Dispatches From the Konservetkult

[marmar]

Dispatches From the Konservetkult

Today's members of the right-wing culture patrol see ideological subtext everywhere they look.

Brad Reed and Roy Edroso | August 8, 2007 | web only



Given the recent renaissance of overtly political films, it was inevitable that we would also have a renaissance of overtly political film commentary, especially with blogs acting as a force multiplier. It's easy to understand why blogospheric debates would rage over whether Michael Moore lies (as MooreLies.com contends) or hates America (as MichaelMooreHatesAmerica.com contends).
But you might wonder what the political angle would be for, say, Knocked Up. Or 300. Or the new Harry Potter movie, or the old Chevy Chase chestnut Fletch, or comic book movies ...

Well, wonder no more -- welcome to the right-wing school of movie criticism! In this burgeoning genre, the sort of stuff that concerns ordinary critics -- characters, dialogue, cinematography -- pale in importance when compared to a film's potential to further right-wing political goals. Much like the Proletkult of the early Soviet Union that filtered all art through the lens of Marxism, today's Konservetkult sees ideological subtext in everything they watch.

Take, for example, 300. Did you think its opening-weekend success was due to its dazzling comic-book violence and histrionics? Not so, says Victor Davis Hanson of National Review, who explained that its financial triumph really represented a national reaction to the moral degeneracy of our time. "There is a great yearning among the public," he intoned, "for just a small, rare chance to see some issue presented in terms other than moral ambiguity." He cited "the Iranian hostage taking" of British sailors at the time of the film's release as another factor in its financial victory. One wonders why he did not make the same claim for the following weekend's box-office champ: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Hanson isn't alone in his desire to see hit films converted to the conservative cause, of course. Libertas, the blog sponsored by the right-wing Liberty Film Festival, makes a mission of finding the political talking points in loud summer blockbusters. "The films politics are decidedly pro-American, pro-military, and even *gasp* pro-freedom," says one review at Libertas. " affection for the American military is obvious in every scene they're in. They are uniformly portrayed as heroic, extremely competent, selfless, and even kind to Arab children. The theme of the film is spoken out loud more than once: No sacrifice, no victory." Which film is he talking about? Why, the robot smash-'em-up Transformers, of course. Of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Libertas reported, "The bottom line is that Harry's readying his troops for war here. The word 'war' is even used. They're going to fight evil even if the Democ– er … Ministry of Magic won't." At Libertas, every popcorn clash of Good and Evil has some relevance to the War on Terror, whether the combatants use guns, magic wands, or overgrown Hasbro dolls. ....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=dispatches_from_the_ikonservetkult/i

[Demeter]

1. Show Me One Woman Who Wants to Recreate Ancient Sparta

and I'll show you a very sick woman.

[Blue_Tires]

2. 300 was overflowing with inaccuracies and hokey dialogue

don't bother trying to explain that to the 14-year-olds that loved it....