I have sometimes looked at old cinema and wondered, "Why did they make so many Westerns?" I figure that in some decades people will be looking at our time and asking, "Why did they make so many superhero movies?"
That's overlooking the plague of zombie stories since the turn of the century. They were pretty rare, and then, boom, you can't move without bumping into one of the things.
My pet theory is that we're reduced to beating up the dead because they can't complain.
I guess you can put aliens and AI robots in that theory as well. Except both of those have the potential to be understood.
Zombies can't be cured! Our only choice is to kill them! My Conscience is Free!
Is that something we don't ask ourselves today? Why wait decades?
The reason they made these films is because the 60+ woman demographic is the highest spending right now. People want to see their own experiences reflected in cinema.
I can't join in my head how westerns were a reflection of young and middle aged males. Possibly it depends on the demographic?
ie: middle aged men stuck in a boring job and providing for a family makes them feel powerless. Seeing a strong male on his path gives him the feeling he desires.
So maybe it's not about reflection of experiences but rather an expression of the feelings the demographic wants to feel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_shot_in_Almer%C3...
The thing is we didn't. Hollywood did. A gigantic industry devoted to churning out movies designed in some Hollywood exec's mind to make the most money possible. That's why we have so much crap.
Why is today's crap superhero crap and yesterday's Western crap? Probably because people just got bored of Westerns. Some day Westerns will be back in style. What's old will be new again.