An Adapting Industry & My Two Favorite Movies of 2021
Some thoughts on feature-length films and a few recs for the weekend
Views expressed are my own
Read time: 11 minutes
How we Got Here
The film industry today is nowhere near what it was like 15 or 20 years ago. Like many of you, I remember the days of Blockbuster, when home video ruled the ancillary value for films and there was a strong emphasis on physical ownership. The subscription model (pioneered by Netflix in 2007) was an inflection point in consumer sentiment. Consumers suddenly thought twice about owning physical content and the idea of being able to stream a large library of movies and TV shows started to become more appealing. Netflix quickly evolved from a home video delivery service to a digital streaming service, complete with its own library of content that was either produced in-house or licensed from various rightsholders. As new streaming services began to copy Netflix’s business model, investing in content quickly accelerated as content was revealed to be the primary driver for increasing subscriber base. In turn, home video sales plummeted as more and more consumers saw the value in paying a monthly fee for a seemingly unlimited well of content across multiple genres.
This shift in consumer sentiment ultimately affected the distribution model amongst major studios. “Windowing” is a term that’s best described as the distribution of a film for consumption via different mediums (Theatrical, Home Video, Television) on a staggered and sometimes exclusive basis. Traditional viewing windows started to compress as a result of shifting consumer sentiment. Now, instead of a 5 month theatrical window, it’s now only 3 months, or more often less. Consumers want their content immediately and with as much convenience as possible. Today, genres that would have been successful via a theatrical release now are primarily championed and released through streaming services. The makeup of the top 10 films by box office in 2000 is totally different from that of 2019 (the last year before the pandemic). Franchise and sequel IP dominate today whereas original content used to be more prevalent. See some stats below:
This gets us to where we are today. Studios release films theatrically only when it makes the most sense for them financially. Franchise and experiential films (e.g. horror) garner enough viewers where a theatrical distribution strategy and its costs (primarily marketing) are justified while the mid-budget drama primarily lives on a streaming service. However, with the shift in distribution strategy comes the question of if films are primarily for artistic value or for entertainment. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. And that’s where the dichotomy comes into play, where studios are trying to turn a profit at the expense of artists wanting their films to be seen on the big screen and avoid being swallowed as another statistic in an algorithm.
This clash isn’t just based on sentiment either. Martin Scorsese once said that Marvel movies aren’t cinema and likened them to theme parks, while Christopher Nolan’s next movie will be at Universal instead of Warner Bros. because of the way they released Tenet theatrically day-and-date with HBO Max. Of course it’s only natural for filmmakers to want their films to be exhibited on the big screen, while at the same time, for studios and tech companies to want to turn a profit for their shareholders. The real clash has always been between filmmakers and consumers, and more so, their expectations on when and where content should be delivered to them. It has become more apparent that the content has become more important than the people behind it, as evidenced by the steep decline in viewership for the Oscars over the past 20 years. This years’ Will Smith slap heard around the world certainly didn’t help mitigate the view that the people who attend these events aren’t the “cool kids anymore”, as Jim Carrey puts it. And that is why you see so many filmmakers trying to preserve the sanctity of their work while consumers, myself included, feel like they can’t get access to content fast enough. Content for most of us is primarily just for entertainment. The question then becomes how much of this medium should be considered entertainment versus how much artistic value should it add to our lives.
Film as an Artform & What it Means to me
I remember in a college course one of my professors saying that art should only be judged for its own sake and has inherent value despite any moral, social, or political function. If that is true, then film is a tricky artform to dissect. A movie is just a string of moving pictures and it’s impossible to divorce it of its storyline, social commentary, or general themes. All of these components can inform how much a viewer enjoys a film. Yet I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t consider film as an artform. The closest I could get to convincing myself that film is a art was with a quote from the late Roger Ebert, who said “it's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.” So maybe the plot isn’t the most important aspect of a film after all. The directing, writing, cinematography, all have something to do with how the plot unfolds and the viewer’s experience. And maybe it’s all the nuances that makes the difference between a film that works really well and a story that’s poorly told. Maybe balance between each of the elements is all it is.
I’ve always thought of a film as offering a glimpse into other people’s lives and experiences. It gives me a chance to live as someone who I’m not. When else can you be teleported into a different part of the world and an escape from your current reality? And with each new movie I watch, I strive to be a slightly different person after watching it, even by the tiniest of measures. That doesn’t always happen. But I’ve always thought that the best movies keep me thinking long past when the credits roll.
Films are also extremely commercialized and meant to appeal to the masses. You don’t need any special training or education to appreciate them. I’m unsure if there was even a point to Pulp Fiction, yet we don’t really need one to enjoy it for what it is. Unlike with music, in which we prefer to listen to the same songs repeatedly, we generally prefer to watch a film that we haven’t seen before. But the ones that we keep going back to probably represent some form of connection for us. We watch them over and over again not for the plot (because we know what’s going to happen), but to appreciate them for what they are.
