Nancy Pelosi recently announced that she was stepping away as leader of the House Democrats following an illustrious 19 years as leader and a total of 35 years (and counting) in Congress. Watching the video footage of Pelosi taking charge during the assault on the Capitol in 2021, you would never associate her as a woman in her 80’s. She was simply a leader who has been in the game for more than enough years to do what she was primed to do. But her being 82 is no different than if she were missing a limb. It’s hard for people to overlook that fact.
We all know one of the last identity factors to be seriously considered for discrimination is ageism. It doesn’t matter if you’re the G.O.A.T., once you reach the wrong side of a certain decade, and God forbid you start looking old, your days of relevancy are numbered. It seems one’s credibility and relevancy starts to fall after a certain age. It doesn’t matter what industry or situation you’re in, there will always be battle lines drawn between the generations.
Power struggles between the old and new
When I worked in retail ecommerce, there were constant power struggles between the digital teams and the brick and mortar and catalogue teams. When I worked in financial services, the old school generation didn’t support the expansion of online banking and they didn’t care for social media as a new business channel. And then being in media and entertainment, those who worked in traditional broadcast media measurement were constantly dismissive and critical of digital and social metrics. TV analytics was perceived as the most accurate and trustworthy and digital and social results were viewed as funny math. But just because one medium has been around longer, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have questionable data either, right Nielsen Ratings?
When I started hearing how iconic directors like Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Francis Ford Coppola, Ridley Scott, and James Cameron basically disavow Marvel or comic book movies as not being movies or cinema, I couldn’t help but be like one of those ageist people and immediately think: typical old people. Can’t admit or accept the fact that times have changed and they’re not the shit anymore. These old heads are mad that they’re not the ones being fawned over and their movies aren’t the movies that audiences are clamoring to buy tickets to see.
Art is art and no one gets to define that
But art is art. Whether it’s highbrow or bottom of the barrel, it all counts. Someone had to put in some effort to create a finished product. And so Martin Scorsese is wrong when he doesn’t consider Marvel movies as “cinema”. The criticism I gather is rooted in their personal journeys and how they were raised in their era of film. Scorsese tries to explain his stance in a New York Times opinion piece. Just his thoughts being in a NYT column is another sign of someone his age. Most people nowadays will use a platform like Twitter or a screenshot of a statement on Instagram to reach a broader audience. He goes on to namecheck auteurs like Hitchcock, Ingmar Bergman, Kathryn Bigelow, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Spike Lee. I appreciate his sincerity as it gives those of us who are from the next generation an understanding as to why Hollywood was “so white” and why Oscars tend to be won by movies and actors who you’re like why and how?
Scorsese comes off as those really experienced captains at work who knew what was what back in the day and they’re hugely successful from past accomplishments. But, they don’t seem to continue to expand and grow on their knowledge. They’re stuck in their wheelhouses and silos and can only do that one thing very well and not anything else. But more concerningly, their thinking of how business should be run and done, is chained by this limited scope. And Scorsese and the others seem no different.
No one is too good to evolve
I was just talking to a friend of mine about why so many people find it difficult to work in the environment that we were/are in. We were certain that it was not just the lightning speed of the work, but all of the different kinds of work and thus skills and knowledge and abilities that were demanded of us each day. In my former role, I could be doing one thing in the morning and then suddenly get an email at lunch and then I was onto something completely unrelated. And then late in the day, I’d get another task to deal with and I’d be forced to switch gears and brain cells of knowledge once again. My trademark saying was that I was the janitor and the CEO of my program area because I was forced to do everything in the spectrum. I had to be both creative and scientific and successful in both the parts and totality of my work.
The way I’ve survived through corporate upheavals has been to constantly lift the restrictions in my mind and push the boundaries of my thinking. If streaming services is becoming a thing, then okay, let’s see what it’s about. If the kiddies are all on TikTok, then maybe I should sign up for an account and see what the heck is going on. BTS is bigger than The Beatles? Okay, let me check out some of their songs. It may not be my personal taste or meets what I consider to be the standard, but there’s got to be something there to at least respect and acknowledge because millions of people can’t all be wrong. Perhaps that’s my business school training superseding my creative side. I know I can’t build things and hope people will magically come.
