God bless the first amendment.

Paving The Road For Indie Filmmakers

Not since the 1970′s has low budget film making been as popular as when Kevin Smith made Clerks.  Miramax bought the rights to the film while it was playing at Sundance, because they knew that this was what young people wanted to see.  Thought provoking subject matter, presented in a such a way that was devoid of any sugar coating.  The making of Clerks was an inspiring tale, that would pave the way for an entire generation of up and coming talent!  When Clerks was made, young aspiring film makers had reason to believe that it doesn’t take a multi-million dollar budget and the backing of a giant corporation to make hit movies.  Kevin Smith had given hope to millions of people who had not had any before.

So along comes this up and coming filmmaker, with a hit on his hands made for less than $28,000 and lots of buzz coming out of Sundance and Cannes.  It’s like something out of a fairy tale or a Rocky movie.  The industry, however, doesn’t like up and coming artists, unless they manufacture them themselves, and attempted to cripple Smith’s new movie with an “NC-17” rating, which is poison to a movie’s monetary value.  Think about that for a second. “NC-17” is today’s version of the X rating, which usually means that the film contains excessive nudity or graphic sex!  The only thing that Clerks had was bad language, and the industry wanted people to perceive it to be only suitable for adults!  Luckily, Miramax believed in the film strongly enough to hire a respectable lawyer, who helped to convince a jury that the rating was unfair, and thus, Clerks received an R rating.

I Hope You Aren’t Easily Offended

Because if there’s ever been a filmmaker to truly embrace the “R” rating more than Kevin Smith, I’m not aware of one.  His movies have consistently pushed the envelope as far as dialog and adult themes go.  His movies are not your typical after church family movie going experience.  Even without the profanity, his films tend to explore subjects that are divisive and create heated debates, such as sexuality, religion, racism, etc.  He likes to question the status quo, and this is the main reason that the industry tries to silence him.

In a career mired with controversy, Dogma is arguably his most controversial work.  During post production, they received over 300,000 pieces of hate mail, due to what was perceived as being an anti-Catholic stance.  The protesters, being completley unaware of the message of the film, and even unaware of what the director looked like, went on a gigantic crusade against the movie, ironically adding fuel to Dogma’s message that some people cling to their religious beliefs too much, and cause more problems in the world than they are helping.  Dogma went on to become far more successful than his previous films, and has only been outdone by Zach and Miri in gross revenue.  The Catholic League is directly responsible for building Kevin Smith’s fan base.

Kevin Smith Has A Large Fan Base

With a great fan base, eventually comes great criticism.  Many people consider Kevin Smith to be “whipped” nowadays, and cites the fact that he has given screen time to his wife, Jennifer Schwalback Smith in all of his movies since their marriage, despite what they consider to be a lack of talent on her part.  Keep in mind that she is not an actress, but a journalist.  Many people consider her Smith’s version of Yoko Ono, as she has caused him to change into a completely different person, and is most likely the reason that he will never create a sequel to Dogma.  It seems that family values and love are going to be the main points of Smith’s films from now on.

Most notable amongst his arrival as an example of Smith’s changed attitude is Jersey Girl, which has caught a lot of criticism over the years.  Personally, I can’t be too hard on any movie that has George Carlin as a primary character.  I agree that it wasn’t an exceptional movie, no matter how you slice it.  For what it was though, it was good.  It was almost his version of a “chick flick” but with a little bit of his irreverent outlook thrown in there.  You’re not going to see a little girl perform Sweeney Todd in any Julia Roberts movies, that’s for sure.  At any rate, the loyal fans wanted to see the same Kevin Smith films that they had been used to, as opposed to films like this.

Make no mistake about it.  Kevin Smith has endured a LOT of heat over the last 10 years for his work.  Whether it’s because of his inablity to handle criticism, his frequent inclusion of his wife, or his reputation as being more of an internet personality than a celebrity, there seems to be always something to say about him.  The most prominent criticism is that he has forgotten his roots and no longer makes movies like “Clerks”.  Here’s the truth of the matter.  Mr. Smith is simply an oversized kid.  He loves to make movies like Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back.  Those are his bread and butter.  People want him to return to his “roots” with movies like “Clerks” but it was a one time thing.  The only reason Clerks didn’t turn out like his other films, is because he made it with the intention of being successful at the Sundance Film Festival.  Clerks was Kevin Smith’s “artsy” movie, and he will most likely never make another one like it.  He probably could if he wanted to, he just won’t.

Back To Basics!

It is in this spirit that Kevin Smith returned to his roots with the highly controversial films “Clerk II” and “Zach and Miri Make a Porno”.  If this is the direction that Kevin Smith is taking with his career, then I am enjoying it.  For a while, I was starting to get concerned about his longevity, because “Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back” struck me as a weak attempt to cash in on the characters.  Don’t get me wrong, the movie had its moments, but it just didn’t come off as the best way to end the series.  Clerks II was a more poetic, and fitting end overall.

One thing’s for sure.  If you’re friends with Kevin Smith, then you are pretty much guaranteed to always have an acting career.  I’m not sure why he feels the need to cast the same people in multiple movies, but he does.  For example, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Scott Mosier, and Brian O’Hallaran have all been in six of Smith’s eight movies.  Not only that, but Jason Mewes has been in all of them except for one!  It would seem that he makes movies for the fun of it, with disregard to the final product.  Ultimately, his tendency to cast the same actors is part of his charm.  If you’re going to watch his films, it’s something that you must get used to, because it’s who he is.

Kevin Smith Is An American Hero

To put things in perspective, the number one contribution that Kevin Smith has made, to me, is on the subject of colorful language.  He has admitted that as an experiment, he is raising his kids around profanity.  He has made a career out of battling the industry over the stigma of language.  To me, Kevin Smith is an American hero, who has been defending our first amendment rights in the most powerful medium there is… the motion picture.  And if we get to laugh at a couple of irreverent jokes in the process, then all the more better.