Shared mass cultural events now outweigh the predicted fragmentation into infinite niches

Evidence

Even with cultural fragmentation, Barbenheimer demonstrated the eternal need for communal participation in a centralized cultural conversation. The twin hits underscored a return to “head” culture, defying Chris Anderson’s “long tail” theory. Instead of spreading into infinite niches, cultural dialogue focused on a few shared events. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 653

Categorization

• XREF: This is the strongest evidence AGAINST a strict fragmentation-of-taste narrative — relevant to whether Marx’s blankness claim holds or whether head culture is the actual signature he’s missed.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: if Barbenheimer reversed the long-tail prediction, is ‘omnivore monoculture’ really about consuming everything, or about converging on fewer, bigger shared objects?