Paul Newman’s biggest issue with Hollywood’s new direction: “Everything has escalated”
Paul Newman is a true Hollywood legend, representing a specific era in cinematic history as one of the last film stars and a reflection of the American dream itself.
The man built a complex legacy through his dazzling on-screen performances and turbulent personal life, with leading roles in films like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, Cool Hand Luke and The Verdict. While he was a vision of success in the movies, he often picked characters who struggled to keep their life in order, something that the actor perhaps related to after his real-life battle with addiction.
Newman is one of the most important figures within the New Hollywood movement, and his work remains a wonderful encapsulation of his spirit, sense of humour, and love for the business, despite the fact that he became troubled by Hollywood’s new ways towards the end of his professional life.
Many conversations have been had in recent years about the extremist content that we see on our screens, whether it be through social media or the movies. Because of the commercialisation of art, some films now bear a stark resemblance to the type of content we see online. They have extreme violence/physical action and no emotional core, designed to create a piece of escapism instead of something we can connect with in a meaningful way.
This was something that Newman began to notice at the end of this career, with the actor having seen all sides of the business after starting at the beginning of the New Hollywood movement and ending as studio films and commercial projects started to take over.
After starring in Nobody’s Fool in 1994, the actor formed a unique insight into this shift after playing a character whose life and struggles vaguely resembled his own in the industry. The story follows a man who is about to retire and battling a worker’s compensation suit while secretly working for his enemy and flirting with his wife. But after his estranged son returns home, he is faced with new responsibilities and a potential eviction notice.
When discussing the character, Newman noted the similarities between himself and Sully, as well as the film’s timely reflection of Hollywood itself. “The nice thing about the picture was that you didn’t have to discover where the money was—you had to discover where he [Sully] was. It’s an examination of the good in ordinary people. But maybe in order to be good [in movies], you have to kill 53 people. Used to be you only had to kill three or four. Now, everything has escalated. The insistence on sexual, visceral gratification has become so intense… The human animal is an escalating beast.”
Newman is correct in saying that our demand for intensity has only grown over the years. People are less satisfied by the stories that used to rule the cinema, and audiences want more extreme, action-packed, and heightened stories. While people used to be thrilled by the simplicity of a picture like Paper Moon, it can now feel as if that era is over, and people will not be sustained by stories that most resemble our own lives.
