Artist Intentions Don’t Exist

Gatekeeping seems to be a common theme with people who are enthusiastic about a hobby. They want to differentiate themselves from those who aren’t as serious. You can’t be a “real” member of a group if you don’t meet these random criteria. In home theater, one way gatekeepers like to differentiate themselves is by talking about “artists’ intents.” They care about them way more than you do. What do they mean by “artist intentions” and why do we think they don’t exist? Let’s discuss!

The Artists’ Intent

The idea behind talking about the artists’ intentions is that the director of a movie had a specific idea of how they wanted you to experience their work. Directors like Nolan are often vocal about how they think you should experience their work. Most directors don’t have the pull or name recognition to be so outspoken. Enthusiasts, however, won’t let that stop them from making claims about what they believe the artist intended.

Nolan is Full of It

Even with directors like Nolan, his intentions don’t really pan out. He wants you to see his film in a specific format (the linked article is about Oppenheimer being seen in 70mm IMAX), but he can’t even film the entire movie with the correct cameras. For other directors, their intentions are often just extrapolated from the movie itself. The aspect ratio, the sound format, or the original release will give enthusiasts clues about how the director wanted their movie displayed or experienced.

Of course, all of this is hogwash.

Even Nolan with his posturing about the best way to see his movies is full of it. He says the best way to see his movie is in the rarest of theaters. If you are lucky enough to see it in one of these theaters, will your experience be that much better? More importantly, how would you know? Are you going to hop between different theaters to compare? No! Not only that, it isn’t like he’s going to ignore all the other formats. All of his movies have been optimized for every possible format (including home release). If this is true of Nolan, it is certainly true of every other director.

Artist Intentions Don’t Really Exist

Directors don’t sit in IMAX theaters and mix and master their movies. They are in some sort of mixing studio or even in their homes. This idea that a director had not only a specific type of theater but also specific speakers and audio configuration for the “best” way to experience their movie is ludicrous. Directors just want you to experience their movie. They try to ensure that no matter how you do that you are getting a good experience. Will seeing a movie in a theater be better than on Bluetooth headphones and your phone? Yes. But it isn’t like they’ve maximized their movie for one and only one format to the detriment of the others.

Why do some people care so much about “artists’ intentions” when we say they don’t really exist? Usually, it is because they’ve spent a bunch of money on equipment that they think is best for movies. Enter the 2.35:1 aspect ratio projection screen. Movies were often shot in this very wide aspect ratio (or something similar). This led enthusiasts to believe that this was the “best” screen for movies. That’s become decreasingly true. Movies are being shot (even by the vaulted Nolan) in mixed aspect ratios. Even when it was true, all these extra-wide screens did was put the bevel of the screen in line with the black bars. With modern OLED and high-end LCD screens, this is less and less important.

Take Away

Gatekeeping is all about instilling the Fear of Missing Out in others so you can feel better about your purchases. Telling others they are not experiencing something “as the artist intended” because they didn’t buy the same equipment as you is a terrible way to promote our hobby. The “artist intentions” you are promoting don’t really exist. Their intention was that as many people would see their movie as possible so that they’d be hired to do more movies. If you believe that any director is making all other versions of their movie worse so that one can be the best, I’ve got a flat earth to sell you.