Legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese (also, ‘Scorsese’ has to be one of the top five most fun names to say out loud of all time) made the rounds on social media yesterday because of a take he dropped in an essay he wrote on Federico Fellini (to be published in Harper’s Magazine, available online here). Scorsese took aim at the business side of the movie industry and how it is devaluing the magic of film and the movie-going experience.
the art of cinema is being systematically devalued, sidelined, demeaned, and reduced to its lowest common denominator” by conceptualization of films as “content.”
He goes on to explain how labeling films as ‘content’ and suggesting films to watch based on algorithms “treat the viewer as a consumer and nothing else.” I’m going to expand upon this a bit.
There’s still that rambunctious part of me that wants to shake my fist and say, “sit down, old man!” This is the way the world works in 2021! But, I gotta keep my ass in check sometimes. Scorsese is right here, and it goes beyond the scope of the movie industry. It’s everything – it’s “how can we get as much shit – as much advertising – in front of users?” We don’t even care if it is hot ass garbage….if it has Chris Hemsworth in it, IT’LL SELL SUBSCRIPTIONS! There’s SO MUCH content EVERYWHERE that eventually someone will find something somewhere, right? But, the art of art is lost in the process – vision and ambition are influenced by dollars and cents, not creativity and originality. Soulless and empty projects populate our social media feeds – bot accounts, clickbait, hollow podcasts that have value in name only (because every celebrity has a podcast these days), box score sports journalism, live streams – it’s everywhere.
As long as something is in that news feed as a placeholder, we’re good – it doesn’t matter how hollow it is, as long as a ton of people see it, we can monetize it. And, I’ll be damned if it isn’t growing increasingly more and more difficult to tell who’s doing it to try and “make it,” and who’s doing it because they’re passionate about what they create. I’m talkin’ real passion, folks. The kind that gives true heart to a show, film, song, article, blog, etc..
Our resident film critic, Brandon Vick, and I were talking about this not too long ago in regards to Netflix’s ambitious plan to release approximately five million original pictures in the coming year. Were any of us demanding that much original “content” from Netflix? Given their track record throughout 2020, I don’t know how or why that is supposed to inspire us to renew our subscriptions. Or, as Brandon pointed out to me, “they said they’d create a lot….but they didn’t say it’d be good.“
I know this may sound hypocritical coming from a degenerate blogger like me with a stupid website that only gets about eight to ten thousand unique users each month. I’ve grown to have a love/hate relationship with the word “content.” On one hand, I’m grateful for a day and age that allows me to write my thoughts out and speak my mind on things I’m passionate about and (theoretically) earn a living doing that because I’ve connected with people who like my work. I’ve been doing this for seven years now – I hope to whatever God there is that you guys have figured out by now that I’m not trying to invade your social media feeds without a concerted effort to write/podcast about stuff that would genuinely interest me or make me laugh.
On the other hand, “content” is a game that most people treat as a means to an end – chasing that fame. It’s a way for Tik Tok-ers to get rich quick, right? Everyone’s chasing the high of going viral without realizing that going viral doesn’t really do shit for you if you don’t create a brand out of it and run that shit with thought, conviction, and ambition – like a business. Now, the corporations have gotten ahold of it, no less.
And, “content,” as a term, is growing more and more hollow each day because of it. “Content” has changed the way we think about true art and true journalism. That’s why I think Scorsese is correct to point out how this trend could be damning for more genuine and creative endeavors.
So, as a reminder – just be sure to get out of the algorithm every once in awhile. Try something new, even if the current creative climate dictates that you have to look a little harder to find more fresh……damn it, I’m going to say it……content.
*PS. I actually did not hate Extraction as much as most people did. I actually found it to be easily digested mindless entertainment. That was just the easiest cheap shot I could take to get my point across.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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