Brit Marling Blames The OA Cancellation On Capitalism

In a rather strange and weird Instagram post, the creator of The OA, Brit Marling, goes on a radical rant about the cancellation of the series, going so far as to blame capitalism for the show’s demise, that sounds like some sort of manifesto.

Long story short, Season 2 recently aired on Netflix, which ended with a huge cliff hanger, but Netflix announced the cancellation of The OA a few months later, much to the disappointment of many fans who have been campaigning for the series to return.

“Your words and images move us deeply. Not because the show must continue, but because for some people its unexpected cancelation begs larger questions about the role of storytelling and its fate inside late capitalism’s push toward consolidation and economies of scale,” Marling posted Friday on Instagram.

“The more news I take on of the world, the more I often feel terrifyingly certain that we are on the brink of moral and ecological collapse,” she said.

Brit Marling continues with her weird tirade and even says that HBO’s Tony Soprano from The Sopranos is a hero of capitalism (though he is a mob boss who murders people and arguably has a mental disorder).

“Almost every story we’ve ever watched, read, been told, held sacred is framed in a single structural form: the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey is one man with one goal who goes up against increasing obstacles to win his objective and return to his people with the wisdom needed for all the movie forward, to ‘progress,’” Marling posted with comparisons to Homer’s Odyssey and Star Wars. “It sallies forth lately with anti-heroes like the beloved Tony Soprano (who, even while doing what we all know to be wrong, is still a hero and the perfect one for late capitalism).”

Marling continues ranting about climate change, stuff seeming bat-sh-t crazy, the gaps between haves and have-nots, being overdue for new mythologies, stories that “illustrate the power of collective protagonism,” forming some sort of movement, and on, and on, and on.

Brit Marling isn’t done yet complaining about evil capitalism as the writer and star of The OA says she went to visit a bunch of fans who were picketing the Netflix offices and while giving a fan a bottle of water, the fan said she was protesting capitalism as well.

“The other day Zal and I pulled over to offer a bottle of water and food to a young woman who has been protesting the cancelation of the shown on a street corner in Hollywood,” Marling wrote. “As we were leaving she said, ‘you know, what I’m really protesting is late capitalism.’ And then she said something that I haven’t been able to forget since: ‘Algorithms aren’s as smart as we are. They cannot account for love.’ Her words not mine. And the story keeps going inside them.”

Capitalism to blame for The Oa cancellation or Brit Marling?

Note: “Late capitalism” is a catchall phrase and term being used by the left to describe everything wrong with our country and economy, and it is also a word coined by supporters of Karl Marx. Marling pushes the blame off herself (sound familiar) and on capitalism.

Regarding what Brit Marling has to say about The Oa begin canceled by capitalism, I suppose that is true, as Netflix is in the business to make money and not give hand-outs, but I would actually argue “capitalism” isn’t too blame for the show getting the boot, but the writing.

I am betting that The Oa had lots of views for its first episode, but not many after, as that is exactly what happened with my own experience. I found the first episode to be absolutely awful as there was nothing to hook me in, which, I think, is the major problem with the show. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the show a lot once I watched it, which was only because of world-of-mouth as my friends told me to stick with it, and I would like a Season 3, but to blame the cancellation on capitalism is outright laughable.

I would argue we have capitalism to thank for The Oa as without it we wouldn’t have something like a Netflix to begin with. Without competition, we would still be stuck in the dark ages watching network or cable TV with all its cruddy shows and commercials. Netflix came about and was a complete game-changer, and it is a platform that gives shows like The Oa an opportunity to shine, while the networks of old would never have given The Oa a chance. 

So is Netflix to blame? No. I would argue that Brit Marling is more to blame as the writing is a bit shoddy in parts (cop leaves his gun on table only to get himself and his wife shot by it; Hap gets bunched in the face by Homer and then gets shot in the back; Rachel stabs Hap but not in the neck and gets her own neck snapped and dies, etc.). In addition, it takes a good four episodes or more to really get into the series, something most Netflix users won’t be willing to do. The show really blew it by having no hook within the first episode or two (or four).

Since Marling is such a staunch opponent of capitalism – Marling the daughter of property developers who graduated from Georgetown University and interned for the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs as an investment analyst, and who moved to California and joined a group of “freegans” with friend and co-worker Zal Batmanglij, living in tents and retrieving food from dumpsters to explore how other young people were constructing a meaningful life (via wiki) – how about she and her Hollywood cronies, which includes executive producer Brad Pitt, do the show for free and pony up the cost for The Oa Season 3 themselves?

Now, what chance will that ever happen in our universe or another? A fat one is my guess.

Maybe it’s for the best that The Oa is just that — away.