What’s this shit they’re writing about me on the internet?
The hyped backlash against Marvel superhero movies means these films stand accused, amongst their other sins, of being produced solely to make a handsome profit.
This manufactured outrage all stems from a casual comment by Martin Scorsese claiming that this brand of blockbusters are not ‘real cinema’. Frances Ford Coppola and Ken Loach have since weighed in to back up this elitist viewpoint.
Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t box office success been one of the prime motivations among filmmakers for time immemorial.
Of course, they’ll always be a minority of auteurs who put merit before money but they face the problem that art for art’s sake doesn’t pay the bills. The arguments of Scorsese and crew are spurious and are akin to claiming that bestselling books by Dan Brown or J.K. Rowling are not real novels. Your may not like them but that doesn’t change what they are.
Even though corporate branded franchises inspired by Marvel (and by extension DC comics) spawn as many turkeys as triumphs this doesn’t justify trashing the whole genre. Dark Knight, Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok and Joker are examples of movies that win audiences (and make money) without dumbing down the content.
There will always be a need for a steady supply of low culture for highbrows just as there will always be those who snobbishly regard all mass entertainment as beneath them.
