Hollywood is approximately 20 years late in appreciating the genius of Willem Dafoe. Playing some iconic roles is the least of his genius, as with age, he looks more and more involved in the industry. But, amidst all this, Defoe does have some concerns about films streaming on OTT.
And mostly, it’s the viewers who make him question things.
Now, Dafoe is definitely a man who has always done some challenging movies, especially in the later hours of his career. Films like “The Lighthouse” and “Poor Things,” these are definitely challenging enough for the viewers as well. But, Dafoe questions the OTT audiences for their choices of streaming.
In his opinion, challenging movies, the mind-boggling movies don’t really perform that well on the OTT platforms as the viewers usually opt for “something stupid.”
“The kind of attention that people give at home isn’t the same,” Dafoe said. “More difficult movies, more challenging movies cannot do as well when you don’t have an audience that’s really paying attention. That’s a big thing. I miss the social thing of where movies fit in the world.”
“You go see a movie, you go out to dinner, you talk about it later, and that spreads out. People now go home, they say, ‘Hey, honey, let’s watch something stupid tonight,’ and they flip through and they watch five minutes of 10 movies, and they say, ‘Forget it, let’s go to bed.’ Where’s that discourse found?” he later added.
“They aren’t making movies the same way they used to,” he continued. “They’re being financed by toy companies and other entities, and they become the vehicle to make the movies because they know how to do that. Streaming, they’re becoming like a monopoly; they have the means of production and distribution. And so it’s very complicated.”
His assertions are definitely half true, as people did show major love towards certain mind-boggling films on the streaming platforms. From the likes of “Tenet” and “Gone Girl” and even Netflix’s long lineup of films and series such as “Dark” or “Black Mirror,” the audience is definitely fascinated by them.
Yes, no film that questions reality or existence will get as much popularity as a cheap action film or a romance, as the viewers also need the capability to grasp something and enjoy it. So it’s not that Dafoe is saying something misleading, but his expectations from mankind are definitely too noble and sky-high.