Thoughts on Funny Books and Cinema

A lot has been said recently about the comments from directors Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese regarding the output of films from Marvel Studios, with the main thesis being that these films are not considered “cinema,” should not be shown in theaters, and even going so far as to say they are “despicable.” While the works of Scorsese and Coppola are for the most part are considered classics, that doesn't mean every single film or output from these directors themselves are also Academy Award-winning films themselves. While I cannot say I have seen every single one of their films, I have enjoyed select films from their filmographies some even more than once. But the claim that these movies from Marvel Studios or even from Warner Brothers, who make those DC Comics films that we enjoy such as "Joker" and Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, do not even merit an audience at the cinema is absurd. Before any adult was a teenager and before teenagers, there were children and sometimes between most likely childhood and teenage years, when it came to their exposure to culture, whether it was in 1930s through today, their most likely first impression of culture was not movies like “Apocalypse Now,” “The Godfather,” or “The Godfather, Part 2,” but from literature, most likely being comic books. This is the medium that most kids would be able to first get there first graspings of imagination, full of colorful characters doing deeds, either good or bad, and learning the consequences of those actions, right or wrong. To see those characters, stories, plots, and so on take to the silver screen and get a “serious” treatment (yes, even the “Batman” movie based on the 1966 TV series counts, and yes, even the Joel Schumacher Batman movies too) is both thrilling, exciting, and, depending on the film, even inspiring. That inspiration can have effects on the movie industry and even lead to advancements in the technology, filmmaking, and story telling that drives even those non-comic movies. At the end of the day, everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion on those “Marvel movies,” and yes, not every single movie, whether from Marvel, DC Comics, or some other “funny book” is a cinematic achievement. But, to claim they are not “cinema” is absurd and takes away ownership of whom the movies belong to: both the creators of the films and the audience that enjoys them. I am not saying that Scorsese and Coppola should be making any Marvel or DC Comics films, but they do not own nor are they the authority on what is or is not cinema. But, just like everyone else they are entitled to their opinion, even if it is wrong.