Revisiting Martin Scorsese's Well-Meaning but Short-Sighted Views on Marvel and Blockbusters

 

This whole false idea of blockbusters not being cinema has always been supported by the more elitist, overtly artsy cinephiles. They absolutely believe that arthouse films are all there is to cinema. Do not get it twisted, I love and adore Martin Scorsese as a director. However, his views that Marvel movies and blockbusters are not exactly cinema still feel out of touch to this day in the grand scheme of things. We need to understand that there is no one size fits all mentality to anything in life. Variety is the spice of life due to the fact that life itself has plenty of layers. We have to embrace variety for the sake of growing in any area of our lives in the process. Martin Scorsese's views about blockbusters and Marvel movies should always be critiqued in a healthy way without any knee-jerk reactions. In other words, we should critique his views while still understanding where he is coming from at the same time. 

For as long as I can remember, Martin Scorsese has always impressed me as a director and cinephile. Ever since I watched his movies and documentaries about films, I have always seen him as someone who has so much knowledge of film. He is able to put his film knowledge into the movies that he makes along with his documentaries thus dazzling me with his encyclopedic views on film. My title for my blog came from Martin Scorsese's excellent documentary called A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese through American Movies. I was so inspired by what he said about expanding and enriching one's pallet. I ended up naming my blog after what he said as a way to help other cinephiles expand and enrich their pallets for the better. It is done through the knowledgeable writing of my blog posts whenever I get a chance to write in a moderate way. That being said, despite my love for Scorsese, I will address the real Elephant in the room and that is his short-sighted views on Marvel and Blockbusters.

Martin Scorsese thought that Marvel and Blockbusters were not cinema. He said that they were Theme Park rides that had no emotional and complex themes. In addition, he said that Marvel and Blockbusters were destroying cinema only for people to ignore Arthouse films. He thinks that arthouse films are the only ones that represent Cinema in this time of age. I really do disagree with Scorsese but also understand where he is coming from. On one hand, his notion that Marvel movies and Blockbusters are not Cinema holds no weight at all. There are so many Blockbusters and some Marvel movies that do represent Cinema to where they are just as emotional and complex as an Arthouse film. On the other hand, I understand where he is coming from because Scorsese grew at a time where there were not too many films that were high concept in nature. Bottom line is this, Scorsese knows and loves film very well, so I hope that he overcomes his bias. He needs to finally realize that great Cinema truly comes in all shapes and sizes no matter what it is.

The cyclical nature of saying that the previous generation is better than the new generation is so ubiquitous in our culture in that it is like a world record. I say that because it happens all time to where people forget the fact that things change. Speaking of that, Scorsese along with Francis Ford Coppola, Sam Peckinpah, Peter Bogdanovich among others were making films in the New Hollywood Era. Some of the greatest cast and crew members including Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra were complaining about Scorsese and the other 70's filmmakers. They were complaining that the filmmakers had way too much sex, violence along with bad language in the New Hollywood era. They said that Scorsese and the others were ruining Cinema for the worse. Don't get it twisted; I adore the Golden Age along with the New Hollywood but this whole thing about generation vs generation gets very tiresome to a tee. The irony is that nowadays, Scorsese is that elder statesman picking on this current generation for not being Cinema as a result of the dominance of Marvel and Blockbusters. The fact of the matter is that each generation before and after has its weak moments and great moments. We have to understand that its cyclical and that Cinema will always change in any generation. Let's face it, Cinema has to continue to grow past the Golden Age and the New Hollywood or else it will never change the way that it is now. Also, we should always adore the classics and modern era combined. Cinema is all about adapting and that is something that Scorsese really needs to understand.

I believe that in order to grow as cinephiles, we need to accept the fact that great Cinema and storytelling in general comes in all shapes and sizes. Scorsese forgets that Cinema is well-rounded which explains why his argument comes across as short-sighted. He fails to understand that as long as it is great Cinema, then no matter what it is, it will still be considered good for cinephiles to watch. For instance, I can watch Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980) and still watch John McTiernan's Die Hard (1988) as a way to be more well-rounded. Cinema has multiple layers that must be explored by those who are real cinephiles like myself. By the way, I am on the side of being well-rounded but still consistent as a cinephile. I can operate in the idea of finding greatness in anything, whether it is arthouse and blockbuster along with American and Foreign language. It is always good to expand and enrich the pallet for the sake of growing and maturing as a cinephile at all times. Scorsese needs to understand that Blockbusters and Marvel films have some great cinematic films. It is called being balanced and nuanced.

As cinephiles, we need to still watch and study Martin Scorsese's films while still being aware of his problematically short-sighted views on Marvel and Blockbusters. I say that because watching Scorsese is a qualification for a cinephile in that watching him is in itself film school. Scorsese applies what he learned about film and puts it in his movies. However, we as cinephiles should still lovingly be aware and discerning when it comes to his views on Blockbusters and Marvel. Cinema should not be limited to just arthouse stuff. On one hand, real cinephiles like me still love and are knowledgeable of some of the arthouse films that Scorsese obviously loves. On the other, real cinephiles also love and are educated about blockbusters as long as they are just as great as the arthouse stuff. Variety is needed in our pallets in order to keep on expanding and enriching our knowledge as cinephiles. As far as Scorsese is concerned, we should continue to still watch his filmography but renounce his problematic Blockbuster views. We will not give in to the mentality of sticking with one style of cinema for the worse. God bless.