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Talk:Essay:Greatest Conservative Movies (view source)
Revision as of 23:20, November 10, 2018
, 23:20, November 10, 2018Some more suggestions
I was thinking of adding the movie Songs of the South by Disney (which unfortunately thanks to race-baiters can't be watched other than via bootleg, which is a shame, as Uncle Remus actually seemed like a very good role model for his race), which effectively acted as an adaptation of the Uncle Remus stories. Problem is, I'm not entirely sure where to place it due to the split between live-action and animated films. After all, Songs of the South technically has elements of both, so I can't exactly place it in one category only. [[User:Pokeria1|Pokeria1]] ([[User talk:Pokeria1|talk]]) 10:12, 30 October 2018 (EDT)
I was thinking of adding the movie Songs of the South by Disney (which unfortunately thanks to race-baiters can't be watched other than via bootleg, which is a shame, as Uncle Remus actually seemed like a very good role model for his race), which effectively acted as an adaptation of the Uncle Remus stories. Problem is, I'm not entirely sure where to place it due to the split between live-action and animated films. After all, Songs of the South technically has elements of both, so I can't exactly place it in one category only. [[User:Pokeria1|Pokeria1]] ([[User talk:Pokeria1|talk]]) 10:12, 30 October 2018 (EDT)
== A suggestion ==
== Some suggestions ==
A suggestion:
A suggestion:
- '''The Aviator''' (2004) - yes, it is directed by Martin Scorsese, whose films are often quite violent and include a lot of profanity, but this film is almost entirely free of both and seems to advance a conservative agenda. It is a biopic that lauds the life of Howard Hughes (a Republican and supporter of Richard Nixon), portraying him as exemplifying American values of commerce, vision and entrepreneurialism. Hughes is a tragic figure who struggles with mental illness, obsessive-compulsive disorder and politically-motivated and fabricated allegations of war profiteering (which were levied against him by the corrupt senator Owen Brewster, who was formerly associated with the Ku Klux Klan). Despite never overcoming his mental illness, Hughes does manage to expose Brewster's corruption and double-dealing - a victory for an individualist, capitalist entrepreneur against bureaucratic government authority and cronyism. The film also portrays left-wing actress Katherine Hepburn in a negative light, ironically juxtaposing her belief in socialism with the luxurious life she enjoys in the New York 'jet set' (a 'champagne socialist'), and depicting how she treats Hughes coldly and abandons him when his obsessive-compulsive disorder worsens. - [[User:LibertyMatters]] 17:29, 06 November 2018 (GMT)
- '''The Aviator''' (2004) - yes, it is directed by Martin Scorsese, whose films are often quite violent and include a lot of profanity, but this film is almost entirely free of both and seems to advance a conservative agenda. It is a biopic that lauds the life of Howard Hughes (a Republican and supporter of Richard Nixon), portraying him as exemplifying American values of commerce, vision and entrepreneurialism. Hughes is a tragic figure who struggles with mental illness, obsessive-compulsive disorder and politically-motivated and fabricated allegations of war profiteering (which were levied against him by the corrupt senator Owen Brewster, who was formerly associated with the Ku Klux Klan). Despite never overcoming his mental illness, Hughes does manage to expose Brewster's corruption and double-dealing - a victory for an individualist, capitalist entrepreneur against bureaucratic government authority and cronyism. The film also portrays left-wing actress Katherine Hepburn in a negative light, ironically juxtaposing her belief in socialism with the luxurious life she enjoys in the New York 'jet set' (a 'champagne socialist'), and depicting how she treats Hughes coldly and abandons him when his obsessive-compulsive disorder worsens. - [[User:LibertyMatters]] 17:29, 06 November 2018 (GMT)
In fact, I have a couple more suggestions now:
- '''The Hunt for Red October''' (1990) - an atmospheric and tense thriller about a Soviet naval captain trying to defect to America during the Cold War. The film overall has a very positive view of America as an oasis of freedom, with the Soviet officers desperate to escape the totalitarian communist police state - one of the Soviets is surprised when he learns that in America, unlike in Soviet Russia, one is allowed to travel between states, a vivid illustration of just how repressive the USSR must have been. Based on a thriller by conservative author Tom Clancy.
