Martin Scorsese Is Wrong to Dispute Cinema as Content

Martin Scorsese recently made the news for complaining that his films are treated as mere “content” by streaming platforms like Netflix. On the surface, his grievance is understandable. Films require an incredible amount of vision, talent, hard work, and money to produce. And great films can have deep, lasting impacts on culture. He’s also correct to highlight the downsides of algorithmic curation. Nonetheless, it’s time to admit that art fundamentally is not sacred. Treating art as content is not only an honest appraisal of reality, it also empowers audiences to accurately assess the ultimate value of art in the modern world.

“Content” is an incredibly general term, but it’s not a disparagement. Online, basically everything that’s not code or design is content. That includes everything from Dogecoin memes to New Yorker opinion pieces to the complete works of Shakespeare. Does Scorsese really think Goodfellas is fundamentally superior to Othello?

Admittedly, most content online is not Shakespeare. Still, web content is not inherently some lowly thing. The people who create and publish content on the web are generally referred to as “content creators,” when in fact they are authors, editors, videographers, public speakers, and artists. Even on a site like Walmart.com, you find several well-produced videos, a wealth of…