David Lynch: “American Cinema is in the Hands of Moneymakers Who Only Cater to Teenagers”

I finally finished reading all 616 pages of Cannes boss Thierry Fremaux’s “Selection Officielle.” It’s a sprawling, rambling, insider look at how the whole year-long selection process occurs at Cannes. Next up is Gille Jacob’s book.

I’ve taken some notes that I’ll transcribe at a later date into a more coherent piece, but I’d like to share a quote from the book that perfectly encapsulates the state of American cinema at the moment.

Fremaux likes to name-drop big actors and directors that he converses with, one of them is David Lynch. In an entry dated Samedi 19 Mars, Lynch sends Fremaux a message about his son Austin’s film titled “Gray House,” Fremaux likes it but finds it too experimental for Cannes. Then the chat veers towards Lynch’s “retirement” from moviemaking and the current state of American cinema as Fremaux pushes Lynch to make another movie. Lynch responds:

“Thierry, France knows more than in any other country about the language of cinema. The French have a passion for it. Cinema is in a fragile state in the United States. There, it is in the hands of moneymakers who only cater to teenagers and make the former studio moguls of the 20th century look like great humanist intellectuals“

Lynch isn’t wrong. He’s dead-on. Just look at the thirteen highest-grossing movies so far this year:

Top Gun: Maverick, Dr. Strange 2, The Batman, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Jurassic World: Dominion, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Uncharted, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, The Bad Guys Scream 5, Morbius and The Lost City (the only original movie in the top 10 that isn’t a reboot/remake/animated/video game adaptation).