Martin Scorsese's daughter Francesca uses Marvel wrapping paper in brilliant Christmas prank
Martin Scorsese is getting pranked for Christmas… by his own daughter.
After his comments about how Marvel movies are “not cinema” went viral, his daughter Francesca Scorsese decided to troll him for the holidays in the most brilliant way: by wrapping all his presents in Marvel wrapping paper. Genius!
Francesca revealed the hilarious surprise via her Instagram Stories late on Christmas Eve. “Look what I’m wrapping my dad’s xmas gifts in,” she wrote in a caption with the crying laughing emoji over a photo of a mountain of presents featuring the faces of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther, and The Hulk.
While promoting his gangster epic The Irishman back in October, the Oscar-winning filmmaker told Empire about Marvel films: “I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema. Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”
Martin’s disparaging remarks sent shockwaves through Hollywood as many celebrities either sided with him or argued against him. Francis Ford Coppola called Marvel movies “despicable” while Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige and MCU stars and filmmakers like Joe and Anthony Russo, Joss Whedon, Chadwick Boseman, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, and many more spoke out in defense of superhero films.
As the debate continued to get bigger, the filmmaker then went on to further explain his stance in a New York Times opinion piece he wrote himself titled “Let me explain.”
“Many franchise films are made by people of considerable talent and artistry. You can see it on the screen,” he wrote. “The fact that the films themselves don’t interest me is a matter of personal taste and temperament. Many of the elements that define cinema as I know it are there in Marvel pictures. What’s not there is revelation, mystery or genuine emotional danger. Nothing is at risk. The pictures are made to satisfy a specific set of demands, and they are designed as variations on a finite number of themes.
“Many films today are perfect products manufactured for immediate consumption,” he continued. “Many of them are well made by teams of talented individuals. All the same, they lack something essential to cinema: the unifying vision of an individual artist. Because, of course, the individual artist is the riskiest factor of all.”
Scorsese explained that his issue is more with the impact franchise films are having than the movies themselves. “In many places around this country and around the world, franchise films are now your primary choice if you want to see something on the big screen,” he wrote. “It’s a perilous time in film exhibition, and there are fewer independent theaters than ever. The situation, sadly, is that we now have two separate fields: There’s worldwide audiovisual entertainment, and there’s cinema. They still overlap from time to time, but that’s becoming increasingly rare. And I fear that the financial dominance of one is being used to marginalize and even belittle the existence of the other.”
If only we could all be a fly on the wall of the Scorsese Christmas celebration when Martin sees his gifts so perfectly wrapped by Francesca.
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