What exactly makes up a story?
Some say it’s as simple as characters doing things. That there is a beginning and an end, rising and falling action. That decisions are made and lessons are learned and then we move on.
But what exactly makes up a story in film?
And how has that changed over the years? How has the stranglehold of major studios on theaters across the country changed the films we are able to gain access to. And how will this affect the movie industry in the decades to come?
How has storytelling changed over the last few decades in Hollywood? What has that shift looked like to people living and working in the industry?
Zach Baron wrote a GQ profile on Scorsese. This lengthy piece is a walk through more than six decades of film history.
Throughout the interview he talks about his films and there are tidbits about what led him to some of those projects. Other times, he talks about how he struggled against studios to make the films he wanted.
Scorsese, especially, discussed his own mortality.
After all, he turns 81 in November. And Martin Scorsese is well aware that he only has but so much time left. Even he himself admits he maybe only has a couple more films (if that) in him.
Unfortunately, none of his wisdom swept across the internet.
No.
The internet ignored thousands of words of film history, of insights and musings in favor of seeing one thing. Something that Scorsese didn’t even say.
According to the internet firestorm, Martin Scorsese supposedly said that superhero films shouldn’t exist. While Baron mentioned superhero films in his write-up, and asked people to complain to him but not Scorsese, the director never mentioned them. He was discussing something else which is far more dangerous.
The problem here is that people looked at headlines, and all they saw were superheroes.
Scorsese wasn’t discussing genres. He was doing something he’s done many times over the course of his career, taking a stand against studios and their strangling control of the industry.
He targeted meaningless, marketing-driven manufactured content.
“But what I mean is that, it’s manufactured content. It’s almost like AI making a film. And that doesn’t mean that you don’t have incredible directors and special effects people doing beautiful artwork. But what does it mean? What do these films, what will it give you? Aside from a kind of consummation of something and then eliminating it from your mind, your whole body, you know? So what is it giving you?”
Martin Scorsese to Zach Baron
What is it giving you? The stories we love the most usually have something they gave us. A character we relate to or a story that resonates in our hearts. Think back to a movie that had you sit back in the theater and feel something – beyond the empty calories of manufactured content.
That doesn’t mean that Scorsese despises the adrenaline rush of action, that he hates adventure films. Through his work preserving and restoring films, he’s introduced early Hollywood Republic films and serials to the world – brought them back from virtual extinction.
And perhaps this is something that people need to hear. Martin Scorsese doesn’t hate superheroes. In fact, he was one of the champions of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films.
“Young people need to understand that not all images are there to be consumed like fast food and then forgotten – we need to educate them to understand the difference between moving images that engage their humanity and their intelligence, and moving images that are just selling them something.”
Martin Scorsese
It’s an unfortunate industry trend that the freedom to create has been stifled. Opportunities to make passion projects are few and far between.
“Well, the industry is over,” Scorsese said. “In other words, the industry that I was part of, we’re talking almost, what, 50 years ago? It’s like saying to somebody in 1970 who made silent films, what do you think’s happened?”
Baron got him to expand on that.
“[Studios are not] interested any longer in supporting individual voices that express their personal feelings or their personal thoughts and personal ideas and feelings on a big budget. And what’s happened now is that they’ve pigeonholed it to what they call indies.”
Scorsese goes on to tell Baron about a test screening of The Departed.
“What they wanted was a franchise. It wasn’t about a moral issue of a person living or dying.” It was about having a character that could survive for another film. Scorsese remembers a test screening where everyone—the audience, the filmmakers—walked out ecstatic. “And then the studio guys walked out and they were very sad, because they just didn’t want that movie. They wanted the franchise. Which means: I can’t work here anymore.”
When I first read this, I stopped for a minute. I wish I’d been surprised by this. I wish I was still so bright eyed and eager about an industry I love that this floored me.
Sadly, I was not surprised.
Why does there have to be a sequel to everything? Why can’t we tell a story because it’s sitting there inside of us, begging to break free? Why can’t a story just have a beginning, middle, and end that are condensed into 120 minutes (or approximately 42 when it comes to television)?
Even television is chasing manufactured content. Despite there being a category in the Emmy’s for a limited run series, new creators are encouraged to have multiple season plans if they want to consider pitching a television series. Streaming services judge series on minutes watched and audience retention, not if it’s truly successful. How many beloved series have you seen canceled not because they lacked an audience, but because those two numbers just weren’t as good as the streamer wanted?
Take a look at this excerpt out of the Stage 32 Pitching Guidebook.
If pitching a TV show/digital series, you’ve just finished summarizing your pilot episode. You will now want to give an overview of your series. Where does the story go from here? What is the first season arc? What does season 2 look like? Season 5? How do the characters grow and change over the seasons? The exec will want to know you’ve thought about the series, not just the pilot. You must demonstrate a story engine that will make the show last 5+ seasons.
Stage 32
Studios aren’t looking for solid stories to tell. They’re looking for franchises to milk for every dollar they can.
“The danger there is what it’s doing to our culture,” Scorsese said. “Because there are going to be generations now that think movies are only those—that’s what movies are.”
Is it too late to stop this dangerous tip of the balance? Is Hollywood past the tipping point?
Scorsese says he’ll fight to keep it from getting there. But by his own admission, he’s only got but so many years left to fight, to make his last stories, to impact the industry.
“They already think that [this is all movies can be]. Which means that we have to then fight back stronger. And it’s got to come from the grassroots level. It’s gotta come from the filmmakers themselves. And you’ll have, you know, the Safdie brothers, and you’ll have Chris Nolan, you know what I mean? And hit ’em from all sides. Hit ’em from all sides, and don’t give up. Let’s see what you got. Go out there and do it. Go reinvent. Don’t complain about it. But it’s true, because we’ve got to save cinema.” Cinema could be anything, Scorsese said; it didn’t just have to be serious. Some Like It Hot—that was cinema, for instance. But: “I do think that the manufactured content isn’t really cinema.”
Scorsese is not just talk when it comes to defending the rights of filmmakers. In 1990, he helped form The Film Foundation. Since then, the foundation has not only helped preserve hundreds of films, but has gone on to help with education initiatives to help teach children about cinema. In 2007, he helped create the World Cinema Project which has helped to preserve films around the world.
Along the way, they also fight for the rights of filmmakers. Take a look at their statement regarding this.
The Film Foundation stands committed to protecting the rights of filmmakers. Every day, decisions are being made to edit, alter, and reformat the films that we love. Despite spending countless hours perfecting every aspect of their movies, it is not the filmmakers who are making these changes, but the copyright holders who distribute them. For decades, TFF has been dedicated to preventing the unethical altering of artists’ works and to ensuring that their original vision is honored.
What will happen when Scorsese can no longer defend the art of cinema? When he can no longer be that loud and powerful voice defending independent filmmakers and studios? When he can no longer help fight to get theatrical releases for films that the major studios don’t want there?
What happens when he can no longer be there to fight for people like me?
I hope that there are people who join Scorsese in his fight. Others that speak up against the imbalance in the current movie and television system.
We can all join him in this fight to one degree or another. We can all make good art, and help overwhelm manufactured content with genuinely meaningful stories.
But more importantly, I hope that people look past something that Scorsese didn’t say and see the warning he gave instead. I hope they see the fears he has about the future of film.
I hope they see it. I hope they listen.
And most importantly, I hope that someday, I’ll have the chance to tell some of the stories that are already building in my mind. I hope I’ll be able to help others the way he has. I hope there’s still a chance for people like me.
Featured Image: IMDb
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