Marty Scorsese, You're Biting the Hand That Feeds You!

 Martin Scorsese thinks superhero and monster mega hit movies are bad for the cinema... that's his opinion. He's dead wrong! 

Scorsese at this year's NY Film Fest

He's wrong because the cinema is what consumers make it. Without moviegoers flocking to the mega-hit films there would be no cinema, no actors, no directors, no Marty Scorsese, no Hollywood, no NY Film Festival.

News flash Marty, everything in the world runs on dollars...everything! Saying, the "cinema is devalued, demeaned, belittled from all sides, not necessarily the business side but certainly the art".  But who defines what "art" is. Certainly not Marty and his cinema purist minions. All film is art, be it 'Taxi Driver" or 'Spiderman".

The whole of the theatrical side of cinema is based on popcorn, if you want to be technical. Without concession profits there would be no movie theaters, they would never be able to operate on their share of the box office take. And, without the mega superhero films (with few exceptions, ala "Top Gun") there would be very few butts in seats at cinemas.

"As a filmmaker, and as a person who can't imagine life without cinema, I always find it really insulting" said Marty regarding the current box office which is skewed toward Marvel and DC Comic flix. 

Funny, but although Marty says he loves the cinema his last major project, 'The Irishman' premiered on Netflix and his next endeavor, 'Killers of the Flower Moon' will debut on Apple TV. So much for Marty's love of the movie theater.

It should be noted that superhero portrayer, Keanu Reeves (Matrix, and the John Wick franchises) just severed ties with Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon' project. This would have been Reeves' first, made for TV role, and apparently his wasn't keen on the idea.

The cinema is a reflection of society. It always has been. Right now, where we're at, society wants escapism not films based upon morals, human frailties, or heavy, emotional ladened plots and characters. They want simple fantasy and escape from the burdens of current life, and that's just what the most profitable and well-attended films provide.

In thinking about it, Scorsese really doesn't have real 'love' for the cinema that he professes because if he did, he would know that society needs what currently fills cinema - movies that offer fantasy through superheroes and surreal worlds. For without these films there would be no cinema.