Film snobbery is a very real thing, with countless entitled a**holes looking down their noses at the people who enjoy broad, crowd-pleasing blockbusters packed to the brim with grandstanding action sequences and cutting edge visual effects as if you have to hold independent cinema close to your heart in order to be considered a real film fan.
That’s not to say that some of the most acclaimed filmmakers in the business think they’re above the superhero genre, but an increasing number are still letting their negativity towards Hollywood’s most popular storytelling method be known as loudly as possible.
Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and an indignant Ridley Scott have all blasted big-budget tales of costumed crimefighters, and we can now add Academy Award winner and The Power of the Dog director Jane Campion to that list, after she let rip in an interview with Variety.
“I actually hate them. They’re so noisy and like ridiculous. Sometimes you get a good giggle, but I don’t know what the thing is with the capes, a grown man in tights. I feel like it must come from pantomime.”
Seriously, Jane, tell us how you really feel. Campion is best known for her thought-provoking and often emotionally devastating dramas, so it would be fair to assume that Marvel Studios or DC Films are sadly resigning themselves to the fact she’ll be turning down their offers, but it does seem a little underhanded to suspiciously blast the most successful type of movie in the business right when you’re promoting your latest project.