Earlier today, Simon Pegg’s comments on science fiction and superhero movies leading to the “dumbing down” of cinema caused a Twitter firestorm. But the actor, who is known to love the genre and even stars in two Star Trek movies, has clarified what he meant to say in a lengthy blog post.
Pegg had told the U.K. magazine Radio Times that he was concerned about the fact that Hollywood studios have been focused on big blockbusters ever since Star Wars came out. Those comments were picked up by Io9 and other sites, quickly going viral.
“Obviously I’m very much a self-confessed fan of science fiction and genre cinema but part of me looks at society as it is now and just thinks we’ve been infantilised by our own taste,” Pegg was quoted as saying. “Now we’re essentially all consuming very childish things – comic books, superheroes. Adults are watching this stuff, and taking it seriously.”
Pegg then wrote a lengthy blog post to explain that he didn’t really think that all science fiction has been dumbed down. He was really just trying to make the point that science fiction and superheroes have dominated our discussion. “There was probably more discussion on Twitter about the The Force Awakens and the Batman vs Superman trailers than there was about the Nepalese earthquake or the British general election,” he wrote.
He further explains his ‘dumbing down’ comment:
“I guess what I meant was, the more spectacle becomes the driving creative priority, the less thoughtful or challenging the films can become. The spectacle of ‘Mad Max’ is underpinned not only multiple layers of plot and character but also by an almost lost cinematic sense of ‘how did they do that?’ The best thing art can do is make you think, make you re-evaluate the opinions you thought were yours. It’s interesting to see how a cerebral film maker like Christopher Nolan, took on Batman and made it something more adult, more challenging, chasing Frank Miller’s peerless ‘Dark Knight’ into a slightly less murky world of questionable morality and violence. But even these films are ultimately driven by market forces and somebody somewhere will want to soften the edges, so that toys and lunch boxes can be sold. In that respect, Bruce Wayne’s fascistic vigilantism was never really held to account, however interesting Nolan doubtless found that idea. Did he have an abiding love of Batman or was it a means of making his kind of movie on the mainstream stage?”
Pegg also revealed that the new Star Trek movie will be called Star Trek Beyond, but that’s not his point. He even took a jab at the rumors that he said Daniel Craig will be a stormtrooper in The Force Awakens, writing, “Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan are also Stormtroopers in The Force Awakens.”
At the end of his post, Pegg wrote:
“In short:
I love Science Fiction and fantasy and do not think it’s all childish.
I do not think it is all generated by dominant forces as a direct means of control…much.
I am still a nerd and proud.”
image courtesy of Famous/ACE/INFphoto.com