THE END OF AN ERA?

I've been fortunate enough to be involved in the film industry for the good part of 17 years. This journey has given me a deep understanding of what goes on behind the scenes and, in some way, a good understanding of the inner workings of the film industry itself. I've witnessed many changes in my short 34 years of existence but none that have really affected me personally to the extent that the film industry has. I fear that the nostalgia we feel for 'classics' may cease to exist for future generations, in movies created today, by the overuse of CGI, cash grabs and political correctness.

1987. The year I was born, and the very same year classics such as Good Morning Vietnam, Full Metal Jacket, Dirty Dancing, Police Academy, Predator, The Lost Boys, Harry And The Hendersons and many more, were masterfully created. These films shaped a generation and set bench marks for films in their specified genres and did so for years to come. Some were risky, some politically incorrect, and some, if shown in todays environment would be canceled immediately and the actors, directors and producers would be hounded for apologies. Apologies that would be dished out unsympathetically over social media, via carefully constructed sentences from their team of public relations appointees.

I tend to stray far from cancel culture, because to be involved you have to be consistent with your rulings and within no time we would have cancelled every tv show, movie and piece of art ever constructed, considering you simply cannot please everyone. After all, someone will find offence in even the most mundane and safe content. I typically like to leave my opinions about a controversial subject to those who it affects the most, I don't try to administer any virtue signalling or fake offence to show high moral ground. Thats not to say I wouldn't aid a minority group who might be struggling for equality, as I find these to be a far cry from each other. Fight for injustice but don't cry injustice for personal gain. Neither does it mean that racism, blatant sexism and other demeaning injustices should be accepted, they should be flushed out immediately and those who commit these atrocities should be dealt with accordingly, but these things are rather obvious, as no one should stand for any such practices. We can rid ourselves of these practices in the industry without destroying the art.

How does this relate to my point? Well, in fact this is my point exactly. Art, in whichever form you view it, is now catering to the small minority of people who feel it best to advertise their personal inability to control their emotions and offences. Thus, art, is no longer art in its truest form. It's simply a reconstruction of a number of ticked virtue boxes to cater to those who might be offended. Imagine forcing Michelangelo to not paint Gods hand out of fear he might offend Christians, We might never have been witness to such beauty as the Creation Of Adam. Now, rather than listing the abundant examples of how the movie industry in particular is affected by this movement of social injustices and cancel culture, I'd rather add a headline I recently read in regards to the Academy Awards. The headline criterion is on-screen representation: "At least one lead character in the movie must be from “an underrepresented racial or ethnic group”; at least 30% of the general ensemble cast must be from at least two underrepresented groups (women, racial, ethnic, LGBTQ+, or people with disabilities); or the movie’s subject must concern one of those groups." The premise of this sounds fantastic on paper, you're giving minority groups a better chance at success in their fields of passion, right? However, with this, comes an inevitable counter argument...

Why not give the opportunity to the person who best displays their abilities and aptitude in that field. Their skin colour, religion, sex and who they choose to have sex with, should NEVER matter, and it should never have ever mattered. We should have always accepted anyone for who they are and to say otherwise is to show complete and utter ignorance and lack of empathy. But to take an opportunity away from someone else who has probably, in this hypothetical situation, worked harder and longer and sacrificed far more, simply because they don't tick a minority box is equally as unjust. Everyone dreams to fulfil their passion and we should never exclude anyone for who they are and were born to be. To choose who is to be involved in the creation of art based not on the content of their character or their abilities but on the colour of their skin, personal beliefs or sex, is a sure fire way of destroying the BEST outcome of that project, because you're taking away those who might best be suited and replacing it with others who may be less qualified. This also goes for those who might have gained a large social media following, people with family in the industry or those with enough money to buy their way into a film. It all equally aids in destroying the best outcome for a film.

I've personally experienced this myself, having received a role due to delivering the best audition and best suiting the character, (a combination which secures success in most auditions), only for it to be taken away from me because the producers feared there wasn't enough diversity in the film. I was utterly heartbroken. I'd already told my friends and family I'd received the role and had already bought the champaign.

I feel it's necessary to reiterate the point, no one should be discriminated against based on who they are, which is exactly what is happening when you eliminate the opportunity to those who don't fall under the minority outline. Everyone should have equal opportunity and the job should be given to those who best suit the role. This inevitably will ensure the best outcome of the project. We should all strive to better ourselves in our field and endeavour to work from the bottom by adding experience under our belts, so that eventually we will be accepted for a role due to our talents and hard work, the networks we've created and the countless hours we've spent perfecting our craft. You shouldn't expect a first place medal if you didn't win the race.

