"So that, to me, is important that audiences are treated with an amount of respect toward their intelligence. Most Hollywood films don't respect their intelligence"
About this Quote
Eriq La Salle argues for a kind of storytelling that trusts viewers to keep up, connect dots, and sit with ambiguity. Respecting audience intelligence means resisting the impulse to over-explain, spoon-feed motives, or sand down every edge for fear of confusion. It is the difference between dialogue that serves subtext and dialogue that functions as a plot recap, between endings that resonate because they are earned and endings that are tidy because they are tested that way.
La Salle’s perspective carries weight because he has worked both in front of and behind the camera. He knows the pressures that lead to simplifying choices: massive budgets, four-quadrant marketing, global box office demands, and the gauntlet of test screenings and executive notes. When storytelling becomes risk-averse, the result can be formulaic beats, loud spectacle in place of character, and moral clarity where moral complexity would be more truthful.
Treating audiences with respect does not mean making stories opaque; it means embracing complexity when a subject warrants it. Viewers are often more media-literate than executives assume. They recognize patterns, pick up on visual cues, and appreciate when a story trusts them to infer rather than instruct. The enduring appeal of certain filmmakers and many prestige television series rests on this trust: layered characterization, nonlinear structures, and endings that invite conversation rather than shut it down.
The critique of Hollywood is not categorical. Plenty of studio films challenge viewers and succeed. But La Salle points to a prevailing habit: chasing the safest version of a story because safe seems bankable. Over time, that habit lowers expectations on both sides. The alternative is harder but richer. It asks writers, directors, and studios to believe that audiences can handle shades of gray, to allow quiet beats inside loud movies, and to prioritize emotional and thematic coherence over maximum clarity. When creators aim for that standard, audiences often rise to meet it, and the work endures.
La Salle’s perspective carries weight because he has worked both in front of and behind the camera. He knows the pressures that lead to simplifying choices: massive budgets, four-quadrant marketing, global box office demands, and the gauntlet of test screenings and executive notes. When storytelling becomes risk-averse, the result can be formulaic beats, loud spectacle in place of character, and moral clarity where moral complexity would be more truthful.
Treating audiences with respect does not mean making stories opaque; it means embracing complexity when a subject warrants it. Viewers are often more media-literate than executives assume. They recognize patterns, pick up on visual cues, and appreciate when a story trusts them to infer rather than instruct. The enduring appeal of certain filmmakers and many prestige television series rests on this trust: layered characterization, nonlinear structures, and endings that invite conversation rather than shut it down.
The critique of Hollywood is not categorical. Plenty of studio films challenge viewers and succeed. But La Salle points to a prevailing habit: chasing the safest version of a story because safe seems bankable. Over time, that habit lowers expectations on both sides. The alternative is harder but richer. It asks writers, directors, and studios to believe that audiences can handle shades of gray, to allow quiet beats inside loud movies, and to prioritize emotional and thematic coherence over maximum clarity. When creators aim for that standard, audiences often rise to meet it, and the work endures.
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