- '''Inception''' (2010) - Christopher Nolan, who directed this well-received science fiction film about lucid dreaming, is considered one of the most conservative Hollywood directors (he directed the war film Dunkirk, which already appears on this list). Inception at first appears a completely apolitical film, but some reviewers have pointed out a subtle but definite Christian allegory at play here.
Buckle up, because this one - as befits a complex film - is a complicated one. But I really don't think I'm reading more into it than is actually there, and plenty of people have pointed this out. Spoilers are very much coming up, too, as a warning.
A quick précis of the plot - Cobb, the main character, is an 'extractor', who performs corporate espionage by attempting to infiltrate the subconscious of targets while they are dreaming and extract information. He has been hired by Saito, an unscrupulous businessman, to perform an act of 'inception' - placing the germ of an idea in someone's subconsciousness. In return, Saito will clear Cobb of a (false) murder charge and allow him to come back home to his children in America.
To embed an idea in someone's subconsciousness, it requires creating a 'dream within a dream within a dream' and embedding the idea deep within the bottom layer so that the person will not reject it as foreign. The way to wake up from a deeper dream layer into the one above it is to die in that layer (the idea that we have to die to wake up should suggest where this might be going). But there is also the possibility of getting lost in 'limbo' - a world so deep in the subconscious that the dreamer can construct the entire world with their own mind, and risks forgetting they are in a dream at all. Cobb, as is revealed later on, was once trapped in limbo with his now-deceased wife Mal, who spent years in limbo (the equivalent of hours in the real world) constructing a world out of their own memories.
The film opens with a shot of a fake vision of Cobb's children in Limbo, who are building sandcastles on a beach. It ends with a shot of Cobb reunited with his real children, James and Philippa (both named after Christian apostles), who, in the final line of dialogue in the film, say that they are building a house 'on the cliff.' Some reviewers have puzzled over the meaning of this line. To me, it's pretty clear. The film is bracketed by the two halves of the parable of the wise and foolish builders (Matthew 7:24).
What does this mean in context? It means that limbo is identified with the mortal world, where the foolish builders construct their lives on materialism rather than faith. In limbo, people have the power to use their imagination to make the world whatever they want it to be, as Cobb and Mal did for years - but none of it is real, it is just a figment of the subconscious. Near the end of the film, Cobb encounters a subconscious projection of Mal (malevolent?), who tries to persuade him to stay with her in limbo - not on the grounds that it is real, but that "you don't believe in anything anymore." Cobb rejects this materialistic relativism, in favour of an affirmation in the objective reality that his children do exist in the real world, 'up above' - in other words, he repudiates the temptation to live in a faithless world where mankind sets himself up as all-powerful and can build whatever he wants, instead having faith in the idea that there's something more real and meaningful than this.
The film is thus metaphorical. Cobb starts as essentially a glorified thief, obsessed with the idea of 'buying his way home' back to his children through his deal with Saito. Having failed to get his way into heaven (which, for him, is a return to his children) this way, he takes a leap of faith. He rejects Mal's temptation, refuses to use violence against a character who betrays the team, and risks his life to save that of Saito (who is in danger of getting lost in limbo). After this act of self-sacrifice, he dives into a river (a metaphorical baptism promising both death and rebirth), wakes up in reality on a plane, passes through immigration and customs (a metaphorical judgment of one's sins), is reunited with his father-in-law and finally returns to an Eden-like garden where his children are waiting for him. Whether this is intended to be a literal journey to heaven or a more metaphorical spiritual experience, the symbolism is all pretty clear. Once more, we end with the dialogue of constructing a house on the cliff - on the real and tangible substance of faith, a line that makes no sense without being viewed in a Christian context.
Christianity is admittedly not synonymous with conservatism, but I think the religious metaphor of this film is something conservatives would tend to appreciate. There is plenty more symbolism, which is summarised best in this article:
http://popupchinese.com/Inception.pdf
If we pop this one on the list it might be better to link to the article as this takes so long to explain. But I thought I'd lay out all the reasoning for you.
[[User:LibertyMatters]] 23:14, 10 November 2018 (GMT)