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Notes -
There’s a difference between strategy and reflex. I think what you’re seeing from Hollywood is the latter. Mass media hasn’t yet come to terms with the fact that it’s Balkanizing.
Producers want to be culturally relevant. Audiences want to feel like they’re witnessing the next big thing. Both are measuring success by the moviegoing culture of their childhoods. Neither has adapted to the realities of modern movie distribution, which has made movies much more accessible but also softened their cultural impact.
The easiest way for producers to defend their egos (and budgets) is cherry-picking. Conveniently, technology has also increased the accessibility of reviews, diluting the influence of movie critics. As it turns out, it’s much easier to discredit Internet randos than critics with skin in the game. “Racism” is occasionally a convenient way to gerrymander a line around the loudest critics of a film.
Audiences buy in whenever it is in their own interest. The obvious examples are all-female reboots and 80s nostalgia grabs, but I’ll add another genre: the Christian drama. It doesn’t matter if Fireproof is critically panned; it fills a market niche. They’ve got their own awards and their own box-office success.
Hollywood doesn’t want to play to that model because it spent so long as the cultural touchstone. Hence, racism.
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