blue note observatory

I say this as a man who is very deeply troubled and critical towards his own country, but I think there needs to be a push for more American-actors helming superhero movies if the said superhero is himself (or herself) American.

Do not misunderstand me - I absolutely LOVE British actors; generally, I think they’re better than American ones. That’s part of the problem. England revels in the arts and theatrics, and we idolize special effects and surface-level performances. We need to reevaluate our own artistic style and bring American actors up to par with British actors.

But if you look, many roles that should be American roles have been outsourced - Superman (American) is now British, the last three major superhero villains have been British (Hardy, Hiddleston, Ifans), Batman (American) is British, and even Spiderman (American) is now British. There are more, and admittedly, we still have Iron Man and Captain America for American actors (who do very good jobs), and plenty of others, but what I’m trying to point out is that these characters are inherently American (although do belong to a more global audience; again, I do not want to make it seem like an us vs them discussion). Many of these characters are part of the American culture, and I think it isn’t an unfair question to ask - why aren’t they being represented by American talent?

The answer is simply that British actors have the kind of talent required for the parts, and therefore have won this last decade of spotlight and praise, and dammit they’ve earned it. To me, it seems then, that we as Americans have an obligation to meet that bar and inspire greater artistic endeavors on our own part.

Even directors are blowing us away internationally - Nolan and Jackson are certainly the most epic of modern-day directors, and although we have many extremely talented American directors, Jackson and Nolan both seem untouchable in what they do, and we don’t exactly have anything of that caliber. We have good movies, but seldom great ones. Our movies tend to reflect very surface-level aspects of American culture, while theirs seem to indicate a more global approach and outlook that works on many levels and can be translated to almost any audience, their own or from across the world.

Point of rant: We as Americans have a duty to meet our fellow artists and not only make their bar, but raise it ourselves. I’ve heard praise and complaints regarding the influx of British talent in American films - if you don’t like it, start demanding better American writers, actors, and directors, because if we keep choosing to make movies simply for the money rather than the stories and the talent, well, there really isn’t a point to making American movies at all.

I love the global contribution, but I want to see a second Golden Age of American Cinema and see America rise up in its own contribution to thought, approach and style, and I hope to be part of that movement some day.