The Secret Truth We Struggle To Admit About Cinema & Streaming
Be Warned! Once you see it, you can't unsee it.
There I was… tap-tap-typing away. I thought I was closing in on pressing “publish now” on my latest update on the cinemapocolypse. An upbeat, hope-filled post? Be warned: it is not going to be that.
The so-called “indie” sector of American prestige cinema? Gone and it is our own fault. We let it rot from the inside out, never addressing all that needed to be done to make it work better for everyone. Now we’ve run out of new money or new tech platforms and we only have what we had before, but we let so many of the parts rust or fall off it can barely move now. I hope those actors love playing fantasy figures or slaughter victims, because those smart dramas that win them trophies? Gone. We can also forget about those $10M+ authored films put together territory by territory – unless they are covered by international subsidies — better get your international passports while you still can. Forget about those investigative journalism docs too. They are as dead as the “truth to power” ones. Remember those transgressive voices from 90’s film? The cinema of audacity? They ain’t ever coming back my friend. No one was willing to do the maintenance. Others squeezed the cash out and then hit the road leaving us riding the horse’s corpse.
You want ‘em back? Those Indies you once loved? Like it was the 90’s again, or maybe that brief wrinkle in the the mid twenty-tens? Nope. You can’t get ‘em, at least not until the pendulum swings back this way again — if it ever does. Good luck on some of those mainstream genres too. Or period pieces or dramas of any sort. They are just not friendly to the current model. But if you are a nut for violence, explosions, and VFX… or just don’t feel any need to deviate from the tired formulas, then what’s left of the film biz has got you covered. Sweet!
Not such a pretty picture if you ask me.
Something got in the way when I started writing about all that icky and ucky stuff still to come though. Something big that I just could not maneuver past. The post-I-am-not-sending-quite-yet is really all about the fact we are overlooking a wider decimation of all we once loved despite the numerous clues. Overlooking or deliberately ignoring? I am not yet sure which. And it’s not just a section of the business that has been amputated, but an infection that’s attacking this entire thing of ours. All of it is going to die or at least get really ill. We all wish this infection wasn’t here. So we try not to discuss it. We just pretend there is some normal left. But no; normal’s all over. Let’s not pretend otherwise anymore.
So, although you are going to have to wait for that post a wee bit longer, I now want to pour paint down from above and expose the invisible demon for what it is. I want to reveal one of those things we’ve been trying too hard to overlook for too long.
What is that thing we don’t want to give words to? What stares us in the face -- but we still we ignore? What is the thing we are ashamed to vocalize?
Global streaming is not compatible with art or truth. Do I need to state that again? Why is that we don’t want to admit it or accept it? What is needed for that to really sink in? Nowhere is this truer than when it comes to cinema. And like most things, it didn’t have to be this way, but that is the muck we are now mired in. Time to face reality, friends. Global streaming is not compatible with art or truth. GLOBAL STREAMING IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH ART OR TRUTH.
Let that sink in, will you?
I recognize some of you are going to just toss this off and go back to whatever it is you are doing. That is, those of you that do that are just going to cover your ass and try to avoid the responsibility that you’ve let something awesome die, again. Sure, some of you will make movies in total alignment with the Global Streamers and many folks will find them incredibly entertaining. Bravo for you. Others of you will try to do something about our current situation and make the world safe once again for ambitiously authored work. Thank you.
Let’s figure out where each of us stand. Why did you decide to make movies? Why do you love movies? I suspect both have something to do with both art and truth. If you agree, then you see the puzzle we have. The Quagmire. The reason we make something is no longer is compatible with the way we fund it, distribute it, or consume it. And yet, we have so far refused to admit it.
Both of those are significant problems, Charlie. Does it mean we have to stop funding, distributing or consuming cinema in such a fashion as we currently do? Probably. Yes. Definitely. It’s that or change what Global Streaming currently is. Good luck with that, right? Or maybe it really is “both, and…” and we can do both the alternative and our current global streaming manifestation at the same time. Either way, I suspect you see this is a long-term campaign where we need to be really clear about what we want to avoid — not just where we want to get to. We are going to have to draw a line in the cement. Which side are you on?
That thing we want to avoid is relying solely on that which does not support art or truth for our funding, distribution, or choice of consumption. That is the core of why we need a non-dependent ecosystem for cinema. Right now we have no choice but to rely on the GSPs, and in doing so we further the end of the things we got into this for. That is, unless they change their ways and it is a pretty safe bet that they won’t unless we back them into a corner. Back them into a corner? Yeah, throw in some legislation or legal action. And yes that is a lot of work. And most feel it is a fool’s errand to bite the hand that feeds you. Shame on you. That’s why you are stuck. That’s why we are stuck. Didn’t you ever learn not to settle for less than you deserve? Time to truly participate, my friends.
But just as the kings of old used to enjoy having jesters dancing around and teasing them with the truth, the big bosses today may welcome a little grit to hasten the return to the making of pearls. Our industry is not quite yet a Putin-esque place, right? Jesters said it as it was. And I’ve had high ranking employees at Netflix, Apple, and Amazon all come to me and say it is good that I write these things because they too believe it but can’t say it. Global streaming is not compatible with art or truth. Folks want change. They know it doesn’t have to be this way. But you can’t always change things from the inside. I know I couldn’t. But I quit.
And FWIW I am leaving one GSP out of the mix. MUBI is one that supports art, so I am not without hope that I can be proven wrong (Criterion is not global, so I am not mentioning it either). I hope to be so proven. Please. But I still see MUBI is a place where at best I go to catch up. That’s sort of what I feel streaming is for anyways. Sure, there is no shortage of titles MUBI offers that we all need to discover — but can any platform ever bring the urgency that is needed to stay in and watch? They have those films for sure, but I am going to first try to always see those films OALSASITD and that is to me the proof that global streaming is not compatible with art or truth — at least unless it has already been proven meaningful else where first, like in the theater.
I suspect though that some of you may feel that is the statement that needs to be probed a bit more. Why do I feel Global Streaming is incompatible with both art and truth? I’ve got a few points (a list!), but I am going to save that for Part Two. Stay tuned. And for now remember we have a new song to sing.
Global streaming is not compatible with art or truth. Pissing people off is not part of the GSP’s business strategy.
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I agree AND I'm looking forward to your follow up on why Global Streaming is not compatible with art or truth.
Specifically, I'm looking to understand what makes Global Streaming different from the mega studios of yore -- or whether Global Streaming is just the latest evolution and perfection of a mainstream corporate machine that has just gotten too large and too loud for a distracted culture to ignore.
I know I've posted this Rilke quote before, but it seems worth repeating here:
"Behold the machine,
How it rolls and wreaks vengeance.
And maims and weakens us."
(From Rilke's Sonnets to Orpheus, Book 2 Number 18)
Very interesting that you cite Mubi as specifically an alternative model. I agree and shill it often, but without really knowing it's background business model.
I have a long history with Mubi going back to when it was a cinephile discussion board called The Auteurs. It took a very strange and convoluted path to become what it is today.