Speaking in an interview with the Guardian, a British outlet, 66-year-old actor Tim Robbins explained how the influence of various streaming services and the public’s tendency to embrace them means that Hollywood, and the film industry generally, have a very bleak future that’s not getting any brighter.
Particularly, Robbins explained that what is currently taking place is entertainment by algorithm, with people only watching what the algorithm promotes, something that tends to show people the same type of film over and over again and essentially screening out all but a very small variety of film styles and making it difficult for innovative movies to draw any attention.
Making that point, Robbins pointed to the style of movie that Netflix, the streaming service, keeps pumping out and promoting, noting that it sure looks like the movie industry is in “big trouble” thanks to those trends. He told the Guardian, “You go on Netflix right now you see what films are coming out and you tell me that that’s the future of cinema? We’re in big trouble.”
Continuing, Robbins, who starred in Shawshank Redemption, noted that though the movie got good reviews when it came out, not that many people ended up going out to watch it in theaters. He said, making that point, “When it came out it got good reviews, it got nominated for Academy awards, but nobody saw it.”
But, then the movie took off thanks to VHS and the Turner Classic Movies channel, as Robbins noted. He said: “It was VHS and [Ted] Turner playing it on his television channel [Turner Classic Movies] that changed that. That is a beloved movie. It remains on top of IMDb as the most favored movie of all time.”
Adding to that, he noted that the quality of films is what people will think about as the decades following them grind on, telling the Guardian, “So, I know that a quality movie, a quality television show, will last. Whether it’s a hit or not is irrelevant compared to what people are going to think about it in 10, 15, 20 years.”
Though generally a liberal whose politics inform his acting, as the Guardian notes, Mr. Robbins has broken with the left on certain issues. For example, in the interview, he sounded off on 2021 vaccination requirements to get into an LA-area theater, saying, “I didn’t believe that there should be a litmus test at the door of the theatre. I didn’t believe that that was in the spirit of what a theatre is. A theatre has to allow everyone in, of all faiths, beliefs, political persuasions.”
And, speaking about a show of his, he commented on how it reflects the Orwellian nature of the present regime, saying, “It seems very close to what we were dealing with on a daily basis at that time – the lack of transparency of information, the people being told by the government to limit their freedom for the good of all.”
Another example of his breaking with the establishment came over the summer of 2024, when the first assassination attempt on now-President-elect Trump occurred, he sounded off on conspiracy theories about the shooting referencing a movie of his.Posting about the conspiracy theories about the Trump assassination attempt that reference a film of his, Mr. Robbins wrote, in an X post viewed millions of times, “To anyone drawing a parallel between my film Bob Roberts and the attempted assassination of Trump, let’s be clear. What happened yesterday was a real attempt on a presidential candidate’s life.”
Continuing, he pointed out how evil and awful the assassination attempt was even without the conspiracy theories, saying, “Those that are denying the assassination attempt was real are truly in a deranged mindset. A human being was shot yesterday. Another killed. They may not be human beings that you agree with politically but for shame folks.”
Concluding, he called on people to get over the deep hatred they hold in their hears for the other side and instead start trying to see each other as fellow Americans rather than enemies. He said, “Get over your blind hatred of these people. They are fellow Americans. This collective hatred is killing our souls and consuming whatever is left of our humanity.”
Watch Trump triumphantly pump his fist after surviving the attack here:
"*" indicates required fields