Brent Stensrude Discussion ?

Reading the commodity batman article got me thinking a bit about the newer movies that are coming out in more recent years. From the short amount of the batman film we watched in class I thought the Batman turned into a commodity the second the newsman/media became interested in getting a story from the police officer. He wanted to "sell" the batman. This article talks about how mass produced culture is a business. Well of course it is, that's why its mass produced because many want it and will pay for it. So anyway, I was wondering what people thought about older films and newer films, do you think movies/films have become more of a commodity today than they were say in 80's? Many movies today do not gain much profit other than when they hit the box office so I was curious if the film makers were more about toys and extra stuff in the past than they are today.