The films of George Miller are a series of cinematic contradictions. He got his start making exploitation cinema and then turned that same franchise into a blockbuster commercial and critical success. He has made children’s movies, but no one would describe him as a family filmmaker. He’s mostly avoided attempts to get him to direct a franchise feature, but his own unproduced “Justice League: Mortal” tentpole remains one of the greatest what-if features of the modern era. About the only thing we can say for sure about Miller is that he continues to chart his own course through Hollywood, no matter the cost.
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So of course someone with this varied background has thoughts on the ongoing debate regarding the artistic merits of superhero movies, and of course they’re incredibly insightful. In a recent interview with Deadline, Miller was asked what he thought of the superhero debate – ignited and then relit by Martin Scorsese – and Miller offered his own unique perspective on the affair.
“I watch all of them,” Miller told Deadline. “To be honest, in terms of this debate, cinema is cinema and it’s a very broad church. The test, ultimately, is what it means to the audience. There’s a great quote I saw that applies to all we do. It was from the Swahili storytellers. Each time they finished a story they would say, ‘The story has been told. If it was bad, it was my fault because I am the storyteller. And if it was good, it belongs to everybody.’”
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Miller also pointed out that it is a “kind of hubris” to assume that any film that does well at the box office does so only because the movie was cleverly marketed. To Miller, each film – big or small, blockbuster or intimate – presents creators with an opportunity to better understand their potential audience. “It’s such a broad spectrum, a wide range and to say that anyone is more significant or more important than the other, is missing the point. It’s one big mosaic and each bit of work fits into it.”
Is this the definitive word on the superhero debate? Who knows, man? All I know is that George Miller says superhero movies have artistic value, and he’s pretty gosh-darn good at making movies. If Miller’s next movie is an original project, a superhero film, or a “Mad Max: Fury Road” sequel, I’ll be grateful for the opportunity to see another of his films in theaters. The rest is just semantics.
