A refreshing exchange

Michael of 2Blowhards links this WIRED interview with Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson (which I read when my issue came in the mail). I liked the interview, being a LOTR fan; Michael seems less interested, although he quotes a single exchange:

WIRED: Your early work features some of the bloodiest scenes ever filmed. What do these movies say about you?

Jackson: They all represent the type of film I would be entertained by. That’s why you make movies. Because you’re interested in a genre.

I’m not sure if Michael posts this to agree or disagree (he uncharacteristically says nothing at all!), but I agree with it. First of all, I admire Jackson simply by virtue of his frank admission that he did gory, bloody movies because he likes gory, bloody movies. No goofy auteur-speak, none of that “What I’m trying to do is meditate on the awful degree of violence in contemporary life” folderol — just a guy who admits being entertained by violent movies. Now, I don’t personally enjoy violence that much, but I’m not really turned off by it either (except in some cases — I found the ending of The Matrix a bit troubling when all those security guards get mowed down).

Secondly, though, there’s a “meta” level of meaning here that I like. I write the stories that I write because I want to read them, but nobody else has written them yet, so I gotta do it. I think that’s what Jackson is getting at, and I agree wholehearedly.

(I’m not sure that Jackson doesn’t confuse “genre” with a certain set of tropes or imagery that are not exclusive to a single genre, but that’s a “choice of words” thing, not a “content” thing.)

Share This Post