To a movie lover like myself, summer means time for all the movie studios to roll out long-awaited, big-budget blockbusters. This summer alone we have seen or will see the release of movies that are part of some of the biggest franchises in Hollywood — think “X-men,” “Godzilla,” and “Planet of the Apes.” These movies cost hundreds of millions of dollars to make and usually double or triple their budgets in profits. While colossal films like “Transformers” provide some good, old-fashioned summertime fun, they reflect an unfortunate larger trend in filmmaking. That is, mainstream Hollywood’s abandonment of creativity and risk taking. Luckily, it seems that television is filling the creative void that the movie industry has left.
Originality seems to be largely a thing of the past in the American movie industry. You would be hard-pressed to find a big-budget release this summer that is not a sequel, a reboot or based on an already established, popular novel or comic book. On the other hand, consider movies like “Edge of Tomorrow” (2014) and “Pacific Rim” (2013); despite having relatively original plots and not sacrificing the action that summer moviegoers often crave, they did not perform so well at the box office. When audiences are unreceptive to unfamiliar ideas, why would a studio risk investing in them? The major studios appear to have completely separated artistic and commercial filmmaking. Studio executives pack explosions and fun into summer comic book movies and save artistry and intelligence for Oscar-bait films that are not expected to make major money. For instance, “The Avengers” (2012) had an estimated marketing budget of more than $100 million, more than five times the entire budget allotted to Academy Award-winning “Twelve Years a Slave” (2013). However, just because originality and creativity are disappearing from commercial filmmaking does not mean that they are gone from mainstream media forever. They have simply moved to television.
For decades, TV was treated as Hollywood’s creative and financial little brother. Stock family sitcoms and formulaic police or hospital dramas dominated the airwaves. Film buffs scoffed at television as mindless entertainment that best served as background noise during family dinner. Yet the tables have turned dramatically in the last 20 years. Many new cable channels looking to make a name for themselves took risks on shows that, in the past, would have never gotten airtime on a main network for fear that anything different would scare away advertisers. These risks paid off with gems such as “Breaking Bad,” “The Sopranos” and “American Horror Story.” Even network TV has begun to catch up to riskier cable networks like AMC and FX, with shows like “24” and “Community” that break the tried mold of cop shows and sitcoms. A diverse and highly competitive TV landscape, in which hundreds of channels rather than just four big players compete for viewers, has created an environment that allows artists to take immense risks, resulting in beloved and acclaimed shows like “Game of Thrones.”
These changes in television programming have brought the industry the respect and artistic admiration it deserves. Twenty years ago, the only movie stars who acted on the small screen were either washed-up or making a 10-second cameo in everyone’s favorite cop show. Actors used television to get famous enough to cross over into movies, where the real money and acclaim supposedly lay. Now, respected actors are clamoring for TV roles that would allow them to flex their creative muscles. Robin Williams and Paul Giamatti are among dozens of movie actors with TV series that premiered this year. Ten years ago, the idea of Matthew McConaughey and Kevin Spacey starring in their own shows would have seemed absurd, but today their work on popular television shows “True Detective” and “House of Cards,” respectively, is considered by some to be among the best in their careers.
Although movies are, and will continue to be, a huge part of our cultural landscape and a massive source of revenue for Hollywood, television has surpassed them both artistically and in popularity. TV has become a place where innovative, risky ideas can find backing, and although the majority of these experiments may fail, some have created fan bases more rabid than the zombies on AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”
Smith is a contributing columnist.
