By: Jason Ivey
Tea Party Tribune
In the wake of ‘The Undefeated’s’ financial fizzle at the box office (this was the Sarah Palin documentary), Christian Toto begged the question at Daily Caller and Big Hollywood that puzzles conservative movie lovers every time an ‘Atlas Shrugged’ or ‘American Carol’ passes in and out of the box office system with nary a whimper: why don’t conservatives support conservative movies?
Mr. Toto found possible explanations in sub-par production values and lackluster acting, but added these faults don’t stop trashy juggernauts like ‘The Hangover 2,’ nor does it explain the relative success of religious-oriented fare.
If I understand Mr. Toto correctly, and this is not a criticism, he seems to be less interested in finding an answer than in lightly reprimanding conservatives for their failure to get out and vote with their wallets. “If we don’t support this stuff…” he prodded. I would agree that the box office receipts for ‘Atlas Shrugged’ and ‘The Undefeated’ are unlikely to force studio executives to sit up straight in their armchairs and exclaim: “My God, what have we been doing?”
My theory is this: conservatives don’t like overtly political movies. We conservatives, by our very natures, don’t like politics and only participate, not out of an ideological desire to change the world, but in defense of life, liberty and Western Civilization and all it has provided. Politics is a necessary evil, not a way of life.
Perhaps the reason conservatives have been underrepresented in areas like media, entertainment and government for so long is due to people of this nature simply living their lives, working their way up the proverbial ladder and raising families – not attempting to alter the fabric of society through ideological influence on a mass scale. When we do seek distinctly conservative media content, we tend to find it in the form of talk radio and the written word, probably because the philosophical content is more suited to contemplative thought, whereas film and music are more emotion-based mediums.
Judging by box office receipts, liberals in large numbers don’t seem to like overtly political movies either. For instance, Hollywood seems to make far more anti-war movies than the ticket-buying public is willing to support. 2009’s Best Picture winner, ‘The Hurt Locker,’ grossed only $17 million domestically, finishing behind 115 other movies that year and other left-wing anti-war films like ‘Lions for Lambs’ and ‘Stop-Loss’ also tanked in recent years when comic book and fantasy franchises have flourished. However, Michael Moore’s documentaries and others of this ilk tend to find an audience in a way liberal talk radio never has.
Conservatives actually do support conservative movies and have always done so. Adjusted for inflation, the top 20 all-time grossing movies list includes all three original Star Wars movies, ‘Gone with the Wind,’ ‘The Sound of Music,’ ‘The Ten Commandments,’ ‘Ben-Hur,’ ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ ‘Snow White,’ and ‘101 Dalmatians.’ Looking at the top 30, you’ll find more recent conservative favorites like ‘Forrest Gump’ and ‘The Dark Knight.’ While these wouldn’t necessarily all be considered “conservative” movies, and wouldn’t be considered political, most possess the classic good vs. evil storyline, and are for the most part life-affirming and extolling of traditional Western values. Movies like ‘Avatar,’ with its environmental agenda, are the exception, not the rule. In recent years, movies like ‘Gran Torino’ have enjoyed large success at the box office, despite being ignored by liberal award committees and ‘The Lives of Others’ topped National Review’s 2009 list of all-time conservative movies for good reason. For every liberal classic favorite like ‘Inherit the Wind,’ there are a dozen with values more closely resembling a movie like ‘Patton.’
Many, if not most, of the movies on the all-time list that would qualify as wholesome, pro-American or pro-Western Civilization entertainment, were undoubtedly produced by, written by, directed by and starred in by self-professed liberals. Perhaps some of them are confused or conflicted liberals, or perhaps they were just giving the middle-brow bourgeoisie what they wanted. It’s more likely, however, that universal truths have always been and will always be popular with the largest numbers of people. These types of stories are simply more inspiring to tell and more exhilarating to watch.
And just as conservatives and liberals can both agree Nazis are bad, there are certain undeniable, objective truths that liberals who seek truth cannot ignore, no matter how hard they try. Whether they’re animated features like the ‘Toy Story’ series or adolescent fantasies like ‘Harry Potter,’ there’s a humanity clearly evident in these most successful of franchises. Wholesome, family-friendly films may not be considered distinctly conservative, but they tend to do very well at the box office and tend to appeal to conservative sensibilities.
We can quibble with lists like National Review’s and conservatives and liberals can both find interpretations or read into movies that seem to suit their worldviews. The bottom line is that message movies, and certainly movies made purely for the coastal elite crowd, flounder far more often than not. Older, left-wing message movies like ‘Coming Home’ and ‘The China Syndrome,’ or really anything starring a Fonda, seem naïve and dated when viewed 30, 40 or 50 years later. Most of the traditionally wholesome movies on the all-time list, however, maintain a sense of timelessness and many of these are still widely popular today and get rediscovered and loved by new generations of fans.
Conservatives have always rewarded well-made films that don’t offend their sensibilities and have turned movies that celebrate the goodness of individuals and the best of our values into all-time classics. These movies possess the ability to entertain and captivate, often in their portrayal of basic human decency in the face of various forms of evil.
After all, despite who made it, we conservatives crave something life-affirming and good in our art and entertainment and we will usually reward them with our wallets.
