Written by Michael Vacchiano
Anyone who has ever seen a movie knows who Steven Spielberg is. The man has been responsible for creating some of the most classic and beloved films of the past half century, and we have all undoubtedly seen his work. Only some people may know, however, that arguably the most powerful man in Hollywood is currently working on a new project that is shaking the industry to its core. Spielberg has been leading a campaign to block original films found on streaming services, Netflix in particular, from getting Academy Award consideration.
Just last month, director Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, one of the year’s most critically acclaimed films, won three Oscars including Best Director. But after its limited run in theaters, the Spanish-language drama was exclusively available on Netflix. Spielberg has been adamant in his stance that theatrical films only should be in the running for the industry’s biggest prize. To paraphrase his past comments, Spielberg has opened his own proverbial Jaws to say, “If a film debuts on Netflix, it is officially a TV movie. It should compete for an Emmy, not an Oscar.” The streaming giant has countered with their position that they are providing a platform for different filmmakers (with varying budgets and stories to tell) to get their work out to a much wider audience.
While I hate to be so inconclusive over this debate, I personally feel that both sides are justifiable here. Members of the “old guard”, so to speak, agree with Spielberg’s viewpoint and understand that he’s trying to preserve what he feels is the art of filmmaking, mainly the theatrical experience. As a lifelong movie fanatic who still loves to watch stories unfold on the big screen, yours truly can relate to this ideology. I’m a grown man who’s married and about to have my first child, and yet there is just something about a trip to the movies that still makes me feel like a kid. The grand scale of everything and the atmosphere makes me feel so little and insignificant, and there’s just nothing like being encompassed by the epic sights and sounds of a dark theater.
The technological growth of the past few years with Netflix and other streaming networks has made movies much easier for people to consume, especially on their mobile devices. Despite the convenience, I refuse to watch a film on my iPhone or tablet because to use the old cliché, “it’s just not the same.” Certain recent movies I’ve seen in this timeframe warranted that theater experience, and their true beauty was something to behold: from the brutal and harsh wintry landscapes of The Revenant, to the dark and dreary dystopian future of Blade Runner 2049. And in a true geek-out moment, the fanboy in me was giddy with delight at the surprise of watching Darth Vader kick some big-time Rebel Alliance ass at the end of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Each time I walked out of the theater, I thought to myself, “Man, I am so glad I saw that on the big screen!”
While my personal preference to watch a movie for the first time will probably always be at a theater, I do have to applaud Netflix for the strides they’ve made in their original programming. Their film division has worked tirelessly, maybe too much, in bringing their millions of subscribers a wide assortment of movies debuting exclusively on their service. In turn, the network has attempted to release some of these films in theaters simultaneously, but only successfully doing so in a limited number of markets and for shortened periods of time. Despite featuring star power on the Hollywood A-list, some cinema snobs and film buffs have automatically deemed these works as B-movies just by definition alone. Spielberg’s opinion might not be as smug or venomous as theirs might, but he still feels strongly that none of these films should qualify for Academy Awards simply due to their release format.
This level of prestige is still relatively new to Netflix, but a handful of their original films have still broken through to Oscar contention in the past couple of years. Beasts of No Nation, Mudbound, and the aforementioned Roma did so due to fantastic critical reception and strong campaigning from the network itself, but with very small box-office numbers to boot. Little or unknown filmmakers today have to fight extremely hard to get their projects released to a massive audience. Writers and directors behind such movies are thrilled that Netflix and other streaming services have allowed them to just, well, get their work out there. Moreover, competing for precious and expensive real estate in today’s world of multiplexes is a problem that someone like Spielberg simply does not have.
Netflix also argues that their service makes watching new movies more affordable. Theatergoers often will complain how pricey a trip to the movies is nowadays, I totally get that, but this movie-lover’s main issue has more to do with variety as opposed to cost. Numerous theaters around the country are usually crammed with major-budget superhero franchises, animated sequels, disaster epics, and the like. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some blockbusters and popcorn flicks as much as the next guy, but I also enjoy checking out the newest under-the-radar critical darling that I can recommend to others. I felt privileged that I was able to experience the emotional gut punch of Manchester by the Sea and the hilarious true story of The Disaster Artist earlier than other people were. Great yet “smaller” films like these are what Netflix has endorsed during awards season, but they make it to the theater far less often.
Whether Steven Spielberg likes it or not, the movie industry has certainly advanced in regards to how and where we watch. I agree with him that the theater-going experience is the most elite and perhaps most sacred way to see films. Technology notwithstanding, Netflix is currently trying to reach a compromise where original movies on their catalogue can have a wider and/or longer distribution in cinemas. That would be a step in the right direction for films like Roma to be universally justified in taking home those statuettes on Oscar night. I hope that the old school Mr. Spielberg, seen as “out-of-touch” by his detractors, will keep an open mind and meet Netflix halfway on this issue. If not, the man behind Indiana Jones could find himself fighting his own “Last Crusade.”
