Who Are the Superheroes in Hollywood?

by Ray Keating

Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

February 26, 2019

Do you want to know the real state of the movie business today? Well, then simply read a Wall Street Journal piece titled “Superheroes are Rescuing Hollywood” by Andy Kessler. 

That’s right, I writing to tell you to read something by another writer. Suddenly, I feel like Andy Richter and Kyle Gass, playing two writers, sitting across the desk from James Caan’s Walter in Elf, urging Walter to go hire another writer, Miles Finch (Peter Dinklage). Hey, sometimes you just have to tip your hat.

Anyway, Kessler nails what’s wrong with Hollywood, and why the industry, which looks down on superhero movies, would be a complete mess without such superhero movies.

So, what’s wrong with the movie biz these days? Kessler points to the following:

• “In a decade, 20 Marvel superhero movies have grossed a total of more than $17 billion. That pays for a lot of dull arty films, flatulence-joke comedies and oversexed, clichéd rom-coms that nobody goes to. It’s as if Hollywood has forgotten how to make movies people want to go see.”

• “At the Oscars, the word ‘best’ in best picture has been watered down to be almost meaningless. Same with ‘based on a true story.’ They’re almost all message movies doing battle in America’s overblown culture wars, and they either rehash past cultural transgressions, are antibusiness, or both.”

• “Hardly anyone watches one of the message movies these days until it’s been nominated as ‘best.’ And of course, they have to have the right message. Ryan Coogler’s terrific ‘Black Panther’ was criticized for being too conservative. Its theme of ‘let’s all work together’ was considered not revolutionary enough. Really? Jeez, everyone’s a critic. The last truly pro-business movie was ‘Ghostbusters,’ in 1984. When the villain from the Environmental Protection Agency orders the ghostbusters’ ‘Containment Unit’ shut down, Dr. Egon Spengler says: ‘Excuse me, this is private property!’ Ah, the good old days.”

• “Don’t get me wrong—I like many of today’s films (well, not ‘A Star Is Born’). But when they fade to black I’m left with a bad feeling, sensing that I’ve been manipulated into a social-justice guilt trip... When I want preaching, I’ll go to a house of worship or read the New York Times.”

Nailed it!

So, what does Kessler see as positives in today’s movie industry? Well, to be honest, not a heck of a lot. His best case is the following on superhero movies: “The plots are similar and shallow: Outsmart villains, save the world, fight a giant monster, and resolve somebody’s daddy issues. But they entertain. Movies are supposed to transport you somewhere else for 110 minutes, then drop you back into your mundane existence. You want to see something you’ve never seen before—hence the success of watery ‘Aquaman’ and vapid ‘Venom.’ Audiences want faraway galaxies, explosions and a little humor. And when that gets old, just have the superheroes fight each other.”

The entertainment business used to be about entertainment. But so many in Hollywood are just looking to, as Kessler highlights, preach. 

Listen, I write novels. My first objective is entertaining the reader. That’s what Shakespeare was out to do, so if it was good enough for the Bard, it’s certainly works for this lowly novelist. Down on the list, I sometimes make a point in the story. Hopefully, it’s not preaching and it doesn’t overwhelm. My books aren’t all about the message. I simply try to make my point – when I look to make one – a natural part of the story.

Hollywood today would do well to recall what Walt Disney once said, “I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.” Of course, Walt’s use of the word “educate” is very different from the agendas being driven in Hollywood today, but you get the point.

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels, with the three latest books being Reagan Country: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel, Heroes and Villains: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Storyand Shifting Sands: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story. He can be contacted at raykeating@keatingreports.com.