Review of Corman's World (2011) by M. B — 11 Sep 2012

A very depressing film. An intelligent and sensitive man, whose "type" didn't fit US ideas of manhood, vented ironic camp rage to a generation of mediocre middle class film school grads, all rebels without a clue. Corman is the product of the post McCarthy era, which left the Hollywood Left so cowed that veiled sarcasm and hedonism have been their only weapons, and feeble, pathetic ones they are. To regard this kind of petulant cynicism as heroic is just sad from whatever perspective.

Corman at one point speaks about the obscenity of bloated Hollywood budgets and salaries, and indeed I agree it is far more obscene than any content in his movies. This is a lesson which none of his glittering "alumni" felt compelled to address in their interviews, unsurprisingly. So to have multimillionaire directors, the likes of Demme and Howard, who command multimillion dollar budgets, talking about "sticking it to the man" and "independence" was stomach churning. They do have a lot to thank him for though...mostly the fact that his garbage will always make their garbage look really good.

More insidious was the unnecessarily extended commentary about the apparent incongruity between the man and his work, which was an interesting exposure of both the documentarians and the interviewees. That many of these filmmakers have largely perpetuated and strengthened the kinds of myths of masculinity and conformity which obviously fueled Corman's anger and rejection only goes to show how little understanding or consideration they have of his motivation. This documentary was more tragic than celebratory.

Corman is the Marquis de Sade of Pop Culture. Although I'm sure many would take this as a compliment, Sade was not admirable, he was just a shell of a man, crushed by the abhorrent and base nature of his society, deciding to go one further. These men, for all their ironic wit, only add to the nihilism, the apathy, and the suffering of society, and personally I think there are better alternatives.

Richard Matheson paid a moving tribute, the only one worth listening to that showed any insight, the rest of this documentary is swill. A couple of decades ago I used to call my youthful self a film buff; now I am loathed to admit I ever watch/ed movies, and this documentary, particularly the nauseating Oscar ceremony, really spells out why any person of conscience would feel the same.