Michael Bay Sucks

Everyone loves a good scapegoat and if there is one person to blame for the perpetuation of shit we call “film” these days, his name is Michael Benjamin Bay. For those of you unfamiliar with Bay, some of his works include Transformers, Pearl Harbor, and countless other turkeys disguised as movies. Sure his films rake in the loot, but at what cost?  

The guy doesn’t make a movie with less than a 9-figure production budget (that’s what happens when you average one explosion ever 15 seconds) but more importantly, his films encourage up-and-coming filmmakers to compromise their artistic integrity in favor of easy to watch, low-quality popcorn flicks.

This is all part of a larger trend of the championing of the glance aesthetic over the gaze aesthetic of cinema. When a movie is made as a visual stimulant as opposed to a work of art, the audience is not immersed in the storyline because their senses are occupied with all the pretty lights and deafening explosions. They glance at the screen, but no connection is made between what they see and what they connect on a deeper level. There is no stream between the eyes and the brain. This is the glance aesthetic (or what I like to call ocular masturbation). 

On the other hand, the gaze aesthetic is a characteristic of quality films. In Hollywood’s hay day, films were more than just pictures flashing across a screen; they were meant to be an experience. People went to the movies to not only be entertained, but also learn and understand the films on an intellectual level. 

With all the explosions and effects Bay uses, the filming of his movies can also be dangerous. Last week, a woman extra was rushed to the hospital in critical condition after filming a stunt scene on the set of Transformers 3. Gabriella Cedillo, a 24-year-old native of Chicago, was using her own car in a stunt scene and her car was hit with a metal object. The projectile went through her windshield and hit her in the head. They stopped production for the rest of the day. Not only does this violate guild requirements (she was using her own car and she’s an untrained extra performing stunts) it also puts the safety of his staff at risk.

Michael Bay, you suck. You will never win an Oscar (unless you CGI one for yourself). Go blow something up.