I am not impressed by those assertions.
A
Gallup poll earlier this year found that, in 2021, the average American read a dozen books. Only about 17% read no books at all. About 44% read 6 books or more. 17% read 11 books or more. And, that 17% reads
much more, to bring the average up that high.
There's about 332 million people in the US. That upper end gives us
56 million people from which we might draw scriptwriters.
So, that logic you give fails in the face of data.
So, with respect, I don't know that the issue is on the scriptwriter's end. Because the scriptwriter is hardly the only person involved in writing the script.
I was reading an excerpt from an interview with David Goyer just a couple of days ago, in which he related a couple of memorable pieces of executive feedback on scripts.
He did a script for a Doctor Strange movie a while back. It never got made, but why becomes apparent when you know that one bit of script feedback he got was for there to be
less magic in the film.
On
Man of Steel, he was told not to have Superman use the pod he landed in to destroy General Zod's ship. When asked why, the executive replied words to the effect, "Well, if the pod is destroyed, how can he get ever back to Krypton?" (Yes, the first half hour of the film concerns the destruction of Krypton).
So, maybe not so much blame on the scriptwriter, hm?