The second back to the future movie even turns the villain into a trump-like megalomaniac
Comment on Martin Scorsese urges filmmakers to fight comic book movie culture: ‘We’ve got to save cinema’
space_gecko@lemmy.world 11 months agoI have absolutely no idea what they mean by conservative/progressive movie. I too would like to know, because I’m utterly baffled.
Pietson@kbin.social 11 months ago
MudMan@kbin.social 11 months ago
Oh, boy. Should have guessed that's the bit that would get picked up.
I mean, I didn't think Guardians was very subtle about this at all. James Gunn doesn't seem to be an asshole, but you can be religious and not be a completely reactionary idiot. The movie features actual heaven, where a character tells another "there's the hands that made us and then there's the hands that guide the hands", and says that heaven "is beatutiful and it is forever". And then the villain yells "there is no God, that's why I stepped in", which is the tipping point for his allies turning on him. The entire diagnosis the movie has on the guy ends up being that "he didn't want to make things better, he just hated things the way they are", which is, for the record, a much, much better take on the equally conformist take in The Flash. It's a very well made, very emotional, very beautiful movie, but... you know, it's not very shy about spiritualism. If I had to sum it up I'd say it's... eh... Stephen Colbert Catholic? In that wavelength?
As for Back to the Future... well, I'm not the first to notice that the "good future" is a Reaganomics fever dream. Somebody points out the Trumpy bad guy in the sequel, which I guess when read from a modern day makes it read different, but... yeah, it's a very 80s franchise with very 80s sensibilities. Zemeckis has pushed back against this slightly, I think, and yeah, it's being a bit jokey about the weirdness of the americana he's clearly nostalgic for, but that doesn't change the text. I mean, he's also the guy that used "a black family lives here now" as shorthand for the town going to crap in the sequel. He also made the entirety of Forrest Gump, so... yeah, you don't have to present a worldview on purpose to have it color your stuff. Once again, the movie isn't mean about it, and it's certainly not dumb, but it's coming from a certain worldview and you can absolutely tell.
Die Hard is straight up MRA propaganda, though. Great film, love it to bits, but it's entirely about how the down-to-Earth cop feels emasculated by his wife having a career and rubbing elbows with all the California yuppies only to get himself vindicated when things turn violent and he's the only one with enough common sense and old school skills to fix the situation. Also, the government is fundamentally incompetent unless it's specifically the cops. And Reginald VelJohnson's entire arc is about how he should not stop shooting people just because he once killed a kid when he saw his toy gun, which is up there for "plot point that has aged the absolute worst in movie history" award. Still love it, though. Super conservative movie. The most political of this bunch, probably. Still good filmmaking.
Look, you don't have to dislike things just because they're built on implicit viewpoints that you don't agree with. Art is art, and it carries meaning and implications. You can notice them and still enjoy the result regardless of whether you agree with those viewpoints. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to enjoy anything made outside this century or... you know, your own culture. It's fine.
_cerpin_taxt_@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Wow, just wow. Are your arms sore from all of that reaching?
MudMan@kbin.social 11 months ago
Oh, hey, shitposting. Maybe this is a legit Reddit alternative after all.
For the record, except for Guardians 3, which is a bit too new to have much in the way of hermeneutics going on around it, none of those takes are new at all. I'm being a lot less original than you give me credit for. It's less a reach and more the go-to default read for these.
Sharkwellington@lemmy.one 11 months ago
I wasn’t on board with you at first, but this write-up was thought provoking and I appreciated the read.
MudMan@kbin.social 11 months ago
Cool, thanks!
People sometimes think analysis or interpretation of stuff they like is an attack, especially when it identifies elements they disagree with in things they enjoy.
But that's not the point, it's about understanding what you're hearing and seeing and you can absolutely enjoy things even if you read things you don't agree with in them. If I made that point to one person this entire thread was worth it (and already more interesting than Martin Scorsese not liking superhero movies, honestly).