The streaming service Wes Anderson refuses to watch: “We don’t use it, but it’s there”
Wes Anderson isn’t just one of the most acclaimed directors working today, but an artist whose name conjures up a unique style, tone, and atmosphere, and while the peculiarities of his style have earned him both high praise and nasty criticism, his films couldn’t be mistaken for the work of anyone else.
As artful and original as each of his features and short films seems to be, there are innumerable classics that have influenced his work, and given that he is now a father to a young daughter, Freya, he has made attempts to pass along his cinema knowledge that he feels is important.
Anderson said in an interview with Letterboxd that he likes “to show her a Blu-Ray of a movie”, and takes pride in the fact that one of Freya’s favourite films is the classic Judy Garland musical Meet Me in St Louis. While it’s impressive that his young daughter is infatuated with an Old Hollywood musical from 1944, he’s found it more challenging to keep her away from more populist titles.
“I like that she likes Meet Me in St Louis, but when I was her age, the most important movie of all time was Star Wars,” Anderson said, “It’s the least-hidden movie of all time, but it’s relevant to my life right now.”
The director’s dismay about the popularity of Star Wars is not exactly a new sentiment, as film pundits and scholars have debated the merits of George Lucas’ science fiction fantasy adventure ever since the first instalment debuted in theatres back in 1977. While it was a groundbreaking experience that spurned many young artists to become interested in filmmaking, the franchise is also blamed for the death knell it delivered to the New Hollywood era of adult-oriented ‘70s cinema and ushering in a new generation of blockbusters.
Debates about Star Wars have grown no less heated in the last decade, as the purchase of Lucasfilm by the Walt Disney Company has resulted in an overwhelming degree of exposure. In addition to the many films and television shows set in the universe that have seen light over the years, Disney has ensured that the characters, locations, and moments from the galaxy far, far away are omnipresent in its parks, products, and adverts.
Keeping a child away from Star Wars may be an impossible task, even for Anderson, when considering how deeply ingrained the series is within the Disney+ streaming service, and while he may not have been able to hide the service from his daughter entirely, he stated that he’s attempted to set boundaries on whether she can use it.
“My daughter is seven, and she’d heard about Star Wars and kept asking me about it,” Anderson admitted, “So I said, ‘Well, we have Disney+, and we don’t use it’, but it’s there.”
Anderson’s comments about not using Disney+ are particularly amusing when considering that he’s made two animated films, Fantastic Mr Fox and Isle of Dogs, which are available to stream on the service, and has also happened to work with many actors who’ve also appeared in Star Wars films or shows, including Natalie Portman, Jude Law, and Benicio del Toro.
Drowning out the entire phenomenon that is the series might frankly be an impossibility, but thankfully, it didn’t seem to damage the director himself too badly. Considering that he was eight years old when Star Wars first came out, it’s safe to say that Anderson should be able to keep his daughter’s film tastes intact and closer to what he wants them to be for now.
