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The first time a projected moving picture was shown to a paying audience was in December 1895 in Paris, France. The Lumière brothers achieved this by using a device of their own invention, the Cinématographe, thus establishing film as a medium and a business. However, audiences and the broader culture were not quick to embrace this bold and innovative change. In fact, many naysayers regarded films as little more than a fad, one that would ultimately prove incapable of standing the test of time. Over the ensuing decades, film technology not only grew increasingly advanced and capable, but audiences themselves also became more accustomed to this new medium. Consequently, by the 1920s, film had become an established artistic medium and financial business, remaining a cultural institution ever since.
The story of any formative technology’s earliest days is very similar to this: any disruptive and truly innovative new invention is met with disdain upon release for how it shakes up the status quo. Just as film was largely dismissed in the 1890s, seen as an inferior artistic expression destined to be a flash in the pan, cryptocurrency faced significant skepticism in the early 2000s. Despite its invention in 2009, it wasn’t until 2020 that the first-ever cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, began to gain traction and find success.
However, as it gained popularity, prognosticators and pundits widely dismissed digital currency. Today, however, cryptocurrency has become a pillar of modern finance, as demonstrated by the current Bitcoin price. Over the last five years, the technology has been refined and fine-tuned, allowing consumers worldwide to become accustomed to it. As a result, like many other innovations before it, cryptocurrencies are now more widely accepted.
How Movies Change Perception
Ironically, movies have begun to play a significant role in shaping the cultural consensus on cryptocurrency. Films have long held immense power in swaying an audience’s opinion on a given subject. By the very nature of the medium, films possess a unique sense of authority, in which the filmmaker lays out a series of facts and draws conclusions from them, all while guiding the audience along the exact same line of thought. Because of this, ever since their invention, movies have been utilized to help sell consumers on various boundary-pushing or new ideas.
A clear and overt example of this is any form of propaganda, which is often used to convince a given population of the viability of a war or international cause. However, there are many more nuanced ways in which film can serve to reshape cultural narratives. For example, Crocodile Dundee was an Australian-made film and character, but one whose international success ultimately served to redefine cultural expectations of Australia as a country. The distinct jargon and tone of actor Paul Hogan’s performance, along with the tie-in marketing for the film, would go on to make phrases like “shrimp on the barbie” iconic and forever associated with the country, despite their lack of relevance to Australians as a people.
Bitcoin’s Gradual Move into Media
To this end, movies and television shows have begun to feature elements such as Bitcoin in an attempt to appear more modern, and the cultural legacy surrounding cryptocurrency at large is evolving as a direct result. While several overt cryptocurrency documentaries have been made, explicitly covering the subject in a more traditional manner, these do little to change the minds of those who aren’t already active crypto investors, as average consumers are far less likely to watch a crypto documentary.
However, when far more mainstream shows such as The Big Bang Theory or The Blacklist feature cryptocurrency references in a reasonably casual manner, it serves to normalize the digitized currency in the minds of the audience.
Final Thoughts
As Bitcoin's role in the economic universe expands, so too does the cultural frame through which it is perceived. Media, especially mainstream media and television, have played a significant role in mainstreaming disruptive technologies, bringing them from fringe concepts into everyday conversation. While documentaries serve to inform, it’s casual, often unvritical mentions in popular shows that subtly shape public perception and reduce the intimidation barrier for non-experts. Much like it took film time to win over the public, cryptocurrency is being adopted in popular culture with the help of the very same medium. As Bitcoin becomes more deeply rooted in storylines, character arcs, and modern narratives, media will remain a low-key but influential driving force behind its broader social acceptance.
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