Leave liberal Hollywood to the liberals
During the Bush years, Hollywood tried valiantly to do its part by churning out big box-office antiwar movies. It consistently failed. Liberal frustration grew so intense, then-L.A. Times columnist Patrick Goldstein celebrated James Cameron’s sci-fi extravaganza “Avatar” as proof Americans really do like liberal movies with, among other things, antiwar themes. “Avatar,” according to Goldstein, also proved that the global-warming message sells. And yet, after not just “Avatar” but “The Day After Tomorrow,” the remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (not to mention academic and media drum-beating), a 2012 Pew poll found that most Americans still don’t buy that global warming is caused by humans…
There’s a difference between art and propaganda. Outside the art house crowd, liberal agitprop doesn’t sell. Art must work with the expectations and beliefs of the audience. Even though pregnancies are commonplace on TV, you’ll probably never see a hilarious episode of a sitcom in which a character has an abortion — because abortion isn’t funny.
The conservative desire to create a right-wing movie industry is an attempt to mimic a caricature of Hollywood. Any such effort would be a waste of money that would make the Romney campaign seem like a great investment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
He’s got a point. It would be a bizarro-world cargo-cult facsimile of what we think Hollywood is; much like MSNBC is to Fox.
Jeff Weimer on February 20, 2013 at 9:24 PM
Maybe, but the conservative-themed movies I have seen lately have sold like gangbusters.
Count to 10 on February 20, 2013 at 9:27 PM
There doesn’t need to be a conservative version of Hollywood. Making a subculture of art only separates it out and ends up preaching to the choir. It’s like Contemporary Christian music back in the day.
Conservatives simply need to work IN Hollywood just like any other industry and create great art that reflects their values in a natural, artistic way. If you do it through the system that’s there you’ll have a much greater impact in the long run.
MikeknaJ on February 20, 2013 at 9:28 PM
True, but I doubt they were conceived with the idea of “hey, let’s take X idea that’s already used by leftist movie-types and use it on the opposite side of the political spectrum”. They were probably original and well-made movies that appealed to audiences outside of political undertones.
It’s generally a bad proposition to attempt to actively copy someone else’s ideas. A much better way of doing things is to produce ideas that are better than the ones you don’t like.
Atlas on February 20, 2013 at 9:32 PM
I wish our history was available in entertainment format that was accurate because it really is quite interesting and romantic and children are not being taught the truth.
Cindy Munford on February 20, 2013 at 9:39 PM
Atlas Shrugged comes to mind. The first didn’t even recover a quarter of its $20 million budget in box office. For the second one they cut the budget in half and it only made $3.3 million. Even people who watched the first one didn’t bother this time.
Did you forget /s or are we talking conservative alterverse?
lester on February 20, 2013 at 9:49 PM
In Jonah’s defense, “Girls” can’t really be considered a sitcom inasmuch as it is a real-life portrayal on how much females under the age of 30 have degenerated into primitive savages that are barely above the dignity of animals.
Myron Falwell on February 20, 2013 at 9:57 PM
“This Is America, Charlie Brown…”
Myron Falwell on February 20, 2013 at 9:59 PM
I like “1776″ also but I mean more and current. I’m so old that I remember when “Swamp Fox” was exciting.
Cindy Munford on February 20, 2013 at 10:06 PM
Atlas Shrugged looked like one of those horrible made-for-TV movies.
Give me an action-packed movie like The Hunt for Che or a docudrama that documents the crimes of the Left throughout history — something every High School kid has to endure and write reports on.
Horrible made-for-TV movies based on Ayn Rand isn’t as fun as movies that demonizes the Left and indoctrinates the youth to despise the Left.
Punchenko on February 20, 2013 at 10:09 PM
Considering the level of development hell “Atlas” was in for the past 30 years, I’m shocked it was even put into film. Not that I’d watch it, tho.
I generally don’t think that it’s even possible to make a film, or a series of films, that can even accomplish the task of “demonizing the Left.” With the way the Socialists have encroached themselves into casting a pall on every part of our lives and our livelihoods, it wouldn’t be profitable, no studio would want to be involved with it, and no one would see it. Kind of the Catch-22 that “Atlas” found itself mired in…
It can’t work. Not unless you have hundreds of millions to blow on financing production, self-distribution and marketing. Last person I know of who did that (rather successfully, I might add) was Mel Gibson… and look what happened to him…
Myron Falwell on February 20, 2013 at 10:27 PM
Good luck getting through the front door. As Steve Martin once said…
weathermen on February 20, 2013 at 10:44 PM
Most people don’t care about politics. They just want to be entertained.
I don’t even know what the hell a conservative movie is. An entertaining movie is entertaining. If it entertained me, it wasn’t because of the politics. If the politics were that much in-your-face, I was already annoyed anyway because it got in the way of the story.
Some call Gran Torino a conservative movie. I call it Clint Eastwood telling a story well.
Moesart on February 21, 2013 at 12:33 AM
It’s funny, because James Cameron doesn’t understand the movie that he wrote and directed.
Axeman on February 21, 2013 at 8:23 AM