A thing I really don’t get nowadays is all the praise Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is getting. I find it funny that an installment in the Shrek franchise, which most people only watch for the adult jokes, toilet humor, and pop culture references, is actually getting so much praise. Those movies are incredibly overrated, and that it saddens me that most people don’t seem to be intelligent enough to appreciate art.
I feel the same way with the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe films. I only really enjoyed No Way Home, and that was because I wanted to know what was going to happen to the Tom Holland Peter Parker after the end of Far From Home. It’s all about the jokes, fanservice, and representation now.
Those things hurt me because I am an aspiring author that wants to tell a good story, but the fact that people accept mediocrity so much makes me feel hopeless.
…too much of the same… repetitive … and the worst, the mix-in of politics.
I have a hard time finding a movie from which I can not predict the rest of the story after the first minute dropped.
Some questions to consider:
What is “art”?
What qualifies you to define “art”, but not the filmmakers you’re critiquing?
What makes your definition of “art” superior to their definition?
If, based on that last question, definitions of art can be ranked by superiority, then what is the ultimate definition of art?
Who gets to decide the ultimate definition of art? What qualifies them?
If there’s no singular superior definition of art… (hint: there isn’t), is it possible that art is entirely subjective, and no personal definition of art is superior to any other?
You say “no one is intelligent enough to appreciate art”- this clearly implies that you see yourself as more intelligent than everyone else. What qualifies you as more intelligent than everyone else?
Let’s take this topic as an example and assume you are more intelligent than the people who made Puss in Boots. If you are more intelligent than the people who made a film that has brought in tens of millions of dollars, then it’s quite easy to prove- all you have to do is create something better that generates more money. That movie made 479 million dollars at the box office, so if you’re more intelligent than the film-makers, you should be able to make 480 million dollars at a box office with relative ease, right?
Lastly, a piece of friendly advice- the more intelligent you are, the less intelligent you think you are. The true intelligent people I’ve known have been humble, meek, and often see themselves as lesser than others. Remember what Isaac Newton said about standing on the shoulders of giants, and consider to yourself… how accurate is your view of yourself?
I have no problem with the casting of people of color in movies. Characters who are people of color can just be as good as any other great character—just look at Apollo Creed in the Rocky films.
It’s when whole characters just exist to fulfill the “diversity” quota when writing is lackluster. Just look at your typical Marvel movie nowadays.
I’m not saying that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is bad. It’s just I’m flabbergasted that a franchise many people famously associate with adult jokes and pop culture references like Shrek produced an above-average film.
Then your book should be able to sell like gangbusters because there is no competition, in theory if it is the only product out there that actually demonstrates an understanding of creativity.
Jokes aside, your perception of other people who you will probably never meet in real life should not be taken as a reason to just call it quits and not produce anything. However, the tone of this post seems to indicate a risk of becoming overconfident and writing in logical flaws that might then be overlooked (which will lead to puzzled responses once others buy the book).
If I may take the liberty of rephrasing your words, it seems like you’re worried about finding an audience for your creative works because your personal taste and style is very different from what seems to be popular in the mainstream. I think the key to mitigating this fear is twofold: one, create for yourself, don’t worry about what you think other people might want. If you like what you create, other people will as well. You can chase your tail in circles endlessly trying to make something that people like, but no matter what you make, someone’s still not going to like it. So why worry? Just make what you like.
Second; have reasonable expectations. Your book probably isn’t going to sell 100 million copies. But it very might well sell 10,000. And that’s totally fine. There’s nothing inherently better about an audience of 100 million vs 10,000, the pressure we feel to create at a massive scale is simply untenable.
What will help, is that something like a book should not be something you dive headlong into. Before the first chapter is started, you need to have a solid idea sketched out on how it begins, how it progresses, what the plot is, and how everything is resolved (that being you intend to write a classic novel at least). There is also the option of writing a collection of short stories or, if you want to combine the work with Blender use, a book for kids.
Either you didn’t watch the film or you’ve the media literacy of a toddler. The Last Wish is praised for its fun characters and their journeys. The protagonist’s acceptance of his own mortality, understanding the importance of living the life that he has, and learning to embrace found family. That last point both for Puss and Goldilocks respectively. There’s also solid portrayals of anxiety, depression, recognition of trauma, disability. All while still being an enjoyable family film.
Last Wish is a smart film. It explores weighty concepts while still being fun because it works on multiple levels but doesn’t speak down to the audience.
A story can be smart, resonant, and weighty without drowning itself in pretense. Get off your arrogant little pedestal and try engaging with media and you might learn something.
A friend of mine, Marcos Mateu-Mestre @mmateumestre, worked on the visuals for that film. And they’re crazy good. So I can only assume that you are referring to the something else such as the art of a dialogue?
