Why are they remaking old movies?!?

I don't know if you'be noticed, but there have been dozens of 80's movies that have been remade and thrown into theaters with more like Carrie and Footloose on the way. Now my question is...what the hello is going on? It's as if the producers in Hollywood that control all entertainment media are allowing movies to come through whether or not they are even good. My theory, and it may be a very paranoid stretch, is that they are feeding us these remakes and many other things in the media to somehow stop the mass public from evolving to make us easier to control. What do you think?