Should Hollywood blame the trailers?

Despite the Sturm und Drang about the historic downturn in the Hollywood box office—a convenient gnashing of teeth, considering that the aftermarket of video, DVD and cable has been the real font of revenue since the mid-1980s—movie marketing has somehow escaped criticism. That’s peculiar, considering that what trailers basically do is assure people that there will be nothing new for them to see in the foreseeable future. Trailers for your standard action picture are virtually indistinguishable in tone, emphasis and effects (from the stuttered ramping slo-mo to the jail-door-slamming sounds punctuating every predictable edit).