I am *mesmerized* by this video. Thanks for sharing!

You absolutely can write a Warhorse, though. Just because you're being discouraged from it (which I think is dumb, and the opposite of what a creative program ought to be doing for you) doesn't mean you can't still do it. And the people who write Warhorses are going to be the people who hear their professors or whomever telling them it's not a good (or widely-marketable) idea, and go for it anyway.