For one week every year, Athens becomes the home to many filmmakers for the Athens International Film and Video Festival. The festival covers topics that aren’t covered in the mainstream movie market, from rural America to movie theaters in India.
It’s always amazing to see films that are outside of the norm, but why trap them in the indie movie market?
The film industry is just starting to diversify itself. It includes some more women behind the scenes and people of color are stepping into larger roles on set. Marvel’s Black Panther just sailed past James Cameron’s Titanic to become the third highest-grossing film in the U.S. Though the market is becoming more diverse, it still tells very similar stories without providing commentary on the current social and political states.
One of the only films to do so in the last year was Get Out, which highlighted the struggles black people face in America. But it was an exception to the formulaic box office hits.
Five of the ten top-grossing movies of 2017 were about superheroes. The ten films featured predominantly white casts, and providing social commentary wasn’t their focus. The top-grossing film was Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which earned more than $620 million at the box office. The second was Beauty and the Beast. The Disney film was the first one from the studio to feature a gay character, but it was only mentioned briefly, was not the primary focus of the film and was a poor way to portray a gay character.
Get Out, which some consider an indie film, was 15th in box office numbers with more than $160 million.
But in the indie market, there were a lot of films that touched on different issues.
The Florida Project was a beautiful neorealist masterpiece that highlighted poverty in Orlando. A Fantastic Woman, a Chilean film that won Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards, featured a transgender woman who had to cope with ostracism and the death of her male partner. Call Me By Your Name told a beautiful coming-of-age story about a boy who falls in love with an older man in the ’80s. Those films were not just good movies because they looked aesthetically pleasing — they were good because they told stories no one else is telling.
The indie market is not without faults, though. The casts are still very white. Women still have problems making the movies and getting the recognition they deserve. And some of them are just out to get awards.
One movie in particular that was interesting but worrisome was Daniel Day-Lewis’ final acting role in Phantom Thread. The movie highlighted problems in relationships, specifically dealing with toxic masculinity.
The mainstream movie market is moving toward more inclusion, but it’s not going to get anywhere by sanitizing issues or just adapting young adult novels about gay teenagers. Bigger studios need to push for more social commentary, actually say something about what’s going on in the world and create an active movie-going experience. If they don’t, they are doing a huge disservice to their viewers.
Georgia Davis is a junior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. What do you think the film industry can do to tell more impactful stories? Tell Georgia by tweeting her at @georgiadee35.
