Are Americans Losing Interest in Cinema? Part 1

Are Americans losing interest in cinema? I would say without a doubt, Yes. For about five years now I have been paying attention to cinema with more care than ever. I’ve always been an avid moviegoer, but in the past five years I’ve seen approximately 100 new releases per year. Seeing so many new films has given me expertise in the reception of cinema – which films find an audience and which ones don’t.

It has broken my heart to see so clearly how many good, smart films get ignored in America each year.

Based on what I’ve seen, Americans have been losing interest in cinema since approxomately 2006, and each year it has gotten worse. Every month for the past several years, I’ve watched wonderful films get released, get good reviews, have big advertising campaigns, and then attract little to no audience, even in New York City. Not only do people not see them, no one even notices them. I call this the Great Tuning Out of Cinema of the Early 21st Century.

Before going any further, let me define “cinema.” I am certainly not referring to all movies. By cinema I mean movies that function as works of art, not as entertainment -- the kind of movie that would tend to be called a “film.” Entertainment provides an escape from reality, in a sense turning your mind off. To me, art is the opposite. Art pushes you into closer touch with reality and arouses your mind. It contains ideas about reality, not an escape from it.

Classic examples of cinema: “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Five Easy Pieces,” “Chinatown,” “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull.”

Recent examples of cinema: “Sherrybaby” (2006), “I’m Not There” (2007), “Synecdoche, New York” (2008), “The Hurt Locker” (2009), “Winter’s Bone” (2010), “Meek’s Cutoff” (2011).

Whereas popcorn movies (entertainment) are more popular than ever, interest in cinema (art) seems to be disappearing – at least in America.

When I published my list of Top 15 Films of 2011, I heard this from many people: “I’ve never even heard of those movies.” And I’m not talking about people who live in the middle of nowhere or have sixth-grade educations. I’m talking about college-educated people in New York.

Were the films on my list obscure, never released in theaters? Absolutely not. All but one got a big release in cities and a large-scale press campaign. In New York, prominent reviews appeared in mass-market publications such as The New York Times, Time Out New York, and The Village Voice.

People never heard of these movies because they IGNORED all the press coverage and advertising. In general in the 21st century, Americans are tuning out cinema. No matter how big a splash a serious, intelligent film makes, people (even well-educated urbanites) will do whatever they can to look the other way. The only movies they want to notice are popcorn movies.

It appears to me that Americans have decided that cinema is not important to them anymore. I hope someday that this will change, and I hope articles such as this might help speed that change. But my sense is that this might be a sea change in American culture and might be permanent. Cinema looks to me like it might be a vigorous but small phenomenon in the 21st century – at least in America. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t believe I am.

This last Oscar season was deeply depressing. The level of interest in the general culture couldn’t have been lower. Almost no one wanted to see any of the films nominated for Best Picture. I followed the box office returns with care. Throughout the entire awards season, interest in nominated films was non-existent. Every film that was nominated for awards showed over and over to empty theaters.