Questions You Should Ask Film Directors Instead of What They Think of Marvel Movies

Another day, another director (in this case, Piano and the upcoming Power of the Dog director Jane Campion)known for arthouse films making short dismissive remarks about superhero movies, prompting Marvel fans to whipped into a frenzy over the very notion that someone might not enjoy the same things they do and have different opinions of them. The sheer horror of it causes them such anguish and spurs them to defend a multi-billion dollar franchise backed by a multi-billion dollar company. It seems like an annual tradition now.

Granted, attacking the current state of film is nothing new (Golden Age director George Cukor was famously angry that The Exorcist received an Oscar nomination in 1974), but since Rolex spokesperson Martin Scorsese threw his hat into the ring, other directors jumped in (Scorsese’s contemporary, Francis Ford Coppola, who once helped resurrect the career of a guy convicted of child molestation, declared Marvel movies “despicable” and Terry Gilliam… I’ll let you go through it, just for the racism to really pop out), and now it’s basically a cottage industry for journalism. Take a brief statement against Marvel, make it the headline, and watch as the discourse takes over any other points that might’ve been made (See: Scorsese’s comments, which have more nuance to them than suggested)

I myself got sucked into this when I still had some affection for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but as time marches, I slowly lose affection for…