Yes, I Want TENET to Be Delayed (Again)
It’s no secret that I’ve been an adamant supporter of the cinema experience — I’ve expressed my disdain for streaming services multiple times, especially Netflix’s rise to the Academy Awards and how their model is, slowly, killing cinemas. We seem to accept “binging” or Netflix & Chill as a form of entertainment, yet these practices should be condemed at all costs. In one of the best moves of his career, director Steven Spielberg wanted to ban Netflix (and other streaming-exclusive films that have a small theatrical window to qualify for awards shows) from being eligible to enter Academy Awards contention, in which he vehemently states that streaming-exclusive films are “TV movies” (which they are; The Irishman (2019, Martin Scorsese), while a great film, is a terrible-looking one. Every visual choice, from the blocking to the horrible de-aging makes it look like a TV movie, even viewed theatrically).
“Once you commit to a television format, you’re a TV movie. You certainly, if it’s a good show, deserve an Emmy, but not an Oscar. I don’t believe films that are just given token qualifications in a couple of theaters for less than a week should qualify for the Academy Award nomination.”
We seem to have accepted televisual content and praise at its bogged-down quality, rather than actual theatrical content that beg to be experienced on the biggest screen possible — something I’ve always been unafraid at exposing and telling people who vehemently shill on Netflix to get their head out of their asses and actually see their movies (if possible) in theaters. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can top going to the cinema. Not even your 8K UHD 75 inch curved 3D/VR compatible IMAX Enhanced DTS 7.1 Panasonic VIERA SMART TV with a Chromecast Ultra and a home-theater system run by BOSE. Of course, I understand why some people prefer viewing movies at their homes rather than going to the cinema, but, tell me, would you rather see Avengers: Endgame (2019, Anthony Russo & Joe Russo), at home, with nobody but yourself (and your wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/children/roommate, if that applies to your situation) or in a massive, IMAX, screen with a sold-out crowd reacting to the film like a rock concert? The theatrical experience remains, to this day, unmatched and unparalleled — especially Christopher Nolan’s films beg to be seen in theaters. I was lucky to have experienced The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and Interstellar (2014) on IMAX 70mm and they remain two of the best moviegoing experiences I’ve ever had. It’s incredible how powerful a screen can be, when the right movie is presented. I, more than anything, would love to go back to the IMAX 70mm theater and experience Nolan’s latest film, TENET (2020), or other theater-worthy films like Mulan (2020, Niki Caro), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020, Patty Jenkins), Black Widow (2020, Cate Shortland) and Top Gun: Maverick (2020, Joseph Kosinski). Unfortnunately, I know that it’s not going to happen anytime soon, and that a delay is more than necessary.
I know that many people that will read this article will not like what I’m about to say, and I understand exactly why, but I need to say it anyway, because it’s been boiling in my insides for quite a while and, by writing these words, I will have liberated myself from what I’ve been incessantly telling myself, in my head, while I’ve been cycling. To begin, here’s a quote from Flannery O’Connor (that was recently tweeted by Scott Derrickson) that is going to be a TDLR description of what I’m about to say:
“The truth does not change according to your ability to stomach it.”
And here’s one from SGM (a genius in his own right):
MV PASSION ONLY DEALS WITH THE COLD, HARD, FAXX.
When a friend of mine wrote on a post I shared on the 93rd Academy Awards being postponed(in which my comment on the matter was “Christopher Nolan can now delay TENET indefinitely 🙂”), that “I almost want TENET to be delayed”, I knew I couldn’t just hold my thoughts for myself and had to speak them out, whether it would hurt what people thought of me or not. If you’re a capitalist shill who’ll bootlick constantly on a studio and ignore the fact that there’s a global fucking crisis (thank you Bernie Sanders) happening and will just bitch and moan about the fact that I want the “cinema experience to crumble down by not guaranteeing TENET’s financial success”, then please stop reading. Because not only will I call you out, but I’ll also call out the other idiots who want their non-essential privileges back when they don’t fucking need it. Remember when the MAGA-wearing covidiots protested against lockdown measures because “they needed a haircut”, or they wanted to play golf, people thought their were stupid, right? Nothing has changed, as the United States (and many other countries/provinces) are starting to reopen. People only care about their privileges that they don’t need while downplaying the risks of COVID-19:
“I’ll wear a mask when I go see TENET in theaters.”
