Why Darren Aronofsky is happy for people to hate his work: “That’s not me anymore”
Polarising doesn’t even begin to describe the reception that the films of Darren Aronofsky have received, who has a talent, or perhaps just an inclination, to tell stories about human misery, and seems to revel in making audiences uncomfortable, but to his credit, the writer/director seems very aware of that reputation.
Great filmmakers tend to be provocative, but Aronofsky’s work has often come under fire for what some have perceived to be exploitation, and while the director has seemingly made his peace with critics, he has also been keen to point out the people for whom his films have resonated.
“Pi was a cult experience for the young,” he told The New Yorker, “Requiem [for a Dream] was big with film students and drug addicts. The Fountain appeals to those who’ve dealt with a painful or unexpected death. The Wrestler attracted people who relate to Randy’s, the hero’s ‘outsiderness’, that soulful sadness, and I don’t think the fans of Black Swan are as committed. That’s more of a straight-up piece of entertainment.”
What those morally opposed to Aronofsky’s work may struggle to admit is that the director is right; for better or worse, his films have shaped the experiences of those who were at the right age to see them. Pi became just as influential among up-and-coming filmmakers as any indie film of the ‘90s, and Requiem for a Dream is often cited as one of the best onscreen portrayals of addiction.
The only unusual aspect of his comments is his disregard for Black Swan, which became his most financially successful film, and earned him an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Director’, but then he’s also revealed that he doesn’t fully recognise the filmmaker that he once was.
“My mentor, Stuart Rosenberg, would say that watching your old films is masturbation,” Aronofsky relayed, “I did watch Requiem later, because they turned it into a Blu-ray, and I thought, I do not know the person who made it, that’s not me anymore.”
Aronofsky has certainly changed, but not necessarily for the better. Although his religious epic Noah, the first of his films after Black Swan, was somewhat of a hit, it also suggested that he hadn’t found a way to articulate his ideas about religion in the same way. He trekked into even more controversial territory with mother!, a psychological thriller that used the story of an artist, played by Javier Bardem, and his wife, played by Jennifer Lawrence, as an allusion to God and Mother Earth, and while the word pretentious is often overused, it’s hard to find another way to describe mother!
Aronofsky has often had audiences, critics, and Hollywood rallying behind him, but rarely at the same time; his drama film The Whale may have earned Brendan Fraser an Academy Award for ‘Best Actor’ and become one of A24’s highest-grossing films, but it incited significant backlash and accusations of fatphobia, while his most recent film, Caught Stealing, was certainly his most ‘fun’ but ended up being a financial disappointment.
The man is a gifted artist who still has a significant amount of potential, but now that he’s thrown himself in with the artificial intelligence revolution, it’s unclear if anyone will want to work with him anymore.
