Marvel vs. Martin Scorsese Feud needs to die

As is the nature of movie franchise releases, Movie’s Twitter discourse is often painfully cyclical. Likewise, it’s no surprise that the Great Martin Scorsese-Marvel War of 2019 is being rekindled once again on social media. However, this time it was thanks Spider-Man: There’s no way home star Tom Holland, who offered a belated rebuttal to the Oscar-winning director’s claim that superhero movies “are not cinema” in a Empire magazine interview a few years ago.

In one interview with The Hollywood Reporter about the latest Spiderman the sequel’s Oscar chances thanks to record-breaking box office numbers and critical acclaim, Holland has defended the film’s place alongside the “prestige” films that often receive the award’s attention. Oscar, like most Scorsese movies.

“You can ask [Martin] Scorsese, ‘Do you want to be a Marvel movie?’ But he doesn’t know what it’s like because he’s never made one,” Netherlands. “I’ve done Marvel movies, and I’ve also made movies that are already in conversation in the world of the Oscars, and only the difference, really, is that one is much more expensive than the other. But the way I break down the characters, the way the director portrays the plot and the characters — it’s all the same, just done on a different scale. So I think they are real art. ”

He continued: “When you are doing this you know that if it’s good or bad, millions of people are going to watch it, whereas when you’re making a small indie movie, if it’s not that great, nobody’s going to see it, so it comes with different levels of pressure. together. I mean, you can also ask Benedict Cumberbatch or Robert Downey Jr. or Scarlett Johansson — people who have made ‘Oscar-worthy’ types of movies and also made superhero movies — and they’ll tell you they’re the same, just on a different scale. And there’s less Spandex in the ‘Oscar movies.’

Holland is certainly not alone in what he thinks Oscar movies should be allowed to do. Film critics and ceremony obsessives have long lamented the exclusion of comedy, horror, and action films (and their performances) from the main Oscars categories in order to favor more serious, dramatic works such as period dramas and biopics. And recent calls to diversify the Academy’s makeup and its nominees have included the argument that the ceremony did not represent the tastes of an audience other than older white men. in the industry are looking for their own interests.

However, Holland’s downplaying of the qualitative difference between low-budget and Marvel movies on the matter of money is an understatement of how that money is made and generated. Furthermore, this framework bypasses the intense, profit-driven process of creating a second one, like Scorsese indicated in a New York Times op-ed explains his comment, “Market researched, object tested, inspected, modified, embellished and remodeled until they are ready for consumption.” The use of these measures to secure Disney’s profits is a well-known fact that The directors took notes on but just a standard practice in studio-supported filmmaking.

Holland also remarkably describes the experience of acting in these types of films, referring to his older colleagues, with do surname. While it may seem common sense that independent filmmakers have more creative freedom and are not burdened by market constraints, this is understandably a topic on which the Netherlands will be concerned. has a blind spot in (or simply does not want to discuss too deeply, in the interest of his profession).

Although Holland doesn’t say this outright, his words seem to revolve around the widely advertised belief on the internet that expanding the definition of “Oscar movie” to include the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which regularly dominates the technical categories and has has won several Oscars for Black Panther, is a progressive move, simply because it represents the tastes of a more diverse movie-going audience, including less-than-described groups.

This is a powerful trick from Marvel, which has spent the past three years hailing itself as a pioneer of diversity in the blockbuster world, especially with the launch of 2018. Black Panther and 2019 Captain Marvel, after years of pressure from the audience. (Meanwhile, movie franchises like Matrix and Fast and furious cast people of color decades ago, but I digress). As a result, they were able to convince some fans into thinking they were doing the public good and turning Hollywood by hiring actors of color and telling diverse stories, while controlling the market and restricting minds. the cinematic imagination of young audiences, who fascinate the film through the one-dimensional characters, colorless dialogue, and predictable three-action structure of modern superhero movies.

Nor do Marvel fans realize that, while the studio has helped the careers of some actors and directors of color, it doesn’t make up for the barriers they’ve created for filmmakers. emerging films, including those from disadvantaged groups, let their films shine. Scorsese has talked many times about his difficulty in downloading the latest feature Irish people causing him to switch to Netflix and then limit movie time in theaters. So one can only imagine the meager opportunities available to those from marginalized groups without Scorsese’s background in the current market, beyond those of current and previous filmmakers. Here’s from the communities that have told us about their experiences.

However, Scorsese has repeatedly been misrepresented by the online comic fan community and some actors and filmmakers as merely an old, white janitor who despises the cinematic tastes of younger audiences. , more diverse and hinder the “evolution” of the Medium. One can only come to this ill-informed conclusion by simply looking at the racist and sexist structure of Scorsese’s film, which features only white, male characters, and comparing it to the rest of the world. including more (recent) of Marvel. Meanwhile, his reputation as an international film promoter, founding the World Cinema Project aimed at preserving and reviving forgotten foreign films, and raising the bar for filmmakers international, while also launching the same African Cinema Heritage Project, is well-documented for anyone interested in doing a quick Google search.

While one can only hope that this grueling discourse will be on its last legs, this probably won’t be the last we get from a celebrity about the defendant’s plight. forced to be in the most successful series in cinematic history and how older generations are inhibiting their right to more saturate the culture. Until then, Disney and its employees can wipe their tears away with their billions of dollars, and Scorsese will continue to make excellent movies.