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>How many Jobs/Apple movies do we need? One good one I suppose. Made for TV movies and low budget cash-ins don't count. I love the 1980s tech era and would love to see more films handle that. Not sure if this film goes this far back but the rise of mobile is just as good of a story, and probably more relate-able to modern audiences. >Why don't we have a decent Tesla movie? Honestly, because it would be terrible. Tesla works as a backdrop to Edison's success but he's a bit player in almost every way. This is like asking why we don't have a Paul Allen movie. Sure, those would be interesting, but not $50m plus dollar investment interesting for a risk-averse Hollywood system. Also, general audiences won't be too impressed with the guy who failed at a lot of things even though his technical achievements are impressive. Tesla is also a very unlikeable person from the writings we have of people who have met him. He doesn't have the Jobsian charm we're going to see in Apple movies. He doesn't have a Jobsian narrative. He was a stern and asocial weirdo and most likely would be somewhere on the autism spectrum today. It also doesn't help that his ideas went full wack-town towards the end. In a desperate attempt to make money things like death rays, perpetual energy, bullshit medical devices, etc became his norm. Not to mention his vision of wireless energy was ultimately a non-starter as it would pollute the spectrum enough to make things like TV or cell phones impossible. On a related note, I think creatives struggled with telling Alan Turing's story, but at least with Turing we have all his influence, published papers, his victimhood, and his amazing WWII experiences. Even then, the Imitation Game wasn't very historically accurate. Tesla doesn't have any crowd-pleasing themes of overcoming adversity and his dark side is really dark - endless advocating eugenics, wanting to sterilize the poor, never having any sort of romance, becoming bitter, ultimately failing at his dreams, etc. He isn't this kindly grandfather type his fans make him out to be. He's a mess, honestly. A smart mess, but a mess nonetheless. I think any movie that makes him look relatable or a "hero" would ultimately be dishonest. By the business standards of the time, he was treated fairly. He just couldn't launch his own businesses successfully. |