“I’ll just need to wash my hands multiple times with a hand sanitizer and wear masks, goggles and three layers of heavy coats.”
“I don’t give a shit, I’ve got my mask and face-shield ready to go back to the theaters.”
Many individuals believe that, by wearing a mask (or three layers of heavy coats wtf), you prevent yourself from getting COVID-19, but, in reality, it’s to protect OTHERS from your possible droplets of COVID. There have been health professionals who were following strict protocols that have contracted the disease even by wearing all of the equipment to protect themselves. Masks should also be worn for short periods of time (no more than 30 minutes, according to Horacio Arruda), in a strict, protocolary fashion, while washing their hands before they put it on, before they take it off, and after they take it off. It’s an exhausting endeavor, but masks aren’t mean to be worn for 2+ hours (lord hows how long TENET is). When a mask is worn for more than 30 minutes, it becomes tainted with your own secretions and saliva, which don’t protect others anymore from droplets (and yourself from receiving other droplets). Masks should only be worn for short, controlled, periods of time. By going to the theater, you not only expose yourself to a virus, but wearing a mask for long, non-controlled periods of time is what Arruda likes to call “false-protection”. When public health officials tell you to wear a mask, they explain, in detail, the protocol to do so (safely) and remind you that masks do not replace frequent (and regular) hand-washing and other habits like physical distancing.
And here’s another problem that egotistical moviegoers will have to face: faux-physical distancing. In a closed space, it doesn’t matter where you sit, it only takes 1 person who feels ill to infect half or all the customers. Even with masks (which, once again, become tainted after wearing them too long), it isn’t enough protection against the virus in a closed space. Don’t take my word for it? One of my friends who was on an internship in Germany contracted the virus, while in a plane, wearing a mask just like everybody else. Someone was coughing violently on the plane (and was wearing a mask). Since the mask was being worn for too long, the droplets started to spread on the plane and the virus transmitted from their eyes. “But you need face-shields/protective eye” — let me stop you right there, for a second. Do you realize how idiotic it sounds to watch a movie with a mask/protective eyewear on? This isn’t the fucking hospital, it’s a place in which we should be able to liberate ourselves freely, from real-world problems, for 2+ hours of escape. We shouldn’t worry about our own health in these places — heck, we shouldn’t worry about anything when we go to the movies. We should just sit down at the bright projector illuminating the giant screen and envelop ourselves in the film’s world (whether good or bad).
When people say “fear of a virus won’t stop me from going to the movies”, they’re a) extremely egotistical and b) don’t know how contagious/dangerous COVID-19 is. If only you knew how violent it is, you wouldn’t dare go to places you don’t need to go. Even if you’re healthy, it can give you permanent lung damage. That video of a HEALTHY 6-year old kid coughing and having a hard time breathing (that I won’t link here due to the fact that it’s extremely heartbreaking/terrifying), alone, should convince you to get your head out of your ass and stop thinking about yourself for a year or two. “But I NEED to go see TENET in theaters!” No you don’t. As much as it pains me to say, you don’t need to see anything in theaters. I was ready to see Bloodshot (2020, Dave S.F. Wilson) on March 13th, but when Québec Premier François Legault announced the closure of schools due to the pandemic, I knew COVID was going to hit us hard and it wasn’t the time for me to go to the cinema and watch a movie. Yes, the experience isn’t the same. I understand that. You can’t replicate a cinema exprience at home. To this day, I’m still pissed I didn’t get a chance to see Inception (2010, Christopher Nolan) in theaters, but what do you wanna do? Why put yourself at risk, for a measly movie, when you don’t need to? “But it’s not just a mov” — shut the fuck up. It’s a movie. It’s just a movie. Something you can EASILY wait a few months for and watch at home, without wearing any sort of uncomfortable equipment on your face that you’ll be wanting to take off every 10 minutes or so.
