Politics is downstream from culture.
This is something I have said for years, and something that's gotten me not-insignificant heat in certain conservative circles.
But I'm not wrong. The fact that both Ronald Reagan ('Ronald Reagan! The actor?!' to quote Doc Brown) and Donald Trump -- men who started their careers in the pop-culture realm -- have both been president is proof (and they are just two examples).
So I have never understood the Right's willingness to eschew all things entertainment for the sake of political purity. It's a tactic that has -- by and large -- backfired on us.
It helps that I am often able to separate the actor from the art. They are two different things, after all. That's why it's called acting -- a good actor can become a character wholly unrelated to who he or she is in real life (and why I bristle at the notion that only gay actors can play gay characters. More on that in a moment).
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Lots of people are marking the ignominious anniversary of 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi', released seven years ago today.
History does not look kindly on it.
The Last Jedi was released 7 years ago today and it still sucks. pic.twitter.com/2fAiqGciCT
— Nerdrotic (@Nerdrotics) December 15, 2024
I saw 'The Last Jedi' in the movie theater and I do not remember anything about the plot. At all.
Thank goodness for IMdB.
That's because it was such a terrible, unmemorable movie, with a female lead -- Rey Skywalker(?) Palpatine(?) who is about as interesting and dynamic as watching paint dry.
Nah, it's still a gigantic piece of s**t. https://t.co/au3EBeTA6l
— The Critical Drinker (@TheCriticalDri2) December 15, 2024
What Disney did with 'Star Wars' -- and what Amazon has done to 'Lord of the Rings', among other studios -- is take beloved, successful properties and infuse them with what Drinker here calls THE MESSAGE.
THE MESSAGE is the blanket term for the woke mind virus that has infiltrated media and, by extension, politics. It's a vicious circle, really: movies and Hollywood are Left-wing, they influence politics, politics gets infused back into Hollywood.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
In 'Star Wars', it has manifested itself by creating 'girl boss' female characters -- women with no flaws who are always, invariably, smarter and stronger than the men around them. Men are portrayed as dolts. If there's any hint of sexuality, it's always 'queer' -- like 'The Acolyte'. I told you not too long ago about how lead actress Amandla Stenberg and showrunner Leslye Headland had very good laugh about 'The Acolyte' being the 'gayest 'Star Wars' ever.'
'The Acolyte' was not renewed for a second season, because lesbian space witches just don't have the fanbase required to sustain a show. The Left accused the fans of racism. Because that's easier to do than actually listen to fans and produce quality content.
The same thing applies to Amazon's 'Rings of Power', an absolute trainwreck of Tolkien lore with some of the worst dialogue ever put to film. Something even Forbes pointed out:
I’ve come to a sad realization: The creators of Amazon’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power know how to create spectacle, but they don’t know how to tell a good story.
There it is, scrawled in blood on the wall. The writers and showrunners responsible for this show could have won me over with good fan-fiction. They could have tossed Tolkien’s lore onto a bonfire and I’d have been perfectly happy if they’d simply crafted an enjoyable story with characters I care about.
Unfortunately, The Rings Of Power is written so poorly it defies even my worst fears. Oh yes, I was awed and impressed by the opening two episodes just like many others. But my how quickly a badly written TV series can wear out its welcome once the shimmer fades.
I'd be remiss if I didn't point to other movies, like this years 'Joker' sequel 'Joker: Folie a Deux.' This absolute garbage dump of a movie takes a rather dark, gritty, and thought-provoking movie and gives it -- and the fans -- a middle finger. By the admission of director Todd Phillips himself. Why? Because some people sympathized and related to Arthur Fleck, a marginalized and disenfranchised white men and we can't have that happening (now point and laugh at the incels, everyone!)
We see this time and again in Hollywood. They make absolute garbage, with terribly written, cardboard cut out characters meant to be 'representative' of some politically advantageous demographic. Then they proudly proclaim this trash is not for certain audiences and -- in the final act -- are amazed when the movie flops.
Then they accuse the fans of being racist or sexist or homophobic and the cycle repeats itself.
I don't understand how it's sustainable to keep losing millions -- hundreds of millions -- of dollars on these box office bombs and not be sued into oblivion by shareholders. Perhaps the ongoing Target shareholder lawsuit will shift things in that regard.
But there are glimmers of hope. The Daily Wire has made a few movies that challenge the woke nonsense. Actors like James Woods and Zachary Levi are openly conservative, Gina Carano is taking on Disney in a high-profile lawsuit, and Justine Bateman is pushing to Make America Fun Again.
There has been a palpable shift in the nation since the election, one where people are no longer cowering before the woke mob, but standing up and speaking up against the insanity. Rather than writing Hollywood off as a Leftist wasteland, we need to offer an alternative -- one of solid entertainment that tells good stories rather than pushing THE MESSAGE.
That way, things like 'The Last Jedi' and 'Rings of Power' can get swept into the dustbin of history, where they belong.
