I'm not advocating for any sort of prescriptive definition of art, obviously. There are certainly lots of ways to talk about art, and in many respects the Marve

I'm not advocating for any sort of prescriptive definition of art, obviously. There are certainly lots of ways to talk about art, and in many respects the Marvel movies meet the definition. But just as it would be absurd to be totalitarian about the definition art, it would be absurd to suggest that The Avengers 12 or whatever is identical to, for instance, Cinema Paradiso, and that there isn't something in the latter film that is missing from the former. From there its not a leap to ask broader questions about what sorts of films dominate popular culture and whether that state of affairs is good or not. This is a discussion of art, and thus the human condition. We're unlikely to find anything like a concrete conclusion. But its note futile either.