Cinema Issues: Don’t Like It Don’t Watch It

In this edition of Cinema Issues we will be talking about actors running their mouths in Hollywood and coming break point between activism and actors in general.

As many of you who read my reviews know there is nothing worse than an actor who feels the need to lecture you on politics from their mansion, many times this is also followed with a comment about if you disagree with me you’re evil and you shouldn’t watch my work. This is damaging and just stupid.

Now increasingly I believe, and I believe it has already started happening, there will be contractual stipulations as to what actors can and can’t say and what they can and can’t post whilst they are under contract to either shoot, or promote a film, possibly up until the point of beginning a project until it is released. You can understand why studios would do this as an actor running their mouth about some issue can cost audiences, and can damage the box office of your film as such it is a move motivated by the need to try and keep as many audience members as possible. Whether or not you agree with what these people say is irrelevant what matter is that it can and has had a tangible impact of box office returns before.

To look at this issue more closely lets look at two prominent examples.

Firstly you have Tatianna Maslany, She-Hulk, in the MCU, not only did she attack the fans over that show, which no doubt hurt the ratings, she also personally called out Bob Iger during the writer’s strike, and as a result She-Hulk was removed from the Marvel official banner. She has also told people to cancel Disney + before. You see all of these moves are done to show adherence to activism, she wants to state her politics and she doesn’t care for the consequences, however, the issue becomes when this starts to hurt the bottom line. Celebrities like anyone has a right to speak their mind, but when it starts to hurt the bottom line when you start having people whom you have cast in multimillion dollar shows telling people to cancel your service this becomes a real problem. The issue stems from belief on the celebrity side that they are too big to fail, and that they have a moral duty to do this, at that is at odds with the studio.

Then for our second example you have Oscar Issac, Moon Knight, who when asked about working with Disney said he was wary, and then referenced his disapproval of how Disney handled the Kimmel situation in which he celebrated the death of Charlie Kirk and then was suspended. Issac would imply that this suspension was akin to fascism. This highly privileged take, once again adherence to a cause over career. This is perhaps even worse than what Maslany did as it damages Disney as a brand overall, with an incorrect statement.

The fact is this is a failing of publicists who used to be the class that kept celebrity image in check and made sure they didn’t bite the hand that feeds them like this, but then maybe this sub-set has been co-opted and are pushing for it or have given up controlling their clients. Either way the outcome remains the same with an ever decreasing box office something needs to be done to keep talent in line, and not alienate half the audience, and that likely thing will be contracts that dictate what you can and can’t say and what you can and can’t post when working on a film. This move in all honesty makes sense and is needed, especially as we now live in a post cultural shift society

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Cinema Issues: The Growing Cloud Around Millie Bobby Brown

In this edition of Cinema Issues we will be talking about the red flags surrounding Millie Bobby Brown and the increasing risk that she will be a child star who goes down the path of many other child stars, which is to say growing into broken adults, with serious issues.

This post is intended to draw attention and raise awareness rather than being critical of her, and that is the spirit this is being written in.

In my mind there are 5 key areas that need to be discussed.

Firstly is what I am going to call the Miley Cyrus treatment, this is the idea of showing you are a grown up by over sexualising yourself. We can see this with Millie particularly in her blonde phase wherein she is doing a lot of racy photoshoots and dressing in a more revealing way. Now there is nothing wrong with this, but the idea of feeling the need to dispel the idea of being family friendly can and has lead to dark paths for other celebrities before. Moreover, the way Millie has responded to people who are commenting on this to call them ‘bullies’ suggests that she may have a deeper insecurity and worry about her image that these new style moves are trying to fix, and that is why she is getting angry at the coverage. She may be worried about being the ‘little girl from Stranger Things forever’.

Secondly you have the situation with David Harbour, now before we scream ‘ThE DaIlY mAiL lIeD’ lets think about this it was not only the Daily Mail that ran with the story, other people reported it too and this was not just them repeating the Mail’s story they had other people telling them this as well. So whilst this should be taken with a grain of salt it highlights another thing and that is the idea of being difficult. Now, before we get into it what I am referring to is an alleged report that Brown had Netflix conduct an onset investigation into Harbour for ‘bullying’ there is that word again. Now no action was taken against Harbour so it is safe to assume it either wasn’t real, or there was not enough evidence. At the Stranger Things red carpet they were all smiles and loving words towards each other, but then they would be in that situation as Netflix wouldn’t want a falling out to spoil things for the new season. However, the reason why this is here is that it raises a question, was Harbour bad or not. If he wasn’t was this a power move by Brown to try and get top billing for the show, if he was is she being forced to continue in an unsafe environment and what may that be doing for her mental health, and could she be punished, career wise for speaking out.

Then you have the trad wife, the modern day sort of house wife idea, accusations that she really is not getting rid of, there is nothing wrong with being a trad wife if you want to. As long as you are happy and healthy then its fine, however, there is a risk within the movement of unhealthy relationship dynamics and a possibility for controlling situations to arise. It may well be that she is happy away from the spotlight and this is a semi-retirement for her, but it could also mean that she may be rejecting some modern notions of what’s okay in a relationship and women’s individual agency which could open her to further mental damage, which compounds the other things herein.

