In October, Francesca Scorsese, whose father is the legendary Oscar-winning American filmmaker Martin Scorsese, posted a fun video on the social media application TikTok in which Martin Scorsese jokingly and playfully directs the family dog named ‘Oscar’ through an ‘audition’ for ‘a role.’ Explaining jokes defeats the purpose of the joke, but, for the purpose of this article, I should stress that the joke has nothing to do with the dog’s name — rather what is so funny and charming about the video is, first, the reveal that he’s talking to a dog, and, later, the family dog’s responses (or lack thereof) to his direction. I, and many others in the online film community, enjoyed the video quite a bit. Then, sometime thereafter, frequent Marvel collaborator and Avengers: Infinity War co-director Joe Russo posted a video response to Instagram, in which he said that he, too, has a Schnauzer as a pet, and then he makes note of the Scorsese family dog’s name before announcing that it’s ‘cute,’ but his dog’s name is Box Office.
Martin Scorsese previously ruffled some feathers in the fanboy and superhero film community by expressing his opinion about superhero filmmaking and saying that they often, but not always, feel closer associated with theme parks than cinema. Whether you agree with him or not — frankly, as more time passes, I tend to agree with him more than I initially did — Scorsese’s opinion holds value as he is both one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, as well as one of the most prominent champions of world cinema and the history thereof. Scorsese cares deeply about the state and development of the art form. On the flip side, Joe Russo made a name for himself with some of the most profitable superhero films ever made, and, on top of this, he is also “on the board of a few AI companies” and has spoken, as I understand him, in favor of AI’s impact on storytelling and how it can auto-generate ‘content.’ So, in a way, they couldn’t be any more different when it comes to filmmakers.
While I do think some of the online toxicity regarding Joe Russo’s video response can be a bit much, I must admit that I thought Joe Russo’s video was deeply irritating and unflattering — it rubbed me the wrong way. I have some thoughts. Like, I wrote on Twitter, Martin Scorsese — my personal favorite filmmaker — is one of the greatest directors of all time. His daughter made a really cute and charming TikTok vid. Joe Russo then decided to puff out his chest by pointing out his own Box Office numbers. Some may say it was intended to be a playful response, but playful or not it is a painfully embarrassing response. I found it to be lame and troll-like.
It was unbecoming of a filmmaker like Russo to respond with such a childish response. Let’s be honest, it’s not like Joe Russo isn’t an inventive TV director (loved his Community episodes) and a good work-for-hire director for Marvel (and I love his Marvel movies, to be clear). He just has yet to translate that success into notable original work with commendable choices. I think it is so strange that he would deliberately put a target on his back with that kind of response. Again, while I’m sure Russo would say it was just meant to be a joke, the timing (right as Scorsese’s three-and-a-half-hour epic Killers of the Flower Moon has hit theaters) feels deliberate, and he knows exactly what he’s doing by comparing his own achievements to a legend of the medium who has been vocal about damaging ‘theme park’ filmmaking
Going forward, Joe Russo should strive for more than just being a poster boy for fanboy flicks, AI content, and ‘theme park’ entertainment. At the very least, he should try to use some of his influence (and he has quite a bit) for good — just like Scorsese has done for decades — instead of trying to be a troll on the internet with an unnecessary video response like that. But, hey, that’s just my opinion.
– Article Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 