question whether what they’re seeing is real. Issues have arisen already with AI being too realistic to differentiate between it and real life. A trend has started where entertainment tends to mock reality too much. When people are already seeing the face of a famous influencer every day on their cell phones, it’s the last thing they want to see when trying to escape that reality. The role of entertainment as a form of escapism is starting to become less and less important to those who produce it, and the quality of what we consume has gone with it.
