A Letter to Hollywood: On ‘New Age Comedies’, ‘Ghostbusters’ and Feminism within Film
Dear Hollywood,
Please respect iconic art. The Hollywood film system seems to continually disregard legendary films, by tainting them with unnecessary and poorly crafted remakes. As we all know, comedy is completely subjective. So, I will not attempt to justify why some comedies are better than others. I will, however, critique the direction of comedy. It feels as a number of studios are treating their fans as mindless sheep, who will buy a ticket to anything that combines slap-stick comedy with cheesy one-liners.
Ridley Scott noted, during his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, that the idea of remakes is actually a great strategy for Hollywood studios. The original’s established a brand, and thus fans of these films are willing to glimpse into the same universe once more. Scott also stated that there were just too many films being made, and so the studios have to maximise their profits, by simply rebooting films that were are vastly popular and are guaranteed to return a large profit. I agree with Scott’s assessment. Although, I don’t think it is ‘progressive’, in any manner. There are thousands of writers and directors who are now being held out of their own creative field. Capitalism within film simply dictates that studios must make an enormous profit. This devastates artistry, as well as simultaneously aiding it.
The majority of films we love were green-lit by studios in the first place because they were original. They brought something completely different to the table, and it worked for both business and art. People loved the original content and studios engulfed huge sums of profit from their investment. It seems that these same studios are now bored in a sense, and have found comfort in making large sums of profit without the need to invest in any original content (this isn’t the case for every modern film, but a large amount). No amount of CGI, rewrites, or an increase in budget will serve these films in the same light as their originals. Why? For the same reason we recognise those films as classics. They were original. They brought a new narrative, a new idea, and new visuals to our screens that we became increasingly obsessed with.
Studios have truly found this sluggish mentality within the genre of comedy. Comedy films repeat the same narrative and usually do not present anything original or challenge the audience, as they once did. Again, this isn’t the case for all films. In fact, I think that ‘The Big Short’ is a great comedy film, as it departs from the realm of simply being a comedy. It has comedic values at its core, but it delivers them through a very real, and powerful narrative. I would rather see directors and writers create original works, even if they fail miserably, than taint motion picture masterpieces in lazy attempts by studios to increase their profits.
This brings me on to my next topic: ‘Ghostbusters’. Much has been said of this film, and it has not even been released yet. Before I get to critiquing the idea for the film, the actual reaction by those supporting the film is very interesting. The director, Paul Feig, has stated critics are ‘misogynists’, and Judd Apatow has recently commented calling critics, “just some angry trolls”. The same rhetoric is evident in many responses to the negative reaction. I find that of particular interest. Instead of having an actual conversation on feminism within film, it has simply been led astray to treating actual criticism with a nonsensical response. Now, there are ‘meninists’ or ‘masculanists’, whatever you label them as, who simply hate the film because the main cast is filled with women. I accept this. What seems utterly ridiculous to me, is then stating that any criticism of the film is ‘misogynistic’. The assumption that the comedic value of the film is not at fault, but it is simply the backward thinking of people.
The film comes out in July, and so we have only seen a few trailers. However, like almost every trailer today, the plot and the tone are given to us immediately. Judging from the trailer, the tone is exactly the same as any other ‘New Age Comedy’: oversimplification, stereotyping, and a slightly altered narrative from the original form. This is not a feminist breakthrough. It is not a leap in Women’s cinema. It is simply a studio and its team operating under a new trend in order to maximise profits, from a film that is already a brand. This is also seen within the absence of diversity within film. Studios simply go back to the ‘white saviour narrative’ or cliché stories of previous generations, in order to fill their quota for ‘diversity’.
If we want to truly see feminism flourish in film, we must simply do one thing: let it be feminist. There are thousands of talented women who know what they are doing. Instead of recycling masterpieces, studios must allow original content to be made – with their investment. The counterpoint to this is, ‘how do they know it will work?’. They don’t. But, that’s the point, it forces innovation and creativity. Also, women have already created masterpieces. Ava DuVeray’s ‘Selma’, and Kate Bigelow’s ‘The Hurt Locker’ are incredible films, they are cinematically beautiful, as well as driving a semi-original, compelling narrative.
Ultimately, the same method should be applied to the comedy genre. It would silence anti-feminists, and replace recycled brands with a strong form of artistry, as it once was. Original content that challenges the audience. That’s how masterpieces are made.