Art often begins as a very personal, self-centered, endeavor. It’s the opposite of business in that the product is built with one person in mind, first. If others jump on the bandwagon, that’s great, but not necessary. But in business and that includes the movies, there’s got to be some deference and respect to the consumer you want to force this art upon. Hence all of the school courses and activities at work around market segments and consumer studies.
And from what I’ve observed working in big corporate offices, and recalling the theories I absorbed in business school, those who continually evolve and innovate will continue to survive. And so for directors like Scorsese who only have one view of how films should be made, he’s going to find himself and the art he makes appear even more old and irrelevant to the younger generations and the new age of cinema.
Scorsese contradicts himself when he tries to soften the blow of his dismissal by saying “[m]any franchise films are made by people of considerable talent and artistry. You can see it on the screen.” But he then doubles down on his refusal to consider the cinematic validity of Marvel films by going on about how he and coterie of directors from back in the day recognize cinema as “the key for us: it was an art form.” So basically, he ultimately believes that what these considerably talented people are doing is not art.
Art and culture are dynamic
He’s very firm and rigid in his definition of “art” and that’s fine. I understand where he’s coming from to get to this final conclusion. But as Simu Liu rightfully said, Scorsese and Tarantino and others with this same type of thinking aren’t “gatekeepers to movie stardom”. And they aren’t gatekeepers of what is considered cinema. Art including cinema is dynamic and changes as people and cultures change. It doesn’t mean you have to like it, but you need to acknowledge that it’s still in the big tent of what we call “art.” This should be obvious to veterans like Scorsese who claim to be such serious artistes.
If all films today are made in the styles of the filmmakers who slammed comic book films and franchises, I will stick to watching the YouTube creators I follow to get my fill of art. I worked in broadcast media and entertainment for many years and yet I myself never owned a TV the entire time. I know what I like and millions of people like me who are cord nevers, don’t find a lot of traditional television interesting. It’s all generic, recycled, and boring. And having worked behind the scenes on the business/marketing side, I understand why so many shows on mainstream TV suck.
When I do a quick scan of Scorsese’s filmography, what stands out to me is that Scorsese is very much stuck in one gear. Yes, he’s made more than just gangster movies as explained in this Collider article. But, it’s clear his notoriety and success is thanks to the same kind of story which involves some old white guys, crime, New York, violence, vulgarity and some dollops of misogyny and racism.
Maybe film makers like Scorsese are upset that their kinds of films aren’t hot properties anymore at the big studios and that’s why they need to turn to alternatives like Netflix to shell out the $150 million to make their cinematic masterpieces. I’m guessing Disney would rather save that $150 million for a Marvel film and not for a Scorsese film because it’s show business. Maybe if this were the 70’s or 80’s, things may have worked out differently.
Comic book films have the pulse of the people
But this isn’t the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, or even 2000’s anymore. We’re in 2022 and soon to be 2023. The world has changed. The demographics have changed. What most people like these days has also changed. The audiences who would run to the theatre to watch a Scorsese, Tarantino, Coppola, et al. film are aging out of the majority cohort. For a hot minute, it was all about the Millennials, and even they’re aging out of society’s spotlight. In my final year and days working in media and entertainment which was in 2021, it was all about researching and creating content that Gen Z wants.
Gen Z now outnumber Millennials and they are the most racially and ethnically diverse and most educated generation. There is a reason it seems like times are a changing in every situation. Whether it’s the workplace introducing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies and programs, or in politics where Gen Z voters literally cancelled out the 65+ age group with their votes, there’s a lot of things in this world including how movies are made, that are totally different from how it used to be. The culture we’re living in has changed dramatically from the golden days era of cinema and so the cinema of today has to adapt to it.
