Tim Robbins, the star of films including Shawshank Redemption, thinks the future of the film industry is very bleak because of the influence of streaming services like Netflix.
In an interview with the Guardian, the 66-year-old actor said entertainment by algorithm is not doing cinema any favors. With computer algorithms working to present viewers with films based mostly what they have already watched, that often means nothing outside that small window of film styles will get attention. It makes films that lie outside the box harder to get viewers, Robbins hinted.
“You go on Netflix right now you see what films are coming out and you tell me that that’s the future of cinema? We’re in big trouble,” Robbins told the paper.
He noted his most famous role in Shawshank Redemption is a perfect example of how a film could end up being forgotten and ignored if not for receiving more exposure than it had upon its debut.
“When it came out it got good reviews, it got nominated for Academy awards, but nobody saw it,” he said of when the film debuted in 1994.
“It was VHS and [Ted] Turner playing it on his television channel [Turner Classic Movies] that changed that. That is a beloved movie. It remains on top of IMDb as the most favored movie of all time. So, I know that a quality movie, a quality television show, will last. Whether it’s a hit or not is irrelevant compared to what people are going to think about it in 10, 15, 20 years,” he explained.
Though generally a left-winger, Robbins has in the last several years broken with the Hollywood left on a number of issues.
In July, for instance, as the left was reveling in the assassination attempts against then candidate Donald Trump, Robbins scolded the mainstream media and Democrats for their blind hated of Donald Trump that left them dismissing the assassination attempts.
He also broke with the left over his skepticism about how badly the medical and political establishment reacted during the COVID-19 pandemic and the “questionable choices” they made concerning the lockdowns.
In 2023, while most leftists were celebrating Biden’s efforts to censor Americans, Robbins took aim at the left for the outrageous idea and lamented that the media was “serving as thuggish censorship arm of the government.”
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