Cinematic Experience

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is, without question, one of the most generally popular things on the planet.

Of course with everything popular, there's going to be people that reflexively decide to dislike it. Maybe there's a genuine dislike or maybe they're just contrarian.

In either way, that side of the zeitgeist has some new heroes as some of Hollywood's old-guard elite have come out against Marvel Studio's work.

In a recent interview with Empire magazine, Martin Scorsese described the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the cinematic equivalent to a theme park, rather than "the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being."

To be fair, he's not wrong. Comic book adaptations, particularly the movies that Marvel Studios makes, are fundamentally similar to theme park rides. You strap in and get taken for a two-hour tour highlight tour of that particular franchise's greatest hits. Generally this means an origin story, a multitude of recognizable characters, and recreations of the most iconic scenes from the source material.

Sure, sometimes Marvel movies brush against some hard topics, but at the end of the day even the philosophical debate at the center of "Captain America: Civil War" is still mostly there to set up the scene where Captain America fights Iron Man.

And that's fine. That's what I'm there to see.

So yeah, Scorsese is not inaccurate in his description, but he does himself few favors by declaring that fun popcorn flicks don't qualify as "cinema."

Thus, we now have a deluge of articles about both Scorsese's comments and everybody currently cashing paychecks from Disney commenting on Scorsese's comments.

And Jennifer Aniston, for some reason.

This battle of semantics between people who make movies and people who make "cinema" heated up when Francis Ford Coppola chimed in to back Scorsese, adding that he thought Marvel Studio's pictures were "despicable."

Really, Frank? Who does that help? Also, your great-nephew is named Kal-El. You're just gonna make Thanksgiving awkward.

Outside of a super-cynical suspicion that this whole controversy is really about drawing attention to their own projects, it's really hard to see this uptick of snide remarks as anything but old men yelling about how much better things were in the good old days, which I'm not sure is the case.

Yes, if you make a lovingly crafted film that really dives into the depths of the human experience, there's a solid chance it will have to compete for attention with a multi-million dollar spectacle where people in costumes trade quips and punch each other.

And twenty years ago, that movie would be competing with the annual Disney animated musical.

And twenty years before that it would be competing with "Star Wars" and whatever Steven Spielberg was making at the time. "Jaws" is a great movie, but don't tell me it's not a theme park ride. I've been on the "Jaws" theme park ride.

What has changed though is that movie theaters are no longer the alpha and omega of cinematic experience. Fancy-smanchy high-art films aren't competing with Marvel Studios. They're competing with cell-phones and televisions. If I'm going to plan and pay for a trip to the movie theater, I'm going to be looking for movies that provide experiences I can't get anywhere else.

Specifically, watching special-effect heavy spectacles on a giant screen in a dark room surrounded by huge speakers.

If I want to explore the depths of the human experience, I can do that at home.

I suppose this is bad news if you really want to see the name of your super artistic movie flashing across the marquee.

On the other hand, it has never been easier in human history to present your movie to an audience. It may not be in a theater, but if all you're worried about is making a human connection than that can be done just as well on YouTube.

Cinema isn't dying. It's growing.

Travis Fischer is a news writer for Mid-America Publishing and is going to drive an hour and a half to watch cartoon pirates punch each other this weekend.