Filmmaker, artist, and overall eccentric David Lynch has some choice words for the modern movie trailer. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the director made clear that he thinks movie trailers are now destroying the cinematic experience:
“These days, movie trailers practically tell the whole story,” Lynch bemoaned. “I think it’s really harmful. For me, personally, I don’t want to know anything when I go into a theater. I like to discover it, get into that world, try to get as good of picture and sound as possible, no interruptions – so you can have an experience. And anything that putrefies that is not good.”
It really does feel that the modern movie trailer reveals too much. Seriously, how many trailers in the past few years have been met with controversy over showing too much of the movie? Alien: Covenant, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice all come to mind.
In some ways, this feels like an act of desperation. A way to get as many butts in seats as possible, and a way to show viewers that the filmmakers have made good on their promise. Have audiences lost that much trust with studios? That they need to prove to us that they made a movie? Perhaps this was always meant to be; showing off footage of a movie is very easy now. Trailers can be whipped up quickly, and often. Should we blame the internet, and especially social media for the spoiler-riddled world that we live in? One thing is for sure: trailers are ruining the element of surprise. Something that makes movies a truly special experience.
You can check out the third season of David Lynch’s cult-classic series Twin Peaks right now on Showtime. Follow all of our coverage here.
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Originally published May 31, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
