Examining the human condition without X-ray vision

Jodie Foster, accomplished producer, director and actor, isn’t impressed with the fare generally available at the local multiplex. Noting the film industry’s current infatuation with superheroes, she complained last week to Radio Times Magazine that “going to the movies has become like a theme park.”

Continuing: “Studios making bad content in order to appeal to the masses and shareholders is like fracking — you get the best return right now but you wreck the earth.”

Anyone who criticizes popular taste immediately makes herself a target for charges of high-browed snobbery, which is precisely what happened to Foster. Some called her “old-fashioned,” others argued that superhero movies aren’t necessarily as “soulless” as she suggests and one critic asks, “what’s wrong with a little escapism?”

And, after all, movie-making is a business. The movies that studios can afford to make are generally obliged to reflect the taste of the viewing public. And the studios seem to be getting it right: among the top 10 on IMDb’s list of topgrossing movies for 2017 are “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” “Wonder Woman,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Justice League.”

Still, maybe Foster has a point. The top-10 list implies considerably more than a “little escapism.” And, with TV, Netflix, Hulu, sports, videogames, binge-watching, alcohol, marijuana and opioids, maybe escapism is getting a bit out of hand.

In one of the less-populated theaters at your multiplex you may find “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” Critics liked this movie, but on IMDb’s list of top-grossing films, it can be found at about No. 82.

In “Three Billboards” Mildred ( Frances McDormand) posts said billboards to spur the local sheriff ( Woody Harrelson) into a more vigorous investigation of the rape and murder of her daughter, a vicious, random crime that Mildred feels has been ignored and forgotten.

There are no superheroes in “Three Billboards.” The evil forces of the universe aren’t vanquished or even identified. It’s a dark, ambiguous, very human tale about what ordinary people do in response to unspeakable violence. Its excellent acting, good writing and dark humor raise complicated questions about guilt, revenge and justice.

Here’s another nonsuperhero film: Woody Allen’s “Wonder Wheel.” I’m going out on a limb to recommend this one. Many critics didn’t like it much, but some of the reviews may have been colored by Allen’s private life.

But art has at least some right to stand apart from the artist. “Wonder Wheel” is not Allen’s best work, but it’s serious, competent storytelling set against the backdrop of our complicated human condition.

Ginny (Kate Winslet) is a clam house waitress whose bad choices condemn her to a fraught marriage to an alcoholic carny named Humpty (Jim Belushi) in a noisy, dying Coney Island. She has an affair with a hunky lifeguard (Justin Timberlake) that reminds her of her prior aspirations. Things get complicated when Humpty’s gorgeous daughter (Juno Temple) shows up and immediately catches the lifeguard’s eye.

Neither Ginny nor Mildred (of “Three Billboards”) is Wonder Woman. Neither encounters and destroys the evil forces of the universe. But they are very human heroes in their own right who struggle with humanity’s primary dilemma: the ambiguities, doubts and uncertainties that reside in the human heart.

Of course, the American viewing public is not likely to suddenly abandon the escapism of superhero movies, nor should it be expected to; they have their merits, and we all need to occasionally “escape.”

But the best art, literature, music and film are meant to be escapes from ordinary life, as well; it’s just that when you come back home to “real life,” you’re able to bring along with you something that may help you make a little more sense of it.