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2007-11-21 Home Front: WoT

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Posted by Mike 2007-11-21 06:42|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 From the Raking it in link, and adjusting for demographics (R-rated versus PG-13) -

What does it mean if movies about Iraq are as popular as any other films? Probably that Americans have a complex relationship with the war and are willing to consume entertainment that confronts them with evidence or viewpoints that can inform their thinking.

The war has been, after all, terribly mismanaged. Yet it seems to be turning around. Many good men and women have paid a terrible price for the conflict, but many bad men have met justice. We want it to end, but worry about the consequences of retreat. Any rational human being would have complex emotions about such a circumstance, and talented artists and performers can help viewers navigate those emotions. Unlike the Vietnam War, the fighting in Iraq isn't over. Voters' attitudes toward the conflict may determine its outcome. That is why hoaxes such as the Iraq war movie curse are in ready supply, and why it's so important to expose them.

So they are not terribly unpopular, they're just averagely unpopular, but with above average budgets, directors, stars, and publicity.

Posted by Bobby 2007-11-21 07:42|| 2007-11-21 07:42|| Front Page Top

#2 how about this theory (from the NYSun article),

"..Citizens are sick and tired of the Iraq war; they blame an unpopular president and his party for the horrible mess we are in; and they're so repulsed that they can't even bring themselves to watch films about the war or war-related themes. This contrasts with Americans' attitude toward movies about other U.S. wars. They flocked to see "Apocalypse Now" and "The Deer Hunter," despite the unpopularity of the Vietnam War. If they don't go see movies about Iraq, then this war, in a way, must be worse than Vietnam."

So, according to this theory, if more people saw Redacted it would mean the Iraq war was going better.

Posted by mhw">mhw 2007-11-21 08:22|| http://hypocrisy-incorporated.blogspot.com/]">[http://hypocrisy-incorporated.blogspot.com/] 2007-11-21 08:22|| Front Page Top

#3 Probably that Americans have a complex relationship with the war and are willing to consume entertainment that confronts them with evidence or viewpoints that can inform their thinking.

Yes, for example, fully half the country needs to be confronted with the idea that the jihad is evil, the jihadi prophet was a paedophile, and that once again the last, best hope for mankind against existential evil is the sword and the arm of the United States of America. Half the country needs to be confronted with the idea that the war was and is just, that tens of millions of people have some hope for liberty thank to a man they have vilified as a liar and a war-criminal, and that the greatest heroes on earth are to be found in the ranks of the United States Marine Corps, the British Army, the Australian SAS, Canada's Princess Patricia Light Infantry, and their fellows from Poland and Denmark and Tonga and ... and... and ... Most important, half the country needs to be confronted with the idea they have been engaged in a tantrum instead of debate, that they have no constructive alternatives to offer, that they have objectively allied with the worst enemies of women, gay men, unions, social democrats, artists and minorities of any stripe since the Nazis.

A movie telling that story would be a blockbuster.

Posted by Excalibur 2007-11-21 08:37|| 2007-11-21 08:37|| Front Page Top

#4 Cliff Notes version: Americans dislike traitors.

Posted by ed 2007-11-21 08:38|| 2007-11-21 08:38|| Front Page Top

#5 If they don't go see movies about Iraq, then this war, in a way, must be worse than Vietnam."

Gawd amighty, The Birth of a Meme!

Posted by Thomas Woof 2007-11-21 08:44|| 2007-11-21 08:44|| Front Page Top

#6 OMG! It's a veritable cinematic quackmire.

Posted by SteveS 2007-11-21 08:56|| 2007-11-21 08:56|| Front Page Top

#7 "pretty obviously 7 years of Chimpy Bushitler has numbed the American public's intellectual curiousity. In order to make sure the public is educated properly, taxpayer subsidies to the movie industry (the right people, of course, not Bruce Willis...) to ensure a profit, as well as mandatory viewing of our 'art', should be required"

/Hollywood Left Who Make Direct-To-DVD Crap

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-11-21 09:06|| 2007-11-21 09:06|| Front Page Top

#8 Frank G: That is pretty much exactly Canada's film production model.

Posted by Excalibur 2007-11-21 09:27|| 2007-11-21 09:27|| Front Page Top

#9 What a shock, Americans don't want to reward traitorous behavior. Who'da thunk it?

Posted by bigjim-ky 2007-11-21 09:29|| 2007-11-21 09:29|| Front Page Top

#10 the '300' made a nice piece of cash. So, it's got to be the director/producer/writer that can't make movies that sell. All else is a desperate and unsuccessful attempt to rationalize/justify one's own existence. "Non Cogito, ergo non sum."

If a tree falls in a forest...If a movies falls in the theater...

We now know the answer to - What if there was a movie and no one came.

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-11-21 09:32|| 2007-11-21 09:32|| Front Page Top

#11 What a shock, Americans don't want to spend $10 to watch a crappy leftist propaganda snooze-fest. Who'da thunk it?

Posted by Sgt. Mom 2007-11-21 09:36|| http://www.celiahayes.com]">[http://www.celiahayes.com] 2007-11-21 09:36|| Front Page Top

#12 Outstanding, Excalibur. You should be on the Canadian Film Board. I'll write Harper today.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-11-21 09:42|| 2007-11-21 09:42|| Front Page Top

#13 talented artists and performers can help viewers navigate those emotions.

I love this. Our betters (despite having beeen underperformers at school and have destroyed the little brains thbeey had with drugs and alcohol) are coming to tell us, little people, what we ~~must~~ should think.

Posted by JFM">JFM 2007-11-21 10:20|| 2007-11-21 10:20|| Front Page Top

#14 No way could Excalibur ever be on Canada's film board.

He didn't once mention the contributions of the noble Quebecois.

Posted by Seafarious 2007-11-21 10:34|| 2007-11-21 10:34|| Front Page Top

#15 It really bugs me that nobody has yet figured out that if they could scrape together just one or two million, they could hire a whole bunch of recently discharged vets as actors, take the whole lot to Iraq and make a movie with margins near as big as The Passion of the Christ.

Get this, they would be the first movie to be made "with the cooperation of the entire US military", not just a single branch, so they would get free access to a HUGE store of file film footage the Pentagon has. And a LOT of other stuff. I'm sure Michael Yon would be a great consultant.

They could even hire a whole lot of friendly Iraqis to *act* as al-Qaeda. Iraqis still really pissed off at al-Qaeda, so that they want to show them as the just utterly worthless and murderous scumbag animals they know they are.

The movie could be as graphic as hell, it could show Iraqi military as honorable, professional soldiers fighting to defend their country, and Muslims working side by side with Americans and our allies to kick the snot out of al-Qaeda.

The plot would be focused on real war stories and heroism, and there would be NO, ZERO efforts to tear down any of our soldiers or even mention shit like war crimes or anti-war bullshit.

There would be some scenes like an al-Qaeda suicide bombing of an elementary school, with US and IA soldiers rescuing horribly wounded and dying children, then having a good cry afterwards.

And for some really disgusting villains other than al-Qaeda, you could depict cowardly "journalists", hiding in the Green Zone and getting phone-in lies from al-Qaeda propagandists; and actual speech bites from assholes like John Murtha.

To hell with even trying to put it in the theaters. Have it go direct to DVD, and avoid Hollywood altogether. Since nobody in it is ever probably going to act again, no need for any union people, or Hollywood types at all.

And be sure to copyright every original bit in it, so that segments can only be rebroadcast on FOX, not the other networks.

Posted by Anonymoose 2007-11-21 10:48|| 2007-11-21 10:48|| Front Page Top

#16 If they don't go see movies about Iraq, then this war, in a way, must be worse than Vietnam.

Blame Bush and get in a deft twist of the ~~quagmire~~ blade. Unreal.

'moose, with clockwork regularity you are once again spot effing on. The most signal failure of this administration has been in the realm of propaganda specifically and communications in general. In this one respect, our enemy beats us like a drum.

An in situ depiction of al Qaeda's wartime atrocities would go a long way towards waking up the complacent American public. I still maintain that the most desperately needed propaganda piece is a realistic portrayal of the entire Islamic world being annihilated after a nuclear terrorist attack on American soil. Andto be perfectly clearit ain't Americans who need to be watching that one.

PS: Great post (#3), Excal.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-11-21 12:33|| 2007-11-21 12:33|| Front Page Top

#17 The hollywooders have it all figured