For those of you who don't know the source of the above quote it comes from none other than Dr. Ian Malcolm played wonderfully by the always quirky Jeff Goldblum in The Lost World. It is this statement that is used to hauntingly remind the powers that brought dinosaurs into re-existence that their attempts at playing god should've thought ahead before dooming themselves to their own imminent undoing. It is this common sci-fi theme that is commonly used as a warning to 'think before you act', and ironically be used to describe Hollywood today, particularly within the realm of remakes and reboots.
With so much money in circulation within Hollywood and the corporations of America it is easy to look past the greed and the wealth that we suspend disbelief just long enough to stand in line for the latest blockbuster or long awaited sequel. These days we are bombarded with ads for movie tie-in products some which deserve more scolding than others such as: Man of Steel's Gillette razor commercials and McDonalds for pretty much every Disney movie that hits the circuit. Are we as a society so dumb that we really need the product affiliations to make us feel that much closer to fame and fortune. I can tell you that on the rare occasion that I feel the need to shave do I instantly think "I really want to look like Henry Cavill from Superman today!"
Either Hollywood has grossly misjudged the effect their film has on the general public or they know us to be the mindless sheep that we are who will bite at anything that looks remotely shiny or tasty. Sadly I have to say the latter is most likely the reality of it all. In reference to the quote above do we come to the phenomenon of remaking classic films or television shows to reroute generations who were a. not around to appreciate the originals when they initially came out or b. don't appreciate the originals because they're minds are so tailored to the sensory overload type of film making that substitutes as a filler for real creativity. Did we really need a Spiderman reboot less than a few years after the original trilogy ended? Was it really necessary for Hollywood to dive into every comic book series no matter how shitty they were in the hopes of garnering a smooth paycheck for the already rich executives who could give a fuck about the art of filmmaking? A lot of people will argue with me and say 'oh but Robert Downey Jr. and Christian Bale are so good in Iron Man and Batman'. First of all, they're not that good in those roles, they're acceptable because the characters that they're playing are such unrealistic, fun ideas that serve as symbols of the golden age of comic books rather than as fictitious beings with deep personalities that deserve shakespearian interpretations. It's hard to see them as anything more than fun comic book characters because that's what they were intended for, granted hats off to Frank Miller for his gritty interpretation of Batman, but that was when it was something new and original. Anybody could've played Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark, they're one dimensional characters that over the years have been tweaked so much that we forget the source material that they originated from. If Hollywood wants to be taken seriously then it needs to support the people that make films possible (i.e. the writers) and worry less about being hacks and pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into shitty live action retellings of men in tights. One critic recently noted that the budget of Christopher Nolan's Man of Steel could've been better utilized in the field of cancer research or some other noble cause rather than to line the pockets of executives who don't need it.
Movie making has gone from a legitimate art form with real potential to tell a story through creative techniques and innovation, to a perverted, twisted spawn of big business and computer generated shit that continues to 'captivate' audiences everywhere. Method acting has been replaced with warehouse produced set pieces and storytelling exchanged for cheesy plot devices glossed over with shiny special effects that are no longer 'special'. You really lose the magic of filmmaking and the joy of creation when everything is so effortlessly manufactured behind a computer screen. When Blade Runner and Star Wars came out, they were noted for their unorthodox methods in bringing fantastical set pieces to life with neat special effects that came out of models and camera tricks that made them possible. Blade Runner today still has an amazing feel to it when watched today, just in its ability to maintain that film noir vibe while painting a not so distant dismal future. Films today don't put that same thought and care into their final products and prefer to promote 'star power' over 'storytelling' in the hopes of making a quick buck off of promotional advertising and hyper violence. I agree that graphic violence can be a good plot device in telling a story but when it's so ubiquitous that it desensitizes the going public it loses it's intended effect. Films like the "Saw" series are famous for such things but at the same time have successfully desensitized an entire generation to violence in a way that makes them numb to non empathetic to the harsh grim reality around them. These are the same group of teenagers who go to see such blood fests and could give a rat's ass about the violence in third world countries because they're so immune to it. Therefore such facts make it hard for me to stomach some dipshit who claims that 'The Dark Knight' is "the best movie ever" and call movies like "Chinatown" or "Curious Case of Benjamin Button" boring. Are we such a blatantly stupid and ADD society that we constantly need the stimulation of sex and violence to wrap our heads around an idea, that we forego even attempting to grasp a higher mode of thought? I'm afraid that this is a result of the harsh 'dumbing of society' that many have predicted.
So again Hollywood just because you can doesn't mean you should. If you really care about promoting yourselves as a center of innovation and ideas, than stop appealing to the idiot base who can't focus without an explosion or tit flash to grab their attention. American society is dumb enough that you don't need to go to such efforts to make a quick buck, remember many of us believe in the garden of eden and voted for Bush twice.
Yes, Hollywood has gotten a bit confused with what qualifies as an artful movie these days. But do they really mind? Even worse, do we as people care? You refer to two kinds of people- the ones who appreciate the classics and the "sheep" who only care about modern films- but I think you neglect which one is the majority. When the Avengers came out it was the topic on everyone's lips, from friends to social media sites to tv interviews & commercials. When the same writer released Much Ado About Nothing, I didn't even know it existed save for one interview on a show I regularly watch. I still don't know anyone who has seen it. People may have once regarded film as a technological marvel that belonged to an appreciative cultured class of people, but that age has long passed. As we improve technology almost every day, people have come to expect more out of film. They want to be completely immersed, entertained, and allowed to escape into another (exciting & much improved) world so they don't have to deal with their current state of affairs. A realistic and relatable story, while told beautifully with expert skill, isn't what many people are looking for unless some CGI explosions are thrown in. I'm not gonna lie, while I can't believe some of the movies that have been popular, there's no way I'm going to sit through 2 hours of a black and white movie with an outdated language that takes me several minutes to process. Throw in the fact that actors nowadays are extremely idolized by many thanks to the media, and just about anyone will see something they hate just to stare at their hero/heroine look cool or get naked. Which is another overused movie scene that waters down the story line, among many other similar money-making tricks.
ReplyDeleteSo when you have a mass of people willing to throw more money than you can imagine at you for crack movies, and the "classic" movie lovers like you and I will settle and watch whatever comes out without much of a fuss, do you really think you'd say no? And when movie productions travel and bring jobs, publicity, tourism, etc. to different parts of the country and produce films that people keep asking for, aren't people just encouraging them and telling Hollywood that they're doing a great job?
Could Hollywood produce better quality movies with more originality? Yes. Are there writers doing just that currently? Somewhere out there. Is Hollywood going to take a chance on them when they already have an established source of income? Probably not. I think people have more of a responsibility in demanding better quality over quantity, and I do believe that Hollywood would (hopefully) start listening. Now the reasons behind why society & filmmaking has shifted in such a direction would be really interesting.