I’ve included this footnote in a couple of articles recently, but let’s talk about the C-word.

“Content”. 

It’s a dirty word to many pundits and analysts and first off, I get it. It seems demeaning to dismissively label all filmic art as mere “content”. It feels too consumerist, commercial, what have you, like artists are just workers in a factory cranking out more product or, in this case, “content” and all content is just consumed. 

But let me defend it, linguistically. 

First, it’s short and concise. It’s just one of many ways to say “movies and TV shows” (or, more accurately, “movies, TV shows, specials, sports programming, live shows, and more”.  I also often write “titles”, which some people hate just as much as “content”. 

But I interchangeably use all three, writing “Movies and TV shows”, “content” and “titles”. Why? Because repetitive prose is boring. You need synonyms. Indeed, today I had to refer to Star Wars shows and films.

That said, does anyone have any alternatives?