A significant portion of my time working in the corporate side of media was to perform research into trends; trying to predict what content audiences want and why. If a content strategist wants to create a piece of content about X, then we’ll need some data and evidence to support why that content should be created. You can’t create what you want because you think it’s a great idea. And in one of my many findings of what was on trend in the early 2020’s, nostalgia and feel good stories was what a lot of people wanted.
When I do an initial environmental scan of what’s going on in today’s society, I can understand why feeling safe and familiar is what a lot of people want these days even in their art. And on top of that, audiences that were often ignored in the arts, are stepping forward and speaking up with their attention spans and pocketbooks about wanting to see content that speaks positively towards their gender, race, and beliefs.
Many people today are not interested in gratuitous violence and bad behavior. We’re living in an era with mass shootings, racial tensions, economic hardships, pandemics, climate emergencies, wars, and so on. People want to see movies that make them feel good and if at all possible, represent them. If I’m doing a trends analysis and trying to predict what the movie audience wants to see, I’m not going to recommend content with obscene violence, vulgarity, misogyny, racism and a majority white male cast.
Marvel movies, unlike Scorsese films, are primarily positive and hopeful. Who else didn’t cheer and clap when the Avengers assembled as a team to defeat Thanos in Avengers: Endgame? Would you ever find audiences cheering like this for a Scorsese or Tarantino movie? Marvel films are able to entertain audiences with stories without gun violence and minimizing women. Their cinematic blueprints also include major roles for actors of a variety of backgrounds. I understand why Simu Liu was so angry about Scorsese’s comments. If only people like Scorsese get to call the shots of what movies get made, then we’ll rarely hear or see of actors like Simu and many of the actors featured in Marvel films and streaming shows today.
Legends have a responsibility to show leadership
The flack against folks like Scorsese is warranted because they’re legacy leaders of the game and thus have influence in who gets hired and moves up the Hollywood chain. They’re no different than hiring managers and the decision makers of companies. Do you want your CEO or someone in HR saying only certain types of people should be hired or only certain types of job matter? It’s a very irresponsible and ignorant take for people in positions in power to make.
If you’re going to be critical about comic book films, and you think you know everything about what cinema is, then offer solutions. How would you make these movies more in line with your definition of cinema? What do they need to make up for your perceived lack of mystery, risk, and emotion? Don’t thumb your nose and leave it at that. As someone with more than 50 years of experience making movies, and a Master Class course, let’s hear some suggestions.
I would love to see Marvel films mature and consider elements of film making like Scorsese, Tarantino, Cameron, Coppola and so on have. James Cameron with his pop blockbusters like True Lies, Titanic, and Terminator is a perfect candidate to lead a Marvel film down that old school cinematic road. Sam Raimi and Ryan Coogler are recent examples of serious directors who have been able to put their personal stamps on Marvel franchises and helped to elevate them. Let’s see more of this.
When I was in banking and we were building the social media customer service program, the traditional customer service teams were very concerned about how we would build relationships and emotional connections with the customer. This is something that is so critical and easier done in branch and could easily be skipped in a social media interaction. In order to account for this in the digital workflow, we needed the expertise of the frontline customer service teams. And coming out of the pandemic where everyone turned to online and digital interactions, we certainly understand the necessity and importance of the human touch and personal connections and in particular with brand interactions.
Going back to Nancy Pelosi. Yes, she’s stepping down as the leader of the House Democrats while a trio of younger leaders take centre stage. But this isn’t to say the torch is passed and the past is torched. Pelosi will stay on to represent her district in San Francisco, but she was also conferred the title of Speaker Emerita by her colleagues. Though there is a new generation to take on the leadership reins, there is a recognition that the past leadership skills are vital to moving forward.
This is the kind of leadership we need in the old heads of modern day film making. We need them to support and uplift the cinematic art form for all of those who want to participate. So instead of saying Marvel films aren’t cinema and movie stars aren’t made from comic book films, let’s see some solutions.
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