The Movies

[hector_garza]

Watched Snowpiercer. Came out in 2013, somehow stayed off my radar.

Scifi in the best sense of the word. Weird, compelling, unafraid to explore crazy shit.

Strongly recommend.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Ordered. Thanks.

Well Hector, that was a bit heavy handed. This is social allegory, not science fiction. Your leftism is showing.

[hector_garza]

Ordered. Thanks.

Well Hector, that was a bit heavy handed. This is social allegory, not science fiction. Your leftism is showing.

I thought the human species largely eliminated with the only survivors stuck on a super train under the rule of a societal engineer powered by advanced technology that was beginning to fail while traversing a frozen earth squarely fit in the sci-fi category.

A lefist movie? IDK. I watch movies on a visceral/literal level; I dont look for allegory, or deeper meaning, or political insight. I don't think doing so is a fun way to consume mainstream entertainment.

A leftist me? "Conservatives" have called me leftist a few times. Liberals more often call me conservative. This is the perdicent that advocates of smaller government and less regulation often find themselves in. Neither side likes it when you call out their bs.

But gauging my political preferences from movies? Don't think that works. My favorite movies include Terminator, Predator, Winter Soldier, RoboCop. The more recurring themes there might be Luddite and libertatian. (Though Robocp becomes publicly owned, property of Detroit, after executing OCP corporate leadership which could be seen as pro-state-solution. Then again, arguably, OCP still deserves credit for financing RoboCop's assembly and initial maintenance, so it's a private sector solution that saved the day afterall.) See how silly seeking political insight from movies is?

Do your favorite movies reveal your political preferences?

[Mark Rippetoe]

I thought the human species largely eliminated with the only survivors stuck on a super train under the rule of a societal engineer powered by advanced technology that was beginning to fail while traversing a frozen earth squarely fit in the sci-fi category.

A lefist movie? IDK. I watch movies on a visceral/literal level; I dont look for allegory, or deeper meaning, or political insight. I don't think doing so is a fun way to consume mainstream entertainment.

I don't either. But this one slapped me in the head with it. Let's see if anybody agrees.

[hector_garza]

I don't either. But this one slapped me in the head with it. Let's see if anybody agrees.

I don't think you've seen Infinity Wars yet. And I won't ruin it for anyone here.

But the bad guy (Thanos) has an overtly Malthusian understanding of economics and a murderous agenda premised on that understanding.

If you like Thanos/infinity-wars does that make you a Malthusian? If you don't like Thanos, but instead prefer the Avengers, does it make you a supporter of David Ricardo, free trade, and the idea that free markets can lead simultaneously to both massive population increases as well as massive wealth increases?

I would say neither. The label applied, and the predilection to label a mainstream movie that has gone through focus groups, editors, and every other level of movie studio bureaucracy to become as broadly palatable as possible, likely says more about the viewer than the film.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Perhaps it does, because we all know that a Hollywood studio would never take the opportunity to preach to an audience. Anyway, I'm still waiting on Infinity Wars.

[hector_garza]

Perhaps it does, because we all know that a Hollywood studio would never take the opportunity to preach to an audience. Anyway, I'm still waiting on Infinity Wars.

I don't watch enough movies here to speak authoritatively, but my guess is that the overt, political, sjw stuff is going to come through more in the smaller budget, bougey films that cater to an audience that wants to be reminded how enlightened and virtuous they are. Movies designed to win Oscars and virtue signal.

When it comes to more mainstream movies (especially movies with 9 digit budgets) my guess is that efforts are made to make movies less offensive and in so doing the movies will be less political, since you may not want to alienate half your potential audience from the get-go.

I'm assuming here that businesses (even Hollywood businesses) are rational and seek to maximize profits. This may not always be true, I'm sure people will pipe in with exceptions, but my guess is that it's true enough most of the time.

[Mark Rippetoe]

When it comes to more mainstream movies (especially movies with 9 digit budgets) my guess is that efforts are made to make movies less offensive and in so doing the movies will be less political, since you may not want to alienate half your potential audience from the get-go.

I'm assuming here that businesses (even Hollywood businesses) are rational and seek to maximize profits. This may not always be true, I'm sure people will pipe in with exceptions, but my guess is that it's true enough most of the time.

Maybe the movie they just made about the 1969 moon landing and Neil Armstrong, that left out the planting of the American flag, was an exception. I don't get that impression.

[hector_garza]

Maybe the movie they just made about the 1969 moon landing and Neil Armstrong, that left out the planting of the American flag, was an exception. I don't get that impression.

Maybe it's easier to show the movie in China without the flag scene.

The presence or absence of the flag is a political choice either way, but removing the flag might make the movie more politically bland and so ultimately more consumable (globally).

It could be, as producers claim, about something else. But, again, I assume at the end of the day that money drives these decisions.

[Mark Rippetoe]

One way or another, it always does.