So, what’s your definition of art in film? Something like My Dinner With Andre? Great film!
Well… blockbusters are mutli million dollar productions… so they are playing safe…
If you want something interesting… look for something non mainstream…
Funny thing: i just saw this the other day about the first John Wick movie (indeed the first one was almost never done). It’s maybe not the movie you wanna see but the first one was on a small budget (less than others… see postition i marked) but… it is the base for more… okay maybe also going mainstream… but of course almost every follow-up will cut off some expections from some people… :
It’s hard to know what you really expect from these movies, since “a good story” is very subjective.
Blockbuster movies target broad audiences and their goal is, as you said, to entertain as much people as possible.
Some of them are more clever than others, but at the end of the day, it remains a product that should sales to many so they don’t take a lot of risks.
But on the other hand, are you interested in watching movies that target a lesser audience ?
In the animation side, did you see movies like Persepolis, I lost my body, Secret of Kells ? All of them are quite mainstream but no blockbusters.
Problem is, a lot of movies are made but they get far less advertising than blockbusters, “thanks” to the producers and distributor that maintain a monopoly. But on the other hand the public isn’t showing a great interest in watching different stuff, and ironically many of them show disappointment in mainstream movies just like you.
Since I was born in the 80s, I grew up with those all well known movies of the 70s and 80s and 90s. Allow me to be very biased on it as well as provide specific arguments:
Technology (colored movies)
Interesting themes (cyberpunk, sci-fi, medieval fantasy, action/karate)
(from Blade Runner, to Total Recall, to Warriors Of Virtue, to Jackie Chan action)
Birth of all known franchises (Alien, Robocop, Transfomers, Men In Black, Lion King…)
CGI…
Practical Effects…
Action Heroes (Arnold, Stallone, Van Damme, …)
The point is that at that time, there was creativity leaking everywhere, there were lots of creative people innovating all of the time. I mean that in order to get from 0% to something totally new, imagine how crazy is that. You had always something new and shiny never seen before, you had lots of variations, there was no chance to see the same stuff , you had no time to get bored, no time to complain if something was good because more or less you had the full experience from everywhere (as well as DOS games, SNES, PS1, Coin Arcade Machines)…
Now if you take this experience and compare it to now it looks like everything is dull and boring. You might expect to get about 5 mega-movies each year and everything will be the same again and again… In other words, I consider that about film makers now, is not a matter if they do make good or bad movies. The point is that they are bored and stagnant, have no creativity and no spirit at all.
This is why I consider that art is about making interesting stuff that “entertain” in a sense of giving new experiences and exploring brand new and never-seen themes.
Western culture in general has been in a tailspin for a while now, but it has really picked up in the last 5 years. It is to the point where I made a commitment a few years ago to never again walk through the doors of a cinema, and indeed I have not seen a single thing out of Hollywood since then. I have largely given up on movies, TV, and even laughter, and if not for my creative hobbies I might no longer have much use for a computing device either.
Even basic human behavior has gone off the rails, violence or the threat of it is now considered a common occurrence in schools and raiding parties a common occurrence at retail stores (at least in some areas). If not for the continued advance in technology, it would become obvious that humanity faces the possibility of a very dark future.
Saying that the new Puss in Boots was overrated while hinting that old Marvel movies somehow are supposed to be better feels a bit strange. I’d say that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a fresh breeze since it not only looks good and have good humor, it also have a very well written, smart and tight script with such perfect characters etc etc, which is quite rare to see today. It is a masterpiece and deserves all praise it gets.
But sure, you might not like it, but technically it is way better than most movies today where they seem to spend all the budget on cinematography, sound, CG, sets, costumes etc, and then like a dollar or two to someones nephew to throw together a script during his kindergarden lunch break.
Studios are not actually spending as much money on VFX as we think, because a big chunk of the budget now is marketing and the salaries of A-list actors. The studios will actually cut as many corners as they can on special effects and instead make the movie about showcasing the actor (for instance, the choice to have superheroes not wear their masks even in battle and the overdone humanization of talking creatures).
It also does not help that Hollywood is now in a phase where some of the executives are blaming the audience when certain movies end up not being a runaway hit (but they believe they can resolve that as soon as the definition of the term success is rewritten, which was brought up at the Oscars).
I think the universal* franchising is one of the biggest problems.
(*universal as in the concept, not the studio)
Movie studios have gone from selling stories to selling a brand. And customers eat it up.
For big brand franchises like star wars and marvel, the money from ticket sales, though vast, is dwarfed by sales of merch and cross branding.
Pokemon, as a branded franchise, has made over 100 billion dollars, and it ain’t from ticket sales. The merchability is a huge driving factor for character development.
BB8 was invented to sell merch, So was baby yoda.
Capitalist consumerism is what has been making entertainment bad.