Here are two movies that had a large impact on me recently. Note that I generally try to avoid major plot points that would otherwise spoil the movie, but I may touch upon scenes and imagery generally seen in posters or trailers, and sometimes actual scenes not essential to the overall plot. If even that is too much, I suggest revisiting my commentary after you’ve seen the movie.
The Worst Person in the World
This was probably my favorite movie that I’ve seen in the last 6 months. It resonated with me especially because it’s a critique of my generation (Gen Y, or Millennials). To an outsider looking in, we’re indecisive, we’re obsessed with finding the most fulfilling career instead of a practical one, we FOMO into anything without a second thought, and we love avocado toast. Time Magazine had an interesting take on us in 2013.
In the U.S., millennials are the children of baby boomers, who are also known as the Me Generation, who then produced the Me Me Me Generation, whose selfishness technology has only exacerbated. Whereas in the 1950s families displayed a wedding photo, a school photo and maybe a military photo in their homes, the average middle-class American family today walks amid 85 pictures of themselves and their pets. Millennials have come of age in the era of the quantified self, recording their daily steps on FitBit, their whereabouts every hour of every day on PlaceMe and their genetic data on 23 and Me. They have less civic engagement and lower political participation than any previous group. This is a generation that would have made Walt Whitman wonder if maybe they should try singing a song of someone else.
The article’s primary critiques are now seen as common stereotypes. We’re entitled, we’re anti-establishment, and we tend to inflate our own egos. Despite these apparent shortcomings then, why is Worst Person directed by a Gen X director? Like the quote that goes “often those that criticize others reveal what he himself lacks”, perhaps Trier is primarily self reflecting on what his life was like in his 20s. Time also had something to say about Gen X in the 90s.
They have trouble making decisions. They would rather hike in the Himalayas than climb a corporate ladder. They have few heroes, no anthems, no style to call their own. They crave entertainment, but their attention span is as short as one zap of a TV dial. They hate yuppies, hippies and druggies. They postpone marriage because they dread divorce. They sneer at Range Rovers, Rolexes and red suspenders. What they hold dear are family life, local activism, national parks, penny loafers and mountain bikes.
Notice any similarities? Maybe this is an obvious truth that I just realized, but generational traits don’t just develop overnight or even over a few years. They tend to develop over decades and the current generation is always in part influenced by the prior one.
Julie, the main protagonist in the film, is a millennial who’s struggles with an existential crisis. She switches career choices often, from becoming a doctor, to a photographer, to a writer, she’s confused as to where to leave her footprint on society. Meanwhile, her love interests also vary and we follow her relationships as she tries to find the “one”. Some of her relationships are just hookups but most have some substance to them. But how can you find the right person if you don’t know if you want to get married, or have children, or even become ready to settle down? The average age of first marriage in the U.S. has only increased since the Baby Boomer generation.1
My parents had a rather simplistic view on life. They immigrated to America when I was very young, with hopes that a western society would provide them with more opportunities to achieve their goals, which were defined pre-marriage. Life was seemingly simpler back them. They were decisive, they didn’t sweat the small things, and they didn’t seem to complain when they had to take a detour. Like Julie, I’m not sure that I can say the same about myself. It’s interesting to note that since this film takes place in Norway, this trend isn’t just a North American tendency, but one that permeates most western cultures.
Where to Watch The Worst Person in the World
Pig
Nicholas Cage has had a strange renaissance lately. From way too artsy horror movies to a sci-fi film on acid, one can only surmise that his recent surge of low-budget arthouse films means he’s either in a lot of debt or just loves to act. Regardless of his most recent output, his “playing himself” style of acting works pretty well for Pig. For starters, this film isn’t anything like John Wick, as the trailer might make it out to be. And for that, I always think that setting expectations is directly correlated to one’s own enjoyment of a film. Based on my initial reaction, Pig is a film about grief, but I would hardly call it depressing. Some people deal with grief by separating themselves from society (Rob, the main character played by Cage) while others try to distract themselves in their own work (Darius). Eventually, the only way to some to terms with it is to face it head-on, feeling it in all of its forms instead of repressing it.
Pig is also a film about regret and lost opportunities. The most powerful scene in the movie, for me personally, deals with the concept of “selling out” instead of pursuing a passion. How many millennials deal with this crisis on a consistent basis? I know I have.
This film is admittedly a little strange. It’s very stylized and not everything is meant to be taken literally. It’s actually very metaphorical and once we stop asking questions like “why doesn’t Nicholas Cage wipe the blood off his face before stepping into a high-end restaurant?”, we can start to appreciate the film for what it is, quicks and all. As with all films, an aspect I really love about them is how everyone will take away something novel based on their own viewing, and in large part, their own experiences. I’m curious to know what your takeaways are.
As always, feel free to shoot me a note and let me know your thoughts on a movie I’ve discussed. I’m also always open to recs!
https://www.gottman.com/blog/millennials-redefining-marriage/#:~:text=Compared%20to%20previous%20generations%2C%20millennials,Knot%202017%20Real%20Weddings%20Study.
I had no clue whether or not Pig was good. Pushing it to the top of my list