Yet can you be critical about an industry you work in? Is Simon Pegg out of order or has he hit the nail on the head?
Two of our writers take opposite sides. Here's their thoughts.
Jacob - "Simon Pegg - Never piss off your constituency."
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for critical assessments. There are no perfects in this world. But, that is neither here nor there. My point is that you can identify things that are lacking certain things or have room for improvement. But, to blatantly criticize some of the very same things that you have done and insult the people who have put you where you are, all the while completely ignoring some shining examples in the hopes of finding something seeming vastly intelligent, is just plain wrong, friends and neighbors.
In a recent interview with Radio Times, Mr Sophistication stated that sci-fi might be having the effect of making society “infantilized .” Wow! Really good way to insult us, Pegg. He also went on to say that we are consuming, “very childish things – comic books and superheroes.” Also according to him, we are “taking our focus away from real world issues.” He didn't seem to mind seeing to his real world issue of putting food on the table when he did Shaun of the Dead. I really enjoyed that movie. But, my point in bringing it up is that it isn't exactly high-brow cinema. So, who is he to criticize the sci-fi and geek community at large.
Art imitates life. Let me type that again, art imitates life. Everything within sci-fi relates to life. Sure, none of us owe a Wookie blood debt to a friend in the vein of Chewbacca and Han Solo. But, I have many friends that I would stand through thick and thin with despite the odds. The main mantra of Star Trek is, “to boldly go where no man has gone before.” Isn't that what we do every day? We search for new adventures and to advance our lives for the better. There are probably also countless people that have been inspired to go into scientific by Star Trek and other such shows. So, clearly these things relate to life without being reduced to an infantile level.
Captain America showcased to us that one person can make a difference. Steve Rogers echoed a maturity far past his years. But, maybe Pegg can't see that. The rest of us, that are not on our high horse in our ivory tower, seem to grasp the lesson, even if both Cap movies were filled with spectacle and Bay worthy explosions.
Along the same veins of tolerance and a person evaluating their role in life, the current Ms Marvel is a shining example. Kamala Khan faces judgment because she is Muslim. Because of acts from a small segment within her faith, a great deal of people judge the majority of them through that same lens. But, she wants to prove those naysayers wrong. At the same time, she faces criticism from her family because she doesn't fit the mold of what they want. All in all, she just wants to prove herself and make a contribution despite these factors. Haven't we all faced such adversity? I know the feeling very well. Unlike my family, I didn't go into farming and that wasn't a favourable decision in their eyes. Similarly, being from the Southern United States and growing up in a rural area on a farm, many have through the years automatically assumed I was racist, and I have endeavoured to prove them wrong. I think many more “real world” people can relate to these types of situations than Pegg realizes.
All in all, I really hope he re-evaluates his position. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But, we should all take a moment to include all factors when we formulate said opinions. But, especially, we shouldn't insult the people that have enabled our livelihood. Maybe one of those zombies got a small chunk of his brain all those years ago and it has taken this long for the effects to show. Positive criticism is always good. But, any good public figure knows, never piss off your constituency.
Andrew Barry - "We have to be critical of the system of creation"
And to be fair to Pegg, since this all started floating around has released a statement to elaborate.
I think Simon Pegg was right on multiple points. Firstly, the infantilisation of society, and of the cinematic community. I think that digital communication and mass media have contorted fandom. As Pegg said, ‘there was probably more discussion on Twitter about The Force Awakens and the Batman vs Superman trailers than there was about the Nepalese earthquake.” This is an often used and always important analogy.
Jacob may draw upon examples like X-Men or Ms Marvel to explain how ‘Art imitates life’ but these are in-print comics, and the message is lost on screen. There is little symbolic importance in the MCU, which is not a bad thing as, its strengths derive from strong characters and an incredibly captained storyline. It's got such a great scheme to it that we are in awe. But it does not expand on life, it is a technical marvel of writing and universe-building. On the other hand, the last huge DC venture, Man of Steel, was oversaturated with Christian symbols. To the point that as Superman floats back to Earth from the Kryptonian ship, his arms wide, we are supposed to think “he's our saviour. He's Jesus!” And it was way too much. But at the end of the day, Avengers and Man of Steel will still both be remembered for the fighting and destruction, rather than enriching our existential experience. We need to find a balance between tackling the issues of historical or everyday troubles, and creating a blockbuster.
Now, I just want to say that this is a huge generalisation. As Pegg picked up, and as I learnt yesterday when I saw Mad Max for the first time, there are some huge gems coming through. But the left of the field screen smashers, the ones you never saw coming, are not the ones we are talking about right now. We are discussing the huge international best sellers, the Avenger films, The Fast and the Furious franchise or the Transformers series.
You know the ones that make so much money that you think ‘I don't even know how many 0’s is in that.’ These are the market leaders, or at least for now. These are the products that Hollywood feels we are guaranteed to buy, which should mean that they are given the freedom to roam on their success and experiment. But it's also possible that they may become saturated, and start popping up as Carbon copies, or cinematic equations like ‘robots vs end of the world= great transformer movie.’ And this is why we have to be critical of the system of creation and the processes at work.
Because we live in a golden age, where anything can happen if we scream loud enough. But we have to make sure that we are screaming for the right reason, about the right things, and we have to have faith in those directors and creators that use their years of grappling with the source material to conduit our dreams on to the big screen.
What Do You Think?
Has Simon Pegg crossed the line?
Or do you believe in his points?
Let us know in the comments below!
Here's Pegg's response to the hoopla!