As COVID-19 cases are spiking in the United States, why would you even dare go to someplace you don’t even need to go? Like the hair salon, the cinema hits “rock bottom” of non-essential services. Like your precious Black Widow and Wonder Woman 1984, TENET can wait. If you would stop thinking about yourself and actively think about others who could catch COVID-19, unknowingly, from your asymptomatic self, after going to the theater to see a movie you could watch at home a few months after its release when it was clearly not the time to go to the cinema, how would you feel? And how would Warner Bros. or Christopher Nolan feel if their film would be responsible for an epidemic inside the theater (when it clearly wasn’t needed) and that a person that contracted the disease from seeing their movie passes away? Was it really worth it? Was it really worth the push? I know these are hypothetical and extremely pessimist scenarios, but what if that happens? Some will say “you can’t live in fear”, but you can’t be an idiot. Warner Bros. is only thinking of their own financial gain, while many Americans aren’t ready to go to the theater even if sanitary measures are in place, according to this survey from Slate:
Obviously, it doesn’t reflect everyone, but it shows a fairly clear portrait of what most Americans think right now. That they don’t want to put themselves at risk for nothing. Everytime you go out in a store to buy food, pharmaceuticals, etc., there is a risk, yes, but those are essentials. You have to take that risk, but you’re also careful and make sure you’re not going out for nothing. Warner Bros. is not only playing with fire but endangering people’s lives, as explained bluntly and succintly by Matt Goldberg of Collider:
“To be blunt, pushing any movie to open when there aren’t proper safety protocols in place, there’s no test-and-trace program, and mask wearing is inconsistent at best is dangerous and shortsighted. No movie is worth that risk, and I hope that Warner Bros. reconsiders even if it means alienating Nolan.”
Now is not the time to go to the cinema, now is not the time to go out for your own, pointless, privileges you don’t need. The COVID-19 pandemic brought out the worst in individuals and revealed how egotistical/self-centered they are (which started with the toilet paper hoarders, to the anti-lockdown protestors, and now people believing the pandemic is over or the virus isn’t that bad because their state is starting to reopen). We need to stop thinking about our own fucking ego for, just a second, and realize that our stupid privileges we hold so dear can wait for a while. We can’t risk anyone’s lives when an “invisible enemy” (the only time you’ll find me quoting the President) travels, unknowingly, in our midst. As said so brilliantly by film critic Scott Menzel,
“Films like Tenet need a huge box office return not just here, but throughout the country and overseas as well. How are people in countries where the Coronavirus hasn’t yet hit going to see this film if it happens to strike between now and July 17 [now 31]? And what if cases begin to spike more within the states that have reopened and need to be shut down again? These are all unknowns and additional risks. Releasing an original film that hasn’t had enough marketing is troubling enough, but when you release a movie with a $205 million budget and you have no idea what is going to happen given the current state of the world, how can you take a gamble like that? If you don’t want to think solely about the Coronavirus, how about the impact of the protests around the world?”
Let’s stop thinking about ourselves for just a second and think about the world we live in. Once you realize that we don’t need any of our so-called privileges and that delaying something we don’t need for later, once the world is a better place to live, is the right call to make. For movie theaters to survive, yes, we need to guarantee a film’s financial success to showcase studios that we want tentpole blockbusters to be experienced on the biggest screen possible, but we also shouldn’t open them when we don’t need to. I’m confident there will be economic support from different parts of governments, studios, companies (amazon…maybe lol) and heck, maybe film directors, to support the cultural sector so cinemas can finally live and breathe again, at full capacity, and that dark period of the start of a new decade can stay in the past and never come back. Don’t be an idiot, stay home.
