Killing Hitchcock: Harold Bloom and the Modern Filmmaker | Sam Jennings

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In this long-form conversation, we look at how Harold Bloom’s Anxiety of Influence applies to cinema — and what it might reveal about modern filmmakers.

Bloom argued that strong artists are “born in debt,” and must struggle against the overwhelming presence of their creative fathers. What happens when we apply this idea to movies?

From Alfred Hitchcock to David Lynch, from Paul Thomas Anderson to Quentin Tarantino, we trace how directors wrestle with their influences — escaping them, misreading them, and sometimes swallowing them whole.

We discuss:

Bloom’s concept of “creative misprision”

The idea of artistic “fathers” in film history

Whether originality is still possible

The 90s video store generation of directors

The psychological burden of influence

Cinema as an ongoing act of reinterpretation

Is every filmmaker haunted?

Is influence something to escape — or something to transform?

If you’re interested in film theory, auteur studies, literary criticism, or the philosophy of art, this conversation dives deep into the anxiety at the heart of modern cinema.