Ridley Scott appears to be on a roll when it comes to voicing his opinion lately. To be fair, he gets to do this just like anyone, meaning that his opinion is just as valid until it isn’t, but this time it almost feels as though he opened his mouth extra wide to make certain he could insert the majority of his foot. The excuse used to explain, in his words, how his movie ‘The Last Duel’ bombed in the theaters is that Millennials use their cell phones too much, or something along these lines, is enough to make a person laugh uproariously since it’s the type of argument that many might make when they have nothing else to fall back on. It’s also something that might be used as an argument when one can’t own up to the idea that they might have made something that catered to their tastes rather than the audiences, you know, those people that need to be catered to at times in order to make a profit. It’s true, audiences are fickle as hell and will sometimes take quantity over quality, but then again, the quality kind of needs to compromise every now and then.
It’s easy to think that this movie might actually gain more followers as time goes by and become one of those that are destined to be seen as more effective as the years go by. But in the meantime, blaming an entire generation and their need to be on their cell phones rather than look at their own shortcomings is a little juvenile and sounds more like an individual trying to find justification as to why things didn’t go his way. Obviously, Ridley Scott is a huge name in the industry, but behavior such as this makes a person wonder if he’s been behaving this way throughout his career, or if he’s getting old and needs to be reminded that things aren’t bound to go his way all the time.
It’s tough to say that it might be the movie, or the acting since period pieces are usually a lot of fun since it’s a glimpse into the past, while the acting was bound to be good enough since the star power that this movie boasts is top-notch given that it has Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Adam Driver front and center. Despite that, Ridley’s words are what will be taking up the attention that this movie needed in order to succeed for quite a while it would appear. The tantrum, in other words, that Scott is levying toward Millennials is not merely laughable and ridiculous, but stating that Millennials are responsible for the downfall of his movie is kind of amusing given that Millennials weren’t really raised on cell phones, at least not those that are so prevalent now. The constant over-generalization of Millennials is an old argument at this point since yes, many of them might be hooked to their cell phones, but blaming an entire generation for one issue that has more to do with the director and his supposed ‘vision’ of what should and shouldn’t have happened, is like watching a child throw a fit when their science project didn’t win because it wasn’t impressive enough.
The Last Duel was bound to be interesting to various moviegoers, as there are always those that are willing to give the benefit of doubt to one movie or another that is being released by a famous director with enough high-level talent featured in key roles in the movie. But this wasn’t the type of movie that people were willing to gush over, and it’s obviously burning Ridley Scott up inside to watch superhero movies outdo something that he feels is far more culturally significant. But the cell phone argument is something that makes Scott sound like an old man that’s afraid of change and is openly scolding an entire generation after failing to realize the significance of his attempt at bringing a bit of history to their supposedly technology-dominated lives. It would appear that someone needs to remind Mr. Scott that the world continues to turn despite one’s failure, and that lashing out at an entire generation over something that is, in this case, a non-issue, doesn’t make him look like an eccentric but famous director, but instead gives the impression of a tired, scared old man that doesn’t know why things are changing so rapidly.
That’s not entirely fair, but again, while he is famous and has made a name for himself with a stellar career, a slip such as this is something that will be remembered since the more he rants, the more people will remember him for his ill-tempered remarks in the years to come. If it continues, one can easily guess that Ridley might be more likely to be remembered as the old director shaking his fists at superhero movies and Millennials than the award-winning director he’s been for so long.
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