Jerry Seinfeld says that movies have lost their relevance in culture and society.

The comic-actor, 69, speaking to GQ magazine Monday in promotion of his debut as a film director with Netflix film Unfrosted, mused on what he felt was a lost relevance in Hollywood amid a lessened impact with its current slate of silver screen offerings.

‘Film doesn’t occupy the pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy that it did for most of our lives,’ the Brooklyn, New York native said. ‘When a movie came out, if it was good, we all went to see it. We all discussed it. We quoted lines and scenes we liked.

‘Now we’re walking through a fire hose of water, just trying to see.’

The Emmy-winning star said he feels ‘confusion’ and ‘disorientation’ have ‘replaced the movie business,’ citing his personal interactions with entertainment industry people.

The Seinfeld star said: ‘Everyone I know in show business, every day, is going, “What’s going on? How do you do this? What are we supposed to do now?”‘

Seinfeld stars as Bob Cabana in the biographical film about the creation of the Pop-Tart in the early 1960s.

He is joined in the period piece by a number of stars, including Amy Schumer, Christian Slater, Hugh Grant, Sarah Cooper, Peter Dinklage, Jim Gaffigan, Fred Armisen, Bill Burr and Melissa McCarthy, among others.

Seinfeld said of the filmmaking process: ‘It was totally new to me. I thought I had done some cool stuff, but it was nothing like the way these people work. They’re so dead serious!

‘They don’t have any idea that the movie business is over. They have no idea.’

Seinfeld said that he’s ‘done enough stuff’ in his career that he has his ‘own thing’ separate from the movie business, ‘which is more valuable than it’s ever been.’

Seinfeld opened up on the contemporary status of comedy, where he got his start.

‘Stand-up is like you’re a cabinetmaker, and everybody needs a guy who’s good with wood,’ he said. ‘There’s trees everywhere, but to make a nice table, it’s not so easy. So, the metaphor is that if you have good craft and craftsmanship, you’re kind of impervious to the whims of the industry.’

Seinfeld said modern ‘audiences are now flocking to stand-up because it’s something you can’t fake,’ whereas other facets of entertainment have a sheen of production over them.

‘It’s like platform diving,’ Seinfeld said. ‘You could say you’re a platform diver, but in two seconds we can see if you are or you aren’t. That’s what people like about stand-up. They can trust it. Everything else is fake.’

Seinfeld’s remarks sparked a number of spirited responses on social media, both agreeing and detracting from his message.

One user noted, ‘Oh, yes. One of cinema greatest auteurs… Jerry Seinfeld from the Bee movie…’

Another asked: ‘So why did he make a movie about Poptarts? I certainly don’t think he’s going to revive them with that compelling subject.’

One user said that while they ‘adore’ Jerry Seinfeld, his take on contemporary cinema ‘is so wrong,’ the summer blockbuster Barbie ‘alone kills this argument stone dead.’

The user added: ‘If anything, because of social media, movies are ruling the world more than ever. The money movies make these days is astonishing. And many iconic movies have come out this century alone.’

Another user with experience teaching and studying movies said they agreed with Seinfeld on his point, citing changes at the theater in the four years since the coronavirus pandemic.

‘The last “cultural wave” film I can name is “Avengers: Endgame,”‘ the user said. ‘I don’t see anything being that ubiquitous in the new post-COVID culture.’

One user noted that ‘Jerry Seinfeld might be right’ in his thoughts on the movie industry, pointing toward the proliferation of tentpole franchises and other factors.

‘When you have business suits and middle men over saturating the industry, making the budgets overblown, never taking risks and only doing rehash of old IP…what you expect was gonna happen?’ the user said. 

The user continued: ‘While at the same time having the movies being made by the same writers every time that are more interested in what message or activism they can put in the media instead of a good story.

‘People complain about AI but maybe it’ll open some opportunities for new people to come in and make stories like they used to. Also while making it easier to create something with higher quality on a lower budget.’

Unfrosted is set to debut on Netflix May 3.