The reason we crave the classics is because they were risky, edgy, completely wacky and experimental and in some cases, because they weren't entirely politically correct. They were fun, funny, and above all, they were timeless art. When we start catering to those who complain, we risk the slippery slope of never ending bandages to block to constant holes in our supposed, but never intentional, injustices. No one sets out to hurt anyone with art, it's simply an expression of the human mind and we shouldn't shield others from it because we might offend them. Comedy talk shows are slowly becoming political propaganda and comedians are being cancelled left right and centre. Even though the point of a comedian is to make light of taboo topics so we can laugh TOGETHER about how silly life is. It makes it all just a little bit more bearable. Comedy brings us closer together, it shouldn't push us further apart. I guess the good thing is, all races, creeds and political views are being equally cancelled now, At least we're unified in that...

My second point relates to the overuse of CGI. It's no secret that CGI has come far enough now that, in some cases, we cannot tell the difference between real and imagined. Computer animation and special effects are so well attuned that we can use them to replace entire cities, crowds and action scenes and you'd be hard pressed to find a fault. However, it's when CGI becomes the focus of your scene as opposed to an aid in creation, that we find it harder to connect with the characters and the story. Studios these days are trying to sell us on the graphics more than a well crafted story line. Movie lovers should take issue with this, because it's inevitably destroying the potential for memorable movies and in turn, classics. We've literally seen it all, so much so that CGI is no longer impressive, and is just a part of what makes up the final outcome of the project. So if we focus on creating something that is purely visually stunning, we lose the most important part, the story. The part that makes us come back time and time again isn't how real an explosion looked, it's how the characters within a great story made you feel. The Fast And The Furious is a prime example of a franchise that has fallen prey to this spike in use of CGI. What started out as a tale of family, love and passion, soon turned into a studios cash grab on a franchise and a movie lovers nightmare. It was soon filled with animation and ridiculous stunts that take away from the heart of what made the movie so franchisable to begin with.

There's something so endearing and relatable to the movies of the past. I truly believe it was easier to connect with characters and stories that were built by the hands of the creators. Where sets were designed and costumes were favoured over CGI. Obviously this is because computer animation wasn't anywhere near as photo real as it is today. However, if you've ever been fortunate enough to be on a big budget movie set, you'll quickly realise two things, food and coffee time is the most appreciated thing on a set and secondly, the talent of set designers, the prop department, costume and modelling is utterly mind blowing. As an actor, standing in a street built by the crew is a part of what makes movies so magical. You feel a part of the story and I believe the audience can feel it too. To have a real character in a costume or a real wall to touch, a real boat to sail and horse to ride makes you feel closer to the story.

Movies like Jurassic Park, Mad Max and Star Wars brought us closer to their world through their use of hand crafted beasts, the incredible makeup and the heart stopping stunts performed by courageous men and women. We take away some of the magic of film when we swap real with computer generated scenes and characters. This is not to say CGI doesn't have a place in film, because obviously it's needed in many cases. This is the unfortunate circumstance we've created for ourselves by aiding production costs and cutting down on paying people for their time. Why pay hundreds of extras to create a crowd when you can simply duplicate ten people a hundred times. Why create an entire set when you can whip one up in After Effects within minutes for a fraction of the cost. It only makes perfect sense. However, there was something so enticing about the imperfection of a man in a suit representing a creature, or a wall that moved slightly when someone was pushed into it. Paradoxically, breaking the 'forth wall' brought you into the world even more.

We need CGI, we need it just as much as we need every single cog in the machine that makes up a movie, but when we start to focus more on trying to bombard the audience with heavily animated action sequences to fill in the lack of hearty story lines, we lose the ability to create classics. In turn, we create fast paced forgettable movies that cater to the short attention microwave society we've become.

Where do we go from here? I truly don't know. These are simply ramblings from a lover of movies that fears we are headed in a direction that is bound to destroy the art of cinema. My hope is that we can again create movies that truly affect us, because nowadays they are so few and far between. As humans we like to progress, but a good story is timeless and nothing should get in the way of the execution of a good story. Not political correctness, not the advancement of technology and certainly not profits. We all want to feel something, and to fall in love and find our passions, and movies have always been there to inspire these things. So let them be what they are, let them be created by those who have worked hard to be there, and if you want to fight against something, fight against the suppression of expression, because the more limits you put on something the less that something has to explore, and eventually the less timeless art will be created, and what a boring world it would be to live in without it.

I'll leave you with the words of Robin Williams - Dead Poets Society 1989 - "The human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, engineering, are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."