Oh, Good Now Jennifer Aniston Has an Opinion on Marvel Movies. Enough Already

I don’t know why and I don’t know how, but there seem to be a lot of celebrities out there in Hollywood land who want to trash the Marvel movies for some reason and frankly, I’m tired. I already wrote about Robert Downey Jr.’s take on these hot takes and to a degree, I agree with him. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but blaming the MCU for your lack of lustrous career isn’t a commentary but rather makes you sound bitter. Or at least that’s how Jennifer Aniston’s comments come across.

Aniston talked to Variety about the MCU (again, why?) in an interview (ostensibly about other projects she’s working on and Me Too), and said that she felt like every movie out there was some big Marvel movie. Which, great I can’t wait to see how films like Jojo Rabbit, Knives Out, and Judy all play into the overarching theme of the MCU!

Aniston explained why she chose to return to TV for The Morning Show:

“And then you’re seeing what’s available out there and it’s just diminishing and diminishing in terms of, it’s big Marvel movies. Or things that I’m not just asked to do or really that interested in living in a green screen.”

Let’s talk about why this is nonsense for a minute. 1. Not everything is a Marvel movie and 2. Not every Marvel movie is made with a green screen to the detriment of its production. I think the real problem is that everyone wants to blame something endemic in the system for not getting the work they want and they are now, I guess, turning to the Marvel movies for blame— instead of examining why Hollywood is trapped in a reboot cycle of  just recycling the same kind of films over and over again and not looking for new, exciting work out there.

I’m just so exhausted by this constant cycle of “it’s the Marvel movies! They’re ruining everything!” when, in reality, it just shows that whoever is complaining just doesn’t like the genre, or perhaps wasn’t asked to participate. Which is fine, you don’t like superheroes. You and my mom can lament over it together. But don’t try and get them destroyed or blame them for your lack of discovering inspirational work.

I can accept Martin Scorsese criticising Marvel movies, but Jennifer Aniston saying they are “diminishing” cinema… Really, sis? With your movie record. Lol pic.twitter.com/cOBrdRtBAk

— Hanna Ines Flint (@HannaFlint) October 9, 2019

Here is my argument: You say they’re not cinema? Here is the definition of cinema.

“the production of movies as an art or industry.”

So, by that definition, all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe falls under that umbrella. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Black Panther, Iron Man 3, and Thor: Ragnarok are standalone examples of the superhero genre at its best and that’s not even bringing in the conversation of how Avengers: Endgame managed to tie together over 20 storylines spanning ten years.

All jokes aside though, it’s just a difference of opinion. I don’t particularly love slasher films, but I don’t discredit the entire genre because it isn’t my thing. But I guess in the eyes of Aniston, Scorsese, Armie Hammer, James Cameron, and anyone else who wants to just open up and say that Marvel is ruining the idea of what “film” is, they think their opinions should be considered more valuable than the billions of dollars these movies make and their countless ardent fans who truly love the genre.

There is a reason we will willingly watch Uncle Ben die over and over again or watch as the Waynes are shot and pearls go flying. These stories have an important place in our cultural zeitgeist. They are not “dominating” Hollywood to the detriment of other cinema; the movie industry has many, many other sources of blame for why we live in a reboot dystopia. There were three movies from the MCU this year and they all were within the first seven months of the year, and the same kind of output from DC. So enough with the blame. You don’t want to be a superhero? Great, go make literally anything else.

(via Variety, image: Marvel Entertainment)

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