In honor of the upcoming Oscars, airing on February 28, I decided to watch the winner of last year’s Oscar for best picture, Birdman, produced by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The film follows Riggan Thomson, played by Michael Keaton, as he attempts to write, produce, direct, and star in an adaptation of a short story on Broadway. The success of the play is extremely important to Thomson, who previously played a famous Hollywood superhero character named “Birdman,” and wants to catapult himself back into the acting world. If this play is successful, Thomson can move on from his haunted past, depicted when “Birdman” talks inside Thomson’s head. This satirical black comedy drama was a whirlwind, but overall I thought it was an excellent film.
One of my favorite scenes was when Thomson runs through Times Square only his underwear, trying to make it back in time for the next scene in his play, after locking himself out of the theater. I also enjoyed Emma Stone’s performance as Thomson’s recovering drug addict daughter, which only proves to me that Stone can take on any character.
However, the most poignant part of Birdman was its commentary on art versus entertainment. This was first mentioned in the scene when Thomson confronted the New York Times theater critic, Tabitha Dickinson, in a bar. Thomson, a little drunk, begs Dickinson to give his play a chance. In refute, Dickinson powerfully proclaims that she already knows she will find his play distasteful because of his lack of mastery of the art form of theatre as a mere former Hollywood actor. She continues to complain about Hollywood movies and actors who are only able to produce entertainment, not art. This ultimately leads to Thomas shooting a hole through his nose during the final act of his play. The audience can assume this is so that Dickinson will find the performance “art.” These scenes highlighted the main theme of the movie, making the viewer question whether they only value entertainment, or art. It is ironic, as Birdman is a Hollywood movies itself; perhaps Alejandro González Iñárritu wanted to make his movie a paradox.
After finishing the film, I began to wonder if I watched movies purely for raw entertainment, or for the viewing of an art form. I admit that I do enjoy movies for pure entertainment, but I also found myself agreeing with Dickinson, the antagonist of Birdman. Today, Hollywood tends to produce profitable movies, and loses touch with art in film. Art is diverse, and can take several different shapes in a movie. Art in film can be characterized by the tangible ways the movie was created, or in the metaphorical value of the content. These filmmaking tactics help movies stick with the viewer, and that is the goal of art.
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