Legendary Hollywood star Dustin Hoffman claims that while movies are getting worse, television is getting better.
We all know that television has undergone a bit of a renaissance over the past 10 years.
While serialized semi-genre shows like Lost have paved the way for more cinematic, layered network programming, cable channels and online distributors have also been on the rise, with HBO, Showtime, Netflix and AMC not only delivering high-quality TV series, but also attracting big-name stars.
Dustin Hoffman is one of many elite Hollywood actors who have made the transition to TV, most recently starring in HBO’s Luck and the BBC’s Esio Trot.
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And speaking to The Independent, Hoffman makes it very clear why TV is becoming such an attractive milieu for artists who previously would have scoffed at the medium.
“I think right now, television is the best that it’s ever been, and I think it’s the worst that film has ever been – in the 50 years that I’ve been doing it, it’s the worst,” Hoffman told the U.K. publication.
The change, Hoffman argues, is due to studios’ increasing greediness, and their obsession with making as big a profit as possible, at the expense of artistry.
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“I don’t think that has anything to do with whether you are good or not, it’s just about whether your films make money or not,” he concludes.
As Hoffman points out, the filming period for The Graduate was 100 days, despite the considerable simplicity of the sets and costumes. Now, it takes about three weeks to shoot your average (non-genre) Hollywood movie.
Looking at recent Hollywood blockbusters, each moviegoer must of course come to their own conclusions about the alleged lack of quality.
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But one thing is certain: with the rise of HD technology, the TV medium now offers creators the chance to tell deep, layered, drawn-out stories without having to compromise visuality and style.
Unfortunately, as far as network TV is concerned, making money is still the number one priority, which is why a lot of quality shows are cancelled before their time while more formulaic, safe models are allowed to endure.
Cable television and online series, on the other hand, seem to be doing what Hoffman is suggesting: taking their time to tell more authentic stories, without the single-minded focus on box office figures.