We all know what Martin Scorsese, one of the most celebrated filmmakers of all time said about Marvel movies. It stirred a huge controversy. However, everyone got their own view. Meanwhile, the screenwriter who helped Martin Scorsese’s one movie to receive eight Oscar nominations does not align with the filmmaker’s comment on Marvel movies. Writer Paul Schrader has collaborated with Scorsese in movies like Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Bringing Out the Dead.
What Was Martin Scorsese’s Remark About Marvel Movies?
Martin Scorsese. Image Credit: Screengrab/Apple Music/YouTube
From its inception Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has kept the worldwide audience glued with its movies. Be it Iron Man, or Captain America, the box office collection says itself what impact it has on the cinema, in general. MCU has become the highest grossing franchise with earning more than $29 billion throughout these years.
Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese, one of the best directors of the new era of Hollywood, found it hard to digest that all those productions are “cinema.” He said that he does not regard this as cinema.
In 2019, the director made a statement where he said, “I don’t think [Marvel movies are] cinema,” sparking backlash from all over the internet. He told Empire magazine that though he tries to watch it, he fails everytime.
“I tried, you know?” the director said when asked if he had seen Marvel’s movies. “But that’s not cinema.”
He continued: “Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.” (Via The Guardian)
Scorsese also wrote an article for The New York Times discussing his controversial remark.
He wrote, “What’s not there is revelation, mystery or genuine emotional danger. Nothing is at risk. The pictures are made to satisfy a specific set of demands, and they are designed as variations on a finite number of themes.”
It will be okay to agree on the disagreement on the definition of cinema. It could imply various meanings to someone like Scorsese who has been making films since 1959 and that of the Russo Brothers or Zack Snyder.
Writer Paul Schrader Shares His Disagreement with Martin Scorsese’s Comment on Marvel Movies
Paul Schrader. Image Credit: The Adam Friedland Show/YouTube
In his GQ profile, Schrader, who rewrote the screenplay of 1980’s Raging Bull, which was initially written by Mardik Martin, expressed his disagreement over Scorsese’s comment.
“No, they are cinema. So is that cat video on YouTube. It’s cinema,” he explained.
“It is kind of surprising that what we used to regard as adolescent entertainment, comic books for teenagers, has become the dominant genre economically. Each generation is informed, and informed by literature, or informed by theatre, or informed by live television, or informed by film school. Now we have a generation that’s been informed by video games and manga. It’s not that the filmmakers have changed. It’s that the audiences have changed.”
“The mass centre has gone. What happens then is people retreat to the periphery,” he continued.
“So you have the Comic-Con world, or you have the X or Y, Z world, and it’s very hard to bring these people together again. That has been lost culturally. It’s not going to ever come back.”
However, the writer does agree with Scorsese that now there is the lack of serious movies about serious issues. The movies which were made during the 50s, 60s, or 70s are still being made, but are no longer the center of conversation because the center dropped out.
