Oh boy, here goes:
I was wondering what people’s thoughts were on the topic of conservatism in film, examples of it, and if it exists today and if so is it more concealed or subtly hinted at or is it outwardly explicit?
What got me thinking about this was several things. The first of which is that I have off-and-on for the past few years or so listened to several film/movie podcasts on Spotify. One of them is “Classic Movie Musts” which often featured the late great film scholar and teacher Ted Walch and another is The Cine-Files with John Rocha and Steven Morris. On both of these podcasts it is not uncommon for them to review films that touch upon political themes or ideas in which case it is clear, as they express, liberal leaning viewpoints, which is perfectly fine. There are a handful of other podcasts, etc that I’ve listened to over the past couple years too that have taken it almost for granted that most of their audience shares a similar left of center view of the world. I assume that's not the case - I imagine there are some, maybe not as many, film buffs and critics who aren't liberal or are at least center on the political spectrum.
It’s no secret that Hollywood is perceived as being very liberal, and maybe those views are somewhat exaggerated, however it is well documented through activism by many in Hollywood and voting habits that Democrats are far, far, far more vocal at least. This can be clear from everything from award ceremonies to late night TV to public statements made after tragic events like shootings which are unfortunately often politicized.
Something else that got me to thinking about this is how I have watched several Bob Hope films lately and he makes several digs at Democrats in those movies. I was slightly aware that he was a Republican, but it didn’t really connect or click until I heard his little aside jokes aimed at Democrats that are sprinkled throughout his films.
Since I’ve subscribed to Criterion online in the past month or two, I’ve been catching up on some lesser-canonized Cary Grant films including Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream Home and Holiday. In the former film there’s a running joke about his daughter’s liberal teacher and in Holiday he perfectly delivers a zinger regarding taxes and how the government just likes to take our money. Subsequently I looked it up and was surprised to see that Cary Grant was a Republican.
Three critically acclaimed films of the past decade or so that I’ve watched of late (all three will likely be on our top 100 films of the 2010’s countdown) which, regardless of the filmmaker’s and writer’s intent (I admittedly don’t know what it was) that could with little effort be interpreted as pro-life are The Arrival (2016), A Quiet Place, and Locke. Spoiler alerts - in The Arrival Amy Adams’ character chooses to have a child, but suffer regardless knowing that the child will die from an incurable disease, in A Quiet Place Emily Blunt and John Krasinski chose to have a child at great risks to themselves AND in fact design a whole structure in which to quietly have the child and care for it - knowing the world as it is (this spits in the face of a common pro-choice argument about not bringing children into a toxic and painful world), and finally Locke in which a man (Tom Hardy) has an affair, but still wants her to have the baby and travels two hours at great risk to his family and career to see his illegitimate child born.
Those are three very recent highly critically acclaimed films that I thought up that have very pro-life and conservative subtext. Of course we know about John Wayne and Charlton Heston from years long gone, but is conservatism still alive in Hollywood or, and I’m reminded of one of my all time favorite documentaries, The Celluloid Closet , which I absolutely love) have conservatives gone "into the closet" for fear of losing their careers and being branded and ostracized in the business? Just like the days of old when LGBTQ+ were discriminated against and how writers and directors had to sneak that stuff into films, is conservatism like this today? It is a topic I’d like to explore openly on the forums with the conversation staying professional and respectful and non-incendiary. And, as a couple of you know, full disclosure I have been a registered Republican since I first voted in the 2000 election and am a conservative despite having some very libertarian leaning views - this has always made me feel a bit of an outcast as a film lover and in my chosen profession of teaching English for 14 years up until a couple of years ago when I was pushed out and lost my career.
I was wondering what people’s thoughts were on the topic of conservatism in film, examples of it, and if it exists today and if so is it more concealed or subtly hinted at or is it outwardly explicit?
What got me thinking about this was several things. The first of which is that I have off-and-on for the past few years or so listened to several film/movie podcasts on Spotify. One of them is “Classic Movie Musts” which often featured the late great film scholar and teacher Ted Walch and another is The Cine-Files with John Rocha and Steven Morris. On both of these podcasts it is not uncommon for them to review films that touch upon political themes or ideas in which case it is clear, as they express, liberal leaning viewpoints, which is perfectly fine. There are a handful of other podcasts, etc that I’ve listened to over the past couple years too that have taken it almost for granted that most of their audience shares a similar left of center view of the world. I assume that's not the case - I imagine there are some, maybe not as many, film buffs and critics who aren't liberal or are at least center on the political spectrum.
It’s no secret that Hollywood is perceived as being very liberal, and maybe those views are somewhat exaggerated, however it is well documented through activism by many in Hollywood and voting habits that Democrats are far, far, far more vocal at least. This can be clear from everything from award ceremonies to late night TV to public statements made after tragic events like shootings which are unfortunately often politicized.
Something else that got me to thinking about this is how I have watched several Bob Hope films lately and he makes several digs at Democrats in those movies. I was slightly aware that he was a Republican, but it didn’t really connect or click until I heard his little aside jokes aimed at Democrats that are sprinkled throughout his films.
Since I’ve subscribed to Criterion online in the past month or two, I’ve been catching up on some lesser-canonized Cary Grant films including Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream Home and Holiday. In the former film there’s a running joke about his daughter’s liberal teacher and in Holiday he perfectly delivers a zinger regarding taxes and how the government just likes to take our money. Subsequently I looked it up and was surprised to see that Cary Grant was a Republican.
Three critically acclaimed films of the past decade or so that I’ve watched of late (all three will likely be on our top 100 films of the 2010’s countdown) which, regardless of the filmmaker’s and writer’s intent (I admittedly don’t know what it was) that could with little effort be interpreted as pro-life are The Arrival (2016), A Quiet Place, and Locke. Spoiler alerts - in The Arrival Amy Adams’ character chooses to have a child, but suffer regardless knowing that the child will die from an incurable disease, in A Quiet Place Emily Blunt and John Krasinski chose to have a child at great risks to themselves AND in fact design a whole structure in which to quietly have the child and care for it - knowing the world as it is (this spits in the face of a common pro-choice argument about not bringing children into a toxic and painful world), and finally Locke in which a man (Tom Hardy) has an affair, but still wants her to have the baby and travels two hours at great risk to his family and career to see his illegitimate child born.
Those are three very recent highly critically acclaimed films that I thought up that have very pro-life and conservative subtext. Of course we know about John Wayne and Charlton Heston from years long gone, but is conservatism still alive in Hollywood or, and I’m reminded of one of my all time favorite documentaries, The Celluloid Closet , which I absolutely love) have conservatives gone "into the closet" for fear of losing their careers and being branded and ostracized in the business? Just like the days of old when LGBTQ+ were discriminated against and how writers and directors had to sneak that stuff into films, is conservatism like this today? It is a topic I’d like to explore openly on the forums with the conversation staying professional and respectful and non-incendiary. And, as a couple of you know, full disclosure I have been a registered Republican since I first voted in the 2000 election and am a conservative despite having some very libertarian leaning views - this has always made me feel a bit of an outcast as a film lover and in my chosen profession of teaching English for 14 years up until a couple of years ago when I was pushed out and lost my career.
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"A candy colored clown!"
Member since Fall 2002
Top 100 Films, clicky below
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"A candy colored clown!"
Member since Fall 2002
Top 100 Films, clicky below
http://www.movieforums.com/community...ad.php?t=26201
Last edited by iluv2viddyfilms; 12-29-22 at 10:47 PM.
Reason: proofreading fixes