David Lynch Hated Your Phone
He's also called this period the death of cinema.
It’s the pinnacle of hubris to assume that the best way to view a film is how we watch it.
I have been occasionally disparaged for “telling people what to think” about David Lynch and Mark Frost’s masterpiece season of television, Twin Peaks: The Return. People should be allowed to make up their own minds without your interpretation.” This is the common counterargument that the New Critic receives after they’ve worked to unveil the moral reading of why certain art matters to the human being who watches it. While I do not shy away from telling others what matters about the common art we all have access to, I have never felt comfortable telling people what equipment they should use to watch a film or television show. I have never criticized someone's setup or suggested that their artistic experience is inferior because of the device they use to consume it. It is presumptuous to assume that how we watch a film is the best way for everyone to experience it.
Watching films in the theater can be an incredible experience. So can crying over them on an airplane through an iPad or a mobile phone.
But David Lynch sure has opinions on the subject. In a recent interview with Calum Russell for Far Out, Lynch says:
“I always say: people think they’ve seen a movie, but if they’ve watched it on a phone, they haven’t seen anything. It’s sad.” - David Lynch
In this same short interview, Lynch also mourns the death of theaters as the primary house of worship for those who love film.
“Feature films are in a bad place, series have taken their place … You could sit down and actually have the experience of stepping into a whole new world. Now that’s all in the damn history books. It’s distressing.” - David Lynch
Anyone paying attention understands that Hollywood is dried up. Writing for the screen is undergoing a tectonic shift as studios embrace Generative AI as the primary method of composing stories that will first be sold through streaming subscriptions. That’s the reality. But it doesn’t necessarily call for the death of cinema. Movie theaters have a place. The place for cinema in the value chain is what has shifted. Movie theaters are no longer the widest part of the commercial art funnel. Instead, theaters will become the endgame of the funnel for films that perform well on streaming services. Only through streaming success will films be judged (by their viewing numbers) to be worthy of display in the cinema art houses we have built worldwide. And yes, many people will first watch these films and shows on their phones. If that is too much for elderly artists to understand and adapt to, perhaps it’s time to hang up that shingle and accept our gratitude for the art you made while you enjoyed the commercial opportunities to make it. The evolution of art doesn’t stop because of the complaints of old men. And thank God for that.
