I hate to disagree with the man who gave us Taxi Driver, but I think the statement Schrader made places blame on the wrong party and doesn't take into the fact changes of time and audiences taste.
Does he really think a film like Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, a film about wife swapping, is a concept today's audiences are asking for? What about other social issues from the 70s? Does he just want a market for social issues of today to get made?
I think Schrader's assumptions of the audience is naive to what is actually happening with films getting made. Styles of comedy, social issues, and drama have a limited shelf time before they are dated and the next generation comes in and takes over.
You can't expect a young generation to watch 80s comedies from Ivan Reitman and John Hughes be able to relate to them. A teenager watching The Breakfast Club probably won't understand why Hall's character is not in jail. The comedy in a film like Lampoon's Vacation in alot of instances doesn't apply. How is a large percentage of young adults who have never been on a vacation outside of their state or been on a road trip able to relate to such a film?
Honestly it is why certain eras ends with certain films. The era of focusing on social issues after decades of the Hollywood code, the Blacklist code, and the studios saying no that prevented those types of films being made that were being made from the late the 60s through the late 70s died with Heaven's Gate financial failure in 1980.
That was a decade of great films being made that were taboos until the relaxation came in that allowed art to be made. Unfortunately, the audience said no to a few films with their pocket book and that era came to an end as we knew it.
The studio is in the business to make money. They are not going to gamble on a film they don't think will make money or make them a certain amount of money they want. A social film can be successful, but may just not provide the return the studio wants.
That is the key, what the studios wants and not the audience wants. That is Schrader's failure to understand what the studios want is to make money over art. Kevin O'Leary can often be heard saying on Shark Tank to small businesses don't get greedy on the percentages it's better to have a small piece of the big pie, then to have a larger piece of the small pie.
What essentially Kevin is saying as an investor and to the owner is, I'm looking for max return and you should too so it's better to own a small piece of larger corporation for return than a big piece of a small corporation. Why would O'Leary invest a film like Tully, a film about post pardom depression, when he could invest in Black Panther that will make a substantial difference in his return.
That is where studios are at now. They tell the theaters what is showing on what screen. They tell the audiences what films they are going to see. Since that faithful day in 1980, the big boys have slowly been brainwashing the audiences into mindless zombies on what they will intake.
It's not the audiences fault, it's the corporations fault why certain films don't get made. If certain social films do get made, then they just don't spend as much and limit the theaters or smaller venues show that film.
A film like Ashby's Coming Home, is better suited for a smaller art house type theater. It allows a more dedicated theater to setup an event that can have veterans speak before or after the show about their experiences with a Q & A possibly even a charity event. Large studios just don't know how to handle these types of films anymore, because honestly they were too busy brainwashing and controlling the audience and theaters.
There is a market for these films and they are still being made and shown, but the honest truth these types of films have a found a new home where they belong with theaters that know how to promote, handle, and show this type of film with an audience who wants to come in searching for more than just seeing a film wanting answers to their questions.
Sorry Schrader it is the evolution of the industry and the studios who you should put the major blame on not the audiences. The audiences are still watching and going to these films.
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