Variety’s Clayton Davis is getting some heat for something he said three years ago.
His first ever column for Variety, from September 2020, titled “How I’ll Be Predicting the Oscars for Variety,” raised more than a few eyebrows at the time — despite the piece being a well-written, positive, and amicable intro to readers.
It was his admittance that he had never seen “Casablanca” that caused a few heads to explode. In the write up, he also proclaimed his top three films of all-time to be “Dead Poets Society,” “Forrest Gump” and “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back”.
Because of Taika Waititi’s recent comments about “Casablanca”, Davis’ 2020 comments have re-emerged on social media, to the point where he’s decided to tweet a defense:
Not seeing a movie that opened in 1942 devalues my ability to talk about movies and entertainment awards in 2023? Totally makes sense.
The Ankler writer David Poland, a veteran of film journalism, shrewdly responded:
Uh… yes. And the arrogant myopia that would allow him to ask the question in public instead of watching the f-ing movie & many others… to embrace a curiosity & passion beyond “this is how I feel” tells you everything about his shoddy work. (I’m not mean… I have standards.)
It’s not particularly, and solely, a Davis problem as much as it seems to represent this new trend in film journalism that you don’t necessarily need a firm grasp of movie history to write about the medium. It’s been three years since Davis admitted to his “Casablanca” virginity, but it seems as though he’s still hasn’t made an effort to see it.
How do you pursue a living as a film writer, and predicting the Oscars, without having seen “Casablanca”? Some think it’s not an issue, others most definitely do. I’m not trying to judge here, no, really, I’m not, I have met countless millennial film critics at various film festivals who’ve never seen “The Godfather,” “Citizen Kane,” or “Vertigo,” so there are plenty of Clayton Davis types out there and maybe that’s a problem.
It’s not like watching any of these films should be seen as an actual legitimate commitment problem. TCM manages to squeeze in airings of these classics on a monthly basis. How can you live as a film writer without the memory of Bogart, Bergman, Henreid, Rains, Lorre, and Greenstreet hanging at Rick’s Cafe?
Roger Ebert’s advice to younger film critics:
Learn about film history beyond your date of birth. Go back as far as you possibly can. Seek out the past because it informs the present.
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