The Triangle of Cinematic Capitalism

Alright so I’m probably reaching here, but I think I’ve noticed a new phenomenon occurring in recent cinema: it’s trying to sell us shoes.

Hollywood’s capitalistic drive is no secret and in the last twenty years we’ve seen big budget releases gradually shift from imaginative pieces of storytelling to culturally influencing brand promotions. We’ve gone from a smattering of product placement in our stories to a smattering of story in our feature length adverts. Having suffered a recent slew of biopics celebrating American values with Tetris, Flamin' Hot and Air, we’re now getting animated movies (aimed predominantly at children, no less) that are clearly designed with the brand in mind: Super Mario Bros posed as a nostalgic homage to a classic videogame but really served to advertise upcoming Nintendo releases.

What I’m saying is that the medium of cinema is increasingly becoming a marketing tool over anything else. More and more creative direction in modern writing is going to marketing execs and data analysts rather than writers and storytellers. It’s nothing new, I know, but it’s reached such a brazen point now that it’s like the film industry is rubbing it in our faces, daring us to say it’s not so.

Given all this, I have become suspicious of a new, more subtle plan at work. Watching Across The Spider-Verse last week, three tropes stood out to me as focus points that are reoccurring across recent releases. Three things that are becoming, much like the original pillars of Hip-hop, the three pillars of modern cinema. Thus I propose, the triangle of cinematic capitalism:

1. Music (Hip-hop)

2. Basketball

3. Nike shoes

Yeah it’s a stretch, but these three overlapping motifs seem to be taking an increasingly prominent role in cinema.

Let’s start with music. Music is of course integral to cinema, but contemorary Hip-hop is taking over. J Cole and Dreamville were on the Creed 3 soundtrack, NBA Youngboy, NLE Choppa and Lil Durk on Fast X, and Metro Boomin responsible for the entire album that made up the music for Across the Spider-Verse. For the artists it’s a great opportunity to promote upcoming projects, but its become the case that movie soundtracks in modern releases aren’t complete without a tough trap beat and familiar voice rapping or singing.

Basketball is slightly more ephemeral. The game is frequently mentioned in Hip-hop, and courtside seats have forever been a who’s who of the music and film industries. It’s not been long since we had Lebron’s version of Space Jam, a remake of classic basketball movie White Men Can’t Jump just dropped on Hulu, (starring rapper Jack Harlow) and Across the Spider-Verse saw Miles Morales wearing a jersey of Knicks colours. Both these releases happened the same time the NBA playoffs were taking place. This said, I find it hard to believe that the film industry is trying to bring more attention to the NBA.

So what is achieved by promoting this specific area of modern culture? Is there something a foot here, or are we just swinging back to 90s trends again? Well, that brings us to the final pillar, the point of the pyramid: Nike. What, stylistically do rappers and ball players have in common? Shoes. Air of course needs no explanation. White Men Can’t Jump was a Jordans exhibition on the screen, and Nike have announced the second pair of Spiderman inspired J’s styled on the shoes that appear in the Spider-Verse movies. By leaning into the culture that surrounds basketball, hip-hop and the Jordan legacy in film, Nike have cast an genius web of invisible self promotion.

Maybe I’m paranoid and reading way too much into all this, but I want to know what specific role Nike as a corporation are playing in Hollywood and how much influence they have in the film industry. Are producers just jumping on trends, or is there a truly insidious attempt to popularise specific areas of modern culture for the explicit purpose of selling shoes?

Lets talk about it.