So when it comes to superhero movies why do people attack them or call them non-cinema. People like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, and others. Francis Ford Coppola, said in an interview, “When Scorsese says that the Marvel pictures are not cinema, he’s right because we expect to learn something from cinema, we expect to gain something, some enlightenment, some knowledge, some inspiration. I don’t know that anyone gets anything out of seeing the same movie over and over again. Martin was kind when he said it’s not cinema. He didn’t say it’s despicable, which I just say it is.” Coppola is referring to Scorsese's op-ed in the New York Times, in which he stated, “I don’t think they’re cinema. I’ve tried to watch a few of them and that they’re not for me, that they seem to me to be closer to theme parks than they are to movies as I’ve known and loved them throughout my life.”
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but claiming these movies are all the same or they are more like theme parks are wrong. I enjoy Coppola and Scorsese's work. They are fantastic directors, but even they have to look at their work and see people might say the same thing. Some would say that Scorsese only directs gangster flicks because that's where he feels the safest or that Hugo was just a spectacle, like something you find at a theme park. Like they might say, maybe, Coppola has lost his touch and hasn't had a hit in years. At one point Scorsese was attached to produce and maybe even direct Joker, but dropped from the film. His reason was that the story arc of Arthur Fleck turning to become the Joker was a difficult one for him and he called it a different art form.So maybe Martin Scorsese just doesn't understand the technique when it comes to superhero films. I think that's perfectly OK. In the same quote he said, "There’s a lot of very talented people doing good work and a lot of young people really, really enjoy them.” Every filmmaker has their strengths and weaknesses in the directors chair and maybe that's Scorsese's.
The reason I've waited so long to write this piece and do something on this was I wanted to get my thoughts together on it. Then Terry Gilliam made some comments this week about Black Panther that caught my attention. Gilliam is a member of Monty Python and a director. In an interview with IndieWire, he said, “I hated ‘Black Panther.’ It makes me crazy. It gives young black kids the idea that this is something to believe in. Bullshit. It’s utter bullshit,” he said. “I think the people who made it have never been to Africa. They went and got some stylist for some African pattern fabrics and things. But I just I hated that movie, partly because the media were going on about the importance of bullshit.”
First off, his sentiment of the movie giving young African-American's hope and that being bullshit is plain disgusting. That is plain racist and appalling. Second, that the director and his team not doing the work of researching Africa and its culture is plain stupid and idiotic. Ryan Coogler traveled with several key members of his team to Africa to do research and aerial shots for the film. Production designer Hannah Beachler and costume designer Ruth Carter recounted how Afro-futurist architecture from the continent and the attire of tribes like the Masai were core influences when building the world of Wakanda. Both women won Oscars for their efforts. Statements like this not only show the ignorance of individuals, but the downplaying the importance of what superhero films are. Black Panther was the first African-American led superhero movie in the MCU.
Like I said earlier, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Certain people like superhero films and certain people don't. I think what these individuals are thinking is that these films are a fad. They will fade away. Steven Spielberg once compared them to the westerns. I understand where Spielberg is coming from. In the early part of 20th century, the western was everywhere and everyone wanted to be like John Wayne. The western soon died out and rarely gets made anymore. But I also think there are people who still think comic books and superheroes are a kid thing. Much like Bill Maher stated after Stan Lee passed away. Whatever the case, superheroes and superhero films are here to stay and aren't going anywhere, anytime soon.
