The really sad thing about Joe McCarthy is that he was right about communists in Hollywood. Whether you think the hearings were bad or good, there was communist infiltration. That is true, even if, as many argue, they had little influence. I was told about a recent episode of the Good Wife, in which christians were insulted and a Tea Party rep was told she or he opposed obama only because he was black. Naked propaganda. Reminded me how recently the pres called on hollywood to help him so I guess they answered the call.
Cspan had a show about the left and Hollywood. Ron Radosh told a story that trumbo’s fans ignore. He wrote Johnny got his gun (or something), an anti war book, and it was released. Trumbo was anti war at the start of WWII when Stalin and Hitler were friends. Then they fell out and Russia and Germany went to war with each other and Russia became a US ally and the Communist Party in Russia ordered that the book be withdrawn. Trumbo took the copies out of circulation, every copy he could reach, or someone did it for him. I forget how the story went exactly. Then after the war, when the cold war was on, Trumbo brought back the book and became anti war again. He was willing to cooperate with helping Nazi Germany as long as it was a friend of the communists.
Just read the NYT review on this. As it noted,in Larsson's world, nearly all of the Swedish establishment, the rich, the middle, the professions, are evil. Something is rotten in the state of Sweden. The grown ups in my family read the books and enjoyed them. Yet, as a conservative I cannot help noting the irony that Sweden which we are told is a model socialist/liberal state is so ill regarded by Swedish liberals. Apparently, the nation is chock full of racists, rapists, Nazis, the worse kinds of villians, the grossest economic inequity. Decades of socialism and every kind of liberal intervention by the state; nonetheless the Swedes have a great deal of self hatred, that seems to be increasing. It is the same with all scandinavian mysteries/police procedurals; I read alot of them, they are well written. Starting with Sjowall/Wahloo, most despise their own culture. They describe increasing alienation, anomie, crime, and hatred for themselves. This is the disease of liberalism - perfection cannot be attained, the liberal ideal falters, and self despite results. Totally different from other non western cultures.
Another reason is that so many movies are negative. Often the viewer is left with a bad feeling, which he or she may not even be able to explain. The movie is sending certain messages, which may be contrary to the viewer’s values. The movie is trying to push you in a certain way and the viewer feels uneasy, and resentful if he is cognizant of what is going on. The movie about a sex addict, with Fassbender, features a number of American characters, all of whom are portrayed as stupid shallow bad people. I read this in a review; the reviewer liked the movie. I will not pay to see it, or a movie that implies that perhaps incest is not so bad, or robbery, or that it’s okay to shoplift, or that other cultures are superior, in some undefined way, to western culture, or that the US is rotten and always to blame. Movies where suddenly there is a totally out of context nasty comment about Bush, America, Fox news, Christians, I won’t see or will immediately turn off. I resent the assumption: “Of course you agree with me. If you don’t you are a moron.” I don’t even watch Fox or any TV news, but I resent the message.
The price is the reason many don’t go anymore, $13.50 in NYC. Unless people you trust have told you the movie is really good and/or it is a huge spectacle that can’t be appreciated on a smaller screen, we are averse to paying that much. Perhaps the folks in Hollywood who want us to redistribute income could reduce their salaries towards giving ticket buyers a break. It is a lot of money for an hour and a half that may turn out a waste of time. The more money you pay, the more you look towards some guarantee of enjoyment, of getting your money’s worth. The ticketbuyer becomes averse to risk.
Reminds me when Bush was president and some cartoonist drew a racist picture of Condy Rice with a nasty caption. The civil rights contingent had no comment.
The rule seems to be that racist or anti gay sentiment is okay if the victim is not a liberal. In other words, the sentiments themselves are not wrong in themselves; they are wrong when applied to certain people and justified when applied to other people.
You won’t believe who Jacob falls in love with in the last book. Bizarre!
Resistance and scorn, capitulation and shame, enjoyment and disgust at enjoyment. So awful, yet so much fun. That is the history of many people’s involvement in Twilight.
conservatives don't support capitalism because of a belief in its perfection. We support it because it is the best way known to us to avert and overcome the miserable poverty that until a few years ago was the normal lot of mankind. At a recent charitable gathering to help "underpriviliged" kids, someone pointed out that we expected that every child there had enough minerals and vitamins and protein and fat to be healthy, to have straight limbs and good eyes, to grow to adulthood, to have a free education, to have fun in life, not to have to start work at nine or ten. It is all true, because of western culture and capitalism.
The kind of people who think the government should provide them with housing, food, medical care, and higher ed for free want to kill of the people who make all these things possible. Capitalism, that is, business, makes medicine, furniture, spinach, cell phones, and everything else available in numbers and costs that ordinary non rich and poor people can afford. Without capitalism, there is poverty. But you can’t explain that to a liberal. They honestly think the government can make things, despite the example of the Soviet Union, where every day people had to line up to buy bread, sausages, and milk, and if it ran out before your turn, you had to go home. There was a permanent shortage of everything. There was no other place to shop and you did not dare complain. Some liberals think that things should be made by people who don’t care about profits or any benefit to themselves, well, good, find those people. They don’t exist. Government bureaucrats don’t fit in that group.
"However, what is surprising is how Clooney shows the flaws of the Democratic politician he plays. "
are those flaws the failure of the politician to be leftwing enough? that is what liberals fault POTUS on. Obama's problem is that many Americans do not agree with his agenda. When liberals say too bad Obama has to follow the constitution or why isn't he tougher, they are expressing a wish that he do something draconian or totalitarian or fascistic to force everyone onto the same path. They wish he had more power to force compliance and obedience. They have no problem with extreme power provided it is used for things they like.
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