(Guest post by Hunter Duesing)
Kevin Smith once carved out a unique niche on the indie film scene at the Sundance Film Festival, and it’s there where he tried to make his mark once again last month.
But his approach, while independent in spirit, is neither revolutionary nor a model for success in the world of indie cinema.
While Robert Rodriguez was the director from Smith’s generation whose work openly glorified the do-it-yourself spirit, Smith’s brand of slacker-rom-com was similarly inspiring in how simple it was. Smith’s debut, “Clerks,” had the aesthetic of a bunch of friends getting together to make a movie, and Smith himself gave off the vibe of a regular dude who created a film that became a hit. His unmotivated demeanor made unmotivated film fans become motivated filmmakers.
But it wasn’t just the D.I.Y. everyman attitude that “Clerks” had, it was also Smith’s voice as a writer of dialogue. What other screenwriter was going to let characters muse on the sexual undertones of Archie comics, or the possibility of innocent independent contractors being killed when the Rebel Alliance attacked an unfinished Death Star in “The Return of the Jedi?”
While director Quentin Tarantino’s brand of pop-culture obsessed dialogue began to work its way into the mainstream, the only place you were going to get some hard geek discussion was in a Kevin Smith film, and the geek crowd was one where Smith became king.
Ever since Smith’s rise to popularity, geek culture has risen from its niche and has essentially become mainstream culture. The conversations Smith’s characters were having were suddenly showing up all over the place in Hollywood movies. Geeks no longer had to look to Smith for their voice, as that voice was represented by pop culture at large.
But Smith soon lost sight of his unique gift.
He banked on duplicating the success of Judd Apatow’s bawdy but sweet comedies by hiring Apatow regular Seth Rogen for “Zack & Miri Make a Porno,” unaware that the title and raunchy premise of that 2008 film alone may be off-putting. The movie wasn’t a flop, but it brought in lukewarm box office, and in my own opinion, was the worst film he’d made to date.
Smith, never content to be silent in the face of criticism, was quick to blame the film’s marketing. He played the blame game once more after the failure of “Cop Out,” pointing fingers at co-star Bruce Willis, who according to Smith, he “got no help from.”
Smith’s latest film, “Red State,” is essentially an attack on Fred Phelps and his congregation of hatemongers. That might be interesting if it wasn’t such a pitifully easy subject with a soft-target title. Produced independently, Smith debuted the film at this past 2011 Sundance Film Festival, promising to do a live auction to sell the movie off to the highest bidding distributor. After a rambling speech involving Wayne Gretzky’s old hockey stick (Smith loves hockey) and a rant against movie distribution models, Smith sold the movie to himself for twenty bucks, prompting a great deal of well-earned rage on the Internet.
Smith’s actions at Sundance were controversial, but the point of his stunt was to state that true independence lies outside of the distributors. This approach will work for Smith even though he’s not the first famous director to attempt it. David Lynch has been using his personal brand to work as a complete independent and tour with his films, as has Crispin Glover, whose work he will not allow to be screened without him present.
Smith’s model, however, is only useful to filmmakers who have built up a personal brand. I’ve been to screenings put on by filmmakers who take their small indie movies on the road. That may get your movie seen by a tiny audience, but ensuring it becomes a bona fide success is about as easy as bringing peace to the Middle East.
It’s been 17 years since “Clerks,” and now Smith has returned to the indie world and is attempting to extend the populist D.I.Y. spirit to film distribution. Unfortunately, unlike filmmaking itself, this isn’t something one can simply do all by oneself. Filmmakers send their movies to Sundance and other film festivals in hopes of finding people with big checkbooks that can afford to find an audience that will hopefully embrace them. To get where Smith is, one needs what he is railing against.
If it weren’t for distributors like Miramax, Kevin Smith wouldn’t have the name recognition that would enable him to tour with “Red State.” He would still be another filmmaker trying to find an audience through film festivals.
Smith’s approach, while independent in spirit, only works for celebrities like himself.
The face of American independent cinema remains unchanged, but at least now when Smith makes a bad movie, he will have no one to point the finger at but himself.
Hunter Duesing resides in Memphis, TN, and is the co-host of The Midnight Movie Cowboys podcast. He also covers Blu-ray and DVD releases for Parcbench.com. Visit him at midnightmoviecowboys.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jhduesing
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Very True in all counts.
I never understood how so many people found Smiths work to be some how unique. I had multiple friends who talked and acted just like Smith did 20 years ago. Today they are parents and career minded individuals who like to look back at the funny things they did and laugh about it. Smith seems to be stuck in the transition and is screaming and clawing to try and remain a 20 year old geek god who was always the center of attention. Now that he is showing both his age and his film making edge has long since dulled to a mallet he is willing to club anyone who he thinks will help make him relevent again with that same mallet.
I wonder if Smith in “Red State” reveals that Phelps is an active democrat?
@Mike: I thought about noting that, that is the big irony of Smith’s witless title for his film.
@Aleric: I agree, when I was a teenager I thought Smith’s movies spoke to me, now that I’m older you kind of look back at how adolescent the mind set is. Another problem Smith has is that he hasn’t grown up with his audience, he tries to pander to the same age group, mainly because he tried to make something different with “Jersey Girl” and his fans screamed at him so he went back to safe ground. To roughly quote Charles Bukowski, the moment a writer starts listening to others, he’s finished.
Very interesting post. I do believe Smith is biting the hand that fed him. However, I do have to quibble with one of your assertions. Both Dogma and Clerks II (I couldn’t even finish watching this movie, it was so bad) were far worse movies than Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
The most interesting thing about Fred Phelps’ gang is how they’ve managed to unite both conservatives and liberals. What other organization can boast being equally despised by the right and the left? And they seem to revel in their ecumenical villainy.
From what I’ve read about the film, it totally misses out on this unique angle, and instead it’s just another boring retread of the usual Hollywood cliches about Christian fundamentalists. Dogma, Smith’s previous film on religion, had some touches of originality. This looks as predictable as Julia Roberts rom-com, and with even fewer laughs.
The title “Red State” seem to try to secure Phelps and his cronies on one side of the fence, when really they exist in a pasture of hate all by themselves. Smith’s title tries to lump Phelps & co. in with conservative and Republicans, which is shameful.
Don’t overthink it. The title “Red State” does not refer to conservatives. Since the movie is supposed to be in the realm of the horror genre it is to be taken literally: A “red” (bloody) “state” (situation). According to Smith anyway. Probably should have picked a title that wouldnt honk off the conservatives.
The article nails it. Kevin Smith’s Indie Spirit is easy to have with 17 years of celebrity and ‘branding’ to back it up.
I’m indie by default
-Martin
“Step Off” Available on DVD everywhere March 15th!
@EJ,
Don’t kid yourself. Smith chose Red State because it works both ways for him. His political persuasion is as well know, as his disdain for those folks in fly-over country — i.e. the bible thumping, NRA loving red necks that dominate the Red States.
Going straight for the obvious meaning is “overthink[ing] it”?