Everyone has to have an opinion on superhero movies these days. The reason is that they dominate so many screens and take up huge portions of studio budgets that few other things come out of the Hollywood system. These tentpole films cost hundreds of millions of dollars to make and market. Sure, they can pull in upwards of a billion at the box office, but that can make for some drab art.
Ethan Hawke has some strong opinions about the subject.
Check out this video from RayWorkProductions, and let's talk after.
First off, it says something about toxic fandom that Hawke is afraid to speak his mind. He's explored lots of different roles and worked with so many cool directors. When he talks about the industry, we should listen. But people were very upset when Scorsese voiced his opinions, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The clip above is from 2018, but his word rings true today.
Hawke loves every kind of movie and doesn't think there is a difference between high art and low art. All he cares about is that people put their heart into it. He just wants a change in the industry where normal drama movies don't feel fringe.
We shouldn't have to hope and pray studios keep making movies like Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. These mid-budget dramas have gone by the wayside or even moved to longer TV stories. That's a bummer for people who love movies, and even for actors who want more challenging roles. Superhero films are fun, but actors are not always stretching themselves in those roles.
So how do we get Hollywood back on course? I'm not sure we can change it all that quickly. The tide moves slowly, and tentpoles bring in all the cash right now. The problem is, we are focused so much on commerce, we forget the art part of it all. There are so many artistic and lovely superhero films, but there are a lot of cash-grabs as well.
The competition here is what carries the most issues. Marketing wants to make a huge stack of money, but they never understand there is no game here in art. Back in the day, you released movies and hoped people engaged with them. Now everything relies on audience scores and Rotten Tomatoes to make sure the most people see it.
This is a real struggle, and we don't have any clear answers as to how we can get some of these films back.
Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: RayWorkProductions
