Comfort media, yeah. But also: “A film like Wall-E exemplifies what Robert Pfaller has called ‘interpassivity’: the film performs our anti-capitalism for us, allowing us to continue to consume with impunity”.
So it’s not just a problem with media having no artistic ambitions, or being entirely valued in terms of box office or binge metrics - it’s that even the media which seems to share and extoll our values are simply part of maintaining our compliance with the status quo.
Art is always being constrained in these ways because good art is subversive. Fallout 1 was good art.
I’ve been quite coffee dependent ever since about age 16. Sometimes I like to take a week off, facilitated by a massive two litre teapot. In summer, iced tea is my crutch of choice.