Meta Movies: Are We Entering An Age Of Self-Referential Films?

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It’s long been discussed that originality in Hollywood has been dead for quite some time. While the logistics of that statement aren’t entirely true, it’s hard to say that the current film era we’re in is anything but the age of sequels, prequels, reboots, adaptations and spinoffs. In fact, just one look at this year’s summer movie season will only prove this fact as The Avengers, The Amazing Spiderman, The Dark Knight Rises, and Prometheus quickly approach. However, originality isn’t completely dead yet, and two of the best films of the spring season, The Cabin in the Woods and 21 Jump Street, have thrived both critically and popularly thanks to a similar secret weapon: their hyper-meta and self referential screenplays. While Woods is a horror movie and Street a comedy, the two films have been some of the most entertaining movies of the year thus far by embracing their stereotypical plots and characters and using them as items ripe for satirizing, a move that often breathes new life into aging, one-note norms.

The recent success of Street and Woods has enticed me to ask – are we moving into an age of self-referential films? Historically, the idea of self-awareness in film has been around for quite sometime, just look at the character of Indiana Jones for proof  – the adventure hero at the center of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster films (the first released in 1981) was himself a reference and homage to the action heroes of the late 30s/early 40s film serials. With irresistible charm and daring bravery and wit, Harrison Ford was like a young Douglas Fairbanks, and his turn as Indiana Jones was a referential ode to the dashing, charismatic lead men who ruled the box office in the early days of modern cinema. Though minor, Jones’ presence was an early example of self-awareness and proved how turning the tables on a well-known stereotype could result in critical and box office dominance.

Most often, self-awareness turns into flat out parody such as in the films by Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles, The Producers) and Jerry Zucker (Airplane! Naked Gun); these films didn’t just reference stereotypes but they also flat out lampooned them, mocking genres and stock characters to the point of humiliation. Minor self-awareness like that of Indiana Jones continued on too, be it the films of Quentin Tarantino (both volumes of Kill Bill are stuffed with referential odes to both samurai and spaghetti western films) or Wes Craven, who broke barriers with Scream, the first truly great self-aware film that flooded life into the horror genre by mocking the norms that had constricted it for years. However, the self-awareness on display in Woods and Street is of a completely different and original nature in that it’s meta-referential.

To fully explain the term “meta movie” would be extremely difficult, but what makes Woods and Street so unique is that their self-awareness extends far beyond tiny homages that pay tribute to films and trends of the past. Instead of including characters that reference past norms (like Indiana Jones did), these two films ridicule stereotypes by making their own characters aware of the past – that’s what makes them “meta”, the characters are just as aware of the history of trends and stereotypes as we are. In Street for instance, Ice Cube’s vulgar Captain Dickson openly references the “loud mouthed black man stereotype” that he clearly is himself and mocks and criticizes Hollywood’s latest trend of rebooting early TV shows from the 70s and 80s to modern times, the very framework of 21 Jump Street. In Cabin, the same style of self-awareness holds true, as characters find themselves trapped in a “Truman Show” style horror house where two computer agents send tons of horror stereotypes (fully aware of their histories in the genre) to kill the young adults at the ill fated cabin in traditional fashion. To preserve the integrity of each film I don’t want to spoil too much, but the fact of the matter is that the two have used meta-screenplays to enrich their originality.

By being highly referential, Cabin and Street exist outside of their genres and become truly original works of entertainment, the primary reason they’ve been some of the most fun films of the year thus far. By having their characters personally mock and criticize stereotypes and trends that they fit into, the films are able to push themselves away from their genres and become introspective satires of film history. Cabin is so highly self-aware, in fact, that most times it feels like a flat out satire of the horror genre than it does a real movie with relatable characters and intriguing plot developments. By mocking stereotypes so openly, both films help us realize what made the stereotype so funny or terrifying to begin with, what led the stereotype to grow stale, and eventually through rediscovering the stereotype, we, as an audience, begin to appreciate the stereotype in a new original way. In no way are Cabin and Street wholly original movies, but by being so meta-referential, they feel fresh, original, and unique. In the age of sequels, prequels, reboots, adaptations and spinoffs, these two highly meta movies have been breathes of fresh air because they challenge and confront head on the idea that originality is dead by mocking the trends that have led to the death of all things new and creative.

In fact, that’s what so irresistible about Cabin and Street – they’re paving the way for originality in Hollywood. If anything, both films’ self-awareness proves that genres like comedy and horror have been done to death that the only original thing left to do in each genre is to criticize the fact that in each genre originality is pretty much dead. It all may sound confusing, but slow down and think about it, it’s too true! By mocking what once used to be original, these two films are paving the way for a new style of filmmaking, and I wonder if this trend will continue now that critics and audiences alike have rapturously responded to Cabin and Street. I’m just waiting for the first meta-romance or meta-drama to mock and breathe new life into two other genres that have become awfully stale as of late. Can you imagine a meta-romance with characters talking smack about all the sappy clichés of Nicholas Sparks? I can’t wait!

The bottom line is that originality isn’t dead in Hollywood, it’s simply changing to adapt to the era of sequels, prequels, reboots, adaptations and spinoffs. In a year stuffed with superhero follow ups and big budgeted adaptations, The Cabin in the Woods and 21 Jump Street will probably continue to stick out as some of the most entertaining movies of the year thanks to their meta nature – they aren’t just films, but they’re also social commentaries on film history and film stereotypes where characters are just as aware as the audience. By mocking originality, these two films have created originality, and it’s all damn exciting!

Do you agree? Are you also feeling that the age of “meta movies” is upon us? Are you helplessly lost and have no idea what I’m saying? Sound off below!