Maybe something in me hates a list…but I’ve been reading with equal parts horror, amusement, and genuine interest as the Big Hollywood community discusses and debates National Review’s top 25 picks for “The Best Conservative Movies.”
I can’t help but focus on the horror right now, call me twisted. Ben Shapiro, did you really suggest that the concept that “art ennobles” is a “liberal cliche”? If this is what “conservatives” actually believe, is it any wonder that liberals consistently make better films? I cannot fathom why anyone would cede such a broad truism to the “liberal” cause. Go ahead and give them Mom and apple pie while you’re at it.
In your dismissal of the brilliant film, The Lives of Others, you claim that it “goes easy on the Stasi (see some of them were really nice guys!)”. Well, Ben, some of them undoubtedly were good people, if conflicted. It is the very complexity of human nature that allows atrocities to be committed on such grand scales, and likewise, what allows goodness to somehow survive in even the darkest and most unlikely places.
The KKK member who came upon a black woman praying in a church with her child and beat her, is abhorrent. But the Klan member who could not bring himself to do so is clearly more frightening. And he is real. Without that glimmer of humanity, evil is just a dumb joke that would burn itself out rather quickly. If we cannot see ourselves reflected somewhere, if we are not made uncomfortable…if we are never made to wonder whether we would report a neighbor to the Nazi regime, for instance, in order to protect our own families, then we are only watching cartoons. And isn’t that lack of complexity one of the things that conservatives consistently (and justifiably) rail against in Hollywood?
Yes, great art ennobles! And challenges us. Those who disagree should probably not bother discussing films and their impact on society. What would be the point?
Frankly, I love the folks at NR, but Ghostbusters at number 10? Really? Because of a few sorta-kinda free-market lines? The film is fine, whatever. But hardly notable on any list of any kind. 300 at number 5? If there is a grosser mutilation of a fascinating story, I have not seen it, and I am thankful for that much.
Honestly, there are so many lousy movies on that list that it blows my mind. And if one must construct a conservative movie list (without being stoned in a dorm room), where is The Right Stuff, Lean on Me, or, my pick of the day, Remember the Titans?
[youtube E_HFCYz4x6o nolink]
This is a true story that has every element of a great “conservative” film. It celebrates courage, hard work, redemption, and the individual facing long odds against a clear and present moral evil in society. It is family-friendly in every respect and suitable for any child 10-years or older. It’s also extremely well-executed, a pleasure to watch, and a very necessary history lesson.
Can anyone tell me why “we” aren’t claiming films like this one?
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