Following that you have her increased aggressive behaviour, she has had repeated run ins with the press/paparazzi wherein she has sworn at them and been aggressive. Now they probably well deserve it, but it does speak to someone under strain, someone who is not so poised, and whilst that is a good thing , they keep it real, it could also be a worrying indicator. You also have to worry for her that her behaviour could lead to her making enemies amongst the press who may try and hound her for pictures and exclusives in order to trip her up or get her to damage herself or her image. This shouldn’t be the way of Hollywood but often is.

Finally, and I will spend the least time on this as it is the most depressing and sadly true of the internet, you also have all the creepy Millie stans, who are obsessed with her and feel the need to defend her. Whilst these people may have good intentions, the fact they shut down questions around why is she overly sexualising herself like this or is she being bullied on set, doesn’t actually help Brown at all rather the opposite. Plus of course you have the weird creepy sexual side of things with the obsession which is a huge threat to any starlet of course.

When taken in isolation these things seem minor, but when you put them together you have a woman, who may be worried for what her future looks like, torn between wanting a quiet family life and being a celebrity, possibly one in an unsafe environment and one who is not getting proper support due to legions of people who say nothing is wrong.

If you take nothing else from this article take this, there are a number of worrying clouds around Millie Bobby Brown that could lead her down the road that has destroyed many a young talent.

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Marvel’s Week From Hell

Written by Luke Barnes

I want to use this piece to talk about Marvel’s week from hell, with Victoria Alonso being fired and Jonathan Majors being accused of domestic violence.

An argument could be made that Marvel has been circling the drain for some time now, things have been getting worse and worse over the last phase as we know because Marvel Studios has been favouring quantity over quality, supposedly on the orders of the former Disney CEO. However, this week the drama has seemingly really intensified and I want to give my take on it, what it means for Marvel and what I think they should do going forward.

Regarding the situation with Alonso, I would argue they made the right call, she is threatening to take Disney to court now so it may continue to be a headache but no doubt it will be easily snuffed out. However, I think removing Alonso was a good call as she has said some culture war type tripe before, see her comments about the X-Men, and could be seen to be one of the main voices, allegedly, pushing for wider social commentary and identity politics in the films. More of that is not what the MCU needs right now, it needs to bring back audiences from both sides of the political divide. In addition there is the talk of Alonso, again allegedly, being a highly toxic force when it came to the VFX departments as she seemed to be a cruel boss who would favour those loyal to her and punish the rest, now this is unsubstantiated beyond a few people’s alleged first person accounts but if true its probably why the VFX work of late has been so bad within the MCU.

Regarding the Majors situation, everything is still quite up in the air but things don’t look good and it looks like Majors may have done some bad stuff, again all alleged at this moment. They are trying to paint it as the accuser was having some sort of break and that’s what happened and Majors is innocent, but I smell trash and think far more likely Majors and his team are trying to destroy the credibility of the witness in order to get him off and that the alleged retraction she has written is most likely being done after she has received a pay out or possibly something stronger, a court battle she probably can’t afford. Again all alleged and my opinion. I think this proves that movie studios need to better vet their actors, especially as a history of violence is starting to emerge online with regard to Majors’ past. I think regardless of where the arrest goes Marvel Studios and or Disney should conduct their own investigation and if this story is even slightly true, then Majors should be fired and the role of Kang recast.

I really think and have said many times before on social media that I think the best thing for the MCU right now would be for them to step back, delay all their productions, except maybe Guardians,into next year and rework things. Go back to the basis and quality check every project, cancel somethings that don’t need to be there and course correct as currently the MCU seems to be in freefall. I would still imagine that Guardians will do well in the coming months, but I think the Marvels much like the recent Ant-Man will do terribly for Marvel Studios and push the need for change.

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The Digital Future: What Is Really Killing Cinema?

Written by Luke Barnes

In this piece I want to talk about the decline of Hollywood and how I believe the way we perceive and think about celebrities and the films industry in general is on course to rapidly change over the next few decades.

To break this down into two distinct sections, it will be changes to cinema as a whole first and then celebrities and stardom.

There is nothing I can say about the changing nature of the industry that hasn’t already been said. People, thanks to streaming and the pandemic, have become more and more accustomed to watching films at home, not just that but also having access to big screen releases immediately after they have come out in cinemas on VOD services. This won’t change, if anything the current 30- 45 days release window will likely shrink further, and though studios will still bring out big films in cinemas they can see the writing on the wall hence why they have all, except Sony, gone in on streaming services. There will always be big filmmakers who will work out different agreements with studios to get their films in cinemas but even then it won’t be for as long as it was in the past. You can give me all the piracy figures or say how this is killing cinema, but frankly piracy will always happen and is accounted for and these changes in release are not killing cinema just changing it in a more consumer friendly direction.

If you want to know what is actually killing cinema it is the bloated chains that think they can get away with charging close to 20 pounds for a single ticket, and that don’t care a lick about the cinema going experience.

As of the day of writing this the news is that Netflix is losing subscribers, and cinema purists are lording this as a win, it is not. Netflix’s loss of subscribers will have been accounted for, they knew people were angry at the price hikes and the cracking down on sharing passwords, they also knew that big series like Daredevil were leaving. This is not the loss for them that some people think it is, more shows will be cut and the infamous policy of greenlighting everything will most likely end.

Now onto celebrities, the old guard of movie stars are on their way out and those who are replacing them in the public eye aren’t really the same as classic movie stars, more often than not they are either influencers or activists. The latter of those two types is another reason I think that cinema has not bounced back to pre-covid levels, people are tired of millionaire actors telling them how to live their lives, or how to think. People want to be entertained by the films they watch not be lectured to. The reason why Marvel films and more broadly superhero films are able to keep cinema afloat, and make no mistake that is the case, is because for the most part they are apolitical. I know this won’t be a new take but many films now are more focused on delivering a social message and virtue signalling then they are on telling a story or actually being good- this is being picked up by audiences. Moreover, films that preach on American specific politics always lose interest with the rest of the world because though Americans think they are the centre of the world they really aren’t, and a lot of people turn off for a film that spends its time bashing either side of the American political spectrum.

I think due to this disillusionment towards the attitudes and statements of some celebrities more and more people are looking elsewhere for entertainment, this can be to classic shows on streaming services or to YouTube, Twitch or more widely social media, as such I don’t think Hollywood will ever bounce back to the pre-covid days.

This is a new era and like it or not there is no going back.

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The Johnny Depp/Amber Heard Trial: The Criminal Neglect Of Male Victims Of Domestic Abuse

Written by Luke Barnes

In this piece I want to talk about the ongoing legal battles between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, I am fully aware that any day my views could be entirely changed if there was a smoking gun piece of evidence, and that not everyone will agree with what I am going to say but hey this is my take and it might later change.

As those of you who follow me on Twitter will know I have been team Depp for quite a while now, I think with the things Heard has done and said there is a lot of troublesome things that don’t quite add up. Moreover, I think there is a large amount of evidence to support her also being violent, if Johnny was, I remain mixed on that, and also having lied to police and various other legal professionals within the various trails after this all became public.

I do admit that I have been a fan of Depp since I was very young and this might all just be influenced by a hope that he isn’t the monster he is being made out to be as that would be hard to come to terms with. Maybe I am wrong and he is a vile abuser, it would upset me a lot but it is a possibility. However, I think regardless of that there is enough to suggest that Heard is not as innocent as she claims.

Moreover, I think it is very telling how a lot of the media are covering this story, despite numerous shady things done by Heard the focus is always on Depp as being the monster. This is done to propagate the harmful and frankly toxic view that men can’t be abused physically by women, and that in these situations it always has to be a male abuser, which is not only untrue but is frankly quite an outdated view. This can also be seen reflected by the fact that Depp lost most offers of work yet Heard gets to keep her role in the DCEU, this looks set to keep happening even if both of them are shown to be abusive towards one another- highlighting a double standard. If Depp is to lose all work so should Heard.

As I write this piece for you all the latest liable trial is still ongoing and it looks unlikely that this situation will change anytime soon, but all we can hope is that justice is served and that in terms of broader society male victims of domestic abuse are treated with more care and less sexist contempt.

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The Will Smith Smack: The Leading Man’s Reckoning With Toxic Masculinity

Written by Luke Barnes

I am writing this piece in response to the events that took place on Oscars night, regarding Will Smith and Chris Rock so I can better explain my thoughts on the matter. To look ahead, Smith comes across as bad in various different dimensions.

I read somewhere after the fact that the biggest loser at the Oscars was Jada Pickett Smith, now what that article meant was that by getting up there and smacking Chris Rock her husband Will Smith made the whole thing about himself, he took her struggle and her power and made it about his own ego. I think, as I have said to some people, it would have been more effective for Smith to have said nothing and to have picked his moment, such as during his acceptance speech, to talk about his wife and her struggles and how proud he is of her, not only would this have shown him to be the bigger person but it would have also vastly eclipsed Rock’s comments. As it stands all Smith has done for his wife is simply amplify the issue and subjected them both to the Streisand effect, which for those unaware is when one’s actions to get people to stop talking about a thing in fact make them talk about it more.

Moreover, by physically assaulting Chris Rock Smith has proven himself to be classless, which in turn will effect how not just the industry sees him but also those who go to watch his films. There is a good reason his publicist immediately went to talk to him; he has damaged his image. Now do I think he will lose his Oscar, no, probably not, but I do think in the battle for hearts and minds he has shot himself in the foot. Why? Well, because violence is never the answer, certainly not in this context wherein Smith’s actions upstaged the whole night and stole the limelight away from everyone else-his wife included.

Lastly, consider this: some look towards celebrities to set an example for how they should behave and in that regard Smith’s actions are especially dangerous. Who is to say next week someone who watched the Oscars won’t go to a comedy set and hear a joke they don’t like and then walk up on stage, or more likely wait around afterwards, to hit the comic just like Smith did. Now in such a case I am not saying Smith would be responsible, but I am saying that as someone with a fanbase and as someone with influence he should think about the example he is setting and not behave in such an unprofessional manner.

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