Whenever anygeneration eases into society’s driver’s seat, they have to listen to the previous generations bitch and moan endlessly. The human race really needs to retire the words “in my day,” because they’re often followed by the dumbest things people could say.
Baby Boomers are no exc eption. Generation X and Millennials have had to put up with Baby Boomers telling them they’re inferior, they’re soft and weak and stupid and they don’t deserve to exist for years. And as we saw during the Pandemic, whenever those two long suffering generations take a shot back, Boomers invoke their inner victim and cry discrimination and accuse everyone else of ageism before falling back on self-righteous judgement and shaking their fists angrily at every cloud in the sky.
Entertainment is no different. And the geriatric crowd really need to shut it.
Movie legend Martin Scorsese got the ball rolling a few years ago by declaring that the MCU and other super hero moves weren’t cinema. Avengers: Endgame had just slaughtered the global box office (in historical fashion) and Scorsese was getting ready to debut his crime drama The Irishman on Netflix, so there is the possibility that he was just ginning up headlines to attract eyeballs to his latest work (though more on him a little later).
But Godfather and Bram Stoker’s Dracula director Francis Ford Coppola doubled down on Scorsese’s words days later, announcing to the entire world (or the few people interested) that the MCU was “despicable.” Notorious Millennial hater Bill Maher went out of his way to dismiss the death of comics and pop culture icon Stan Lee before Lee’s body was even cold. Maher responded to the backlash his initial comments provoked a few months later, by not only reminding the entire world that he didn’t care about Lee or his death, but that he also considered Lee’s fans losers who were beneath his regard. Around that same time Maher also blamed super hero movies for the rise of Donald Trump (which may be the dumbest thing anyone has ever said on any subject).
Mickey Rourke also went on a tirade against Marvel and Disney not too long ago. Among his numerous complaints was the acting, which he called “crap.” For those keeping score, you may remember that Rourke was in a Marvel movie himself, depicting the villainous Whiplash in 2010’s Iron Man 2. Was he admitting that his own performance in that movie was crap? Or was he just running his mouth?
With the MCU gearing up to lead Hollywood out of the COVID-19 dark ages with four potential blockbusters dropping over the next seven months (and DisneyPlus becoming a dominant player in the streaming market), you can be guaranteed there are more members of the “old guard” just chomping at the bit to bash the entire genre and its fans (even though comic book movies are keeping Hollywood’s wheels turning and will likely save the industry post pandemic).
Here’s why they all need to shut up.
Let’s first take another look at the first domino to fall; Mr. Scorsese. He tried to clarify his remarks by comparing super hero films to amusement parks, devoid of revelation and mystery. He claimed that he had tried to watch them, but discovered they weren’t for him.
Fair enough. The MCU and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and Zack Snyder or anything else comic book related aren’t for everyone. Just like Hallmark movies, rom-coms, Pixar flicks and horror movies aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. Just like I’m sure Scorsese would admit that Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and The Departed weren’t everyone’s preference either. But he didn’t stop there. He said that he feared for Hollywood’s future. He said that comic book movies were sucking the oxygen out of the multiplex and a consumer’s entire selection was reduced to super hero fare. He’s afraid that studios will stop making what he considers “real” movies, with every other genre sacrificed to the raging monstrosity known as the MCU.
Which is pure B.S.
Scorsese made these remarks in the fall of 2019. Do you know how many MCU movies came out that year? Three. Avengers Endgame, Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Including DC, FOX and other studios, how many comic book inspired movies do you think saw the inside of theatres that year? Seven. Wanna guess how many movies were released in North American theatres in 2019? Just shy of 200. Feel free to do the math yourself.
And while it would be foolish to say that there is an even selection of cinematic offerings (there aren’t), the fact is you don’t have to look too hard to find stuff off Hollywood’s beaten path. Films like Knives Out, The Gentleman, 1917, Jojo’s Rabbitt, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Motherless Brooklyn, The Lighthouse and Lucy in the Sky are just a small sample of recent theatrical releases that would likely meet Scorsese’s definition of “cinema.” And the billion dollar grossing Joker is exactly the kind of movie that would be in the famed director’s wheel house.
But beyond that, Scorsese’s remarks ignore the fact that Hollywood is a fan driven business, catering to popular trends and giving people what they want to see. Despite all the bellyaching about “sequelitis” and “a lack of originality,” Hollywood strives to give people what they want. They have to in order to sell enough movie tickets (or streaming subscriptions) to remain profitable. As a result they crunch ticket sales and social media views and a thousand other metrics every day to survive.
And you know what all their research shows? That right now a lot of movie goers aren’t all that keen on shelling out the price of admission to see “cinema.” Scorsese’s remarks ignored one simple fact; the reason studios invest so much money in so many comic book movies is because that’s what people want to see. A lot of people. The MCU in particular is a license to print money because it knows it’s audience and gives them what they want, plain and simple.
Coppola’s remarks were even dumber and more narrow minded. He tried to clarify his remarks, saying that the word despicable was essentially found in translation. But he insisted that Marvel films weren’t “real” films because they lacked risk and you didn’t learn anything from them. So? What’s wrong with watching a movie just to be entertained or amused? What’s wrong with watching something while also giving your mental circuitry a break?
Movies can and should offer deep examinations of both society and the world around it, but not every film needs to explore the deepest moral consequences of modern life or beat people over the head with a lesson plan. Movies should also entertain. There is a place for both art and amusement and only a fool would consider the two mutually exclusive.
You can appreciate the Mona Lisa while also liking Charlie Brown or Garfield.
Hollywood belonged to epic stories being told by bold new film makers (like Scorsese and Coppola) in the 70’s. The 80’s were ruled by Arnold Schwarzeneger, Sylvester Stallone and endless action movies. Crime dramas and romantic comedies had plenty of time in the sun. Like it or not, super hero movies are the zeitgeist of our day. And like the dominant genres before it, the super hero bubble will eventually burst. When that day comes, gritty “cinema” may fill the void. Given the rise of streaming as a legitimate form of distribution though, the two could find themselves successfully co-existing in the very near future.
Scorsese and Coppola are movie making legends. They deserve their place as two of the most influential film makers in history and have earned the right to say whatever they want (Maher and Rourke, well no one really cares). But when they pass judgement on today’s popular blockbusters, dismissing them as inferior to the films of “their” day (there’s stupidity’s favourite catch phrase), also passively insulting the millions of fans who love those movies, they’re aren’t just tarnishing themselves. They’re also tarnishing their legacies.
Because at the end of the day, none of them come off looking like the gate keepers to quality film making or acceptable taste. Instead they all look like old men angrily shaking their fists at the clouds of change and telling the new kids to stay off their nostalgic lawns. It’s both sad and tragic.
Image via www.bleedingcool.com
