Wartime misery paradoxically strengthened Hollywood by increasing demand for fantasy escape.

Evidence

The principle changes that have had particularly strong impacts in this regard include wars, major changes in rules and regulations, the advent of TV and more recently of DVD and new computerised technologies (Scott, 2002). Misery that the war (WWII) years brought, for instance, ironically triggered an improvement in the fortunes of Hollywood, as it generated additional motivation for an escape into fantasy. — Georg Schreyögg and Jörg Sydow, The Hidden Dynamics of Path Dependence, 851

Categorization

• CANDY: A quick, retellable irony: catastrophe in the world boosted the industry that sold escape from it.
• XREF: Connects to the broader claim that exogenous shocks (TV, DVD, regulation) reorder industry paths more than internal logic does.