Today, Transformers: Dark of the Moon crossed an increasingly irrelevant milestone when it passed the $1 billion mark in total worldwide gross. The Michael Bay-directed seizure test — er, movie — became the third film this summer to hit that once-magical figure, following on the heels of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 2.

So, what does this mean? A few things. First of all, it’s no longer relevant to measure movies by their total worldwide gross, considering the outrageous surcharges each of these films demanded for their gimmicky 3-D. Second, this means that, as a whole, audiences don’t care about film critics. Remember them? The people whose job it is to see more movies than you so they can recommend what is good? Yeah, them. You should listen to them.  Third, it means that people no longer care enough to seek out anything truly good. There are plenty of great movies still being made, but they’ve been relegated to art house theaters and indy labels. And the few good, mainstream, tentpole films studios manage to make (accidentally, I think) struggle to make a tenth of what Transformers made: Super 8, a widely-praised original story, barely scratched $150 million. Ditto X-Men: First Class, a comic book franchise sequel that alienated audiences by being good.

I want you to really think about what this means. Our culture takes pride in competitiveness and being a winner. But in this case, we’re just rewarding the movie that had the most to spend, that charged you the most for ticket prices, beat you over the head with advertising, and exploited a brand name to try and win your affection. Time will tell if these movies will be remembered.

I, for one, have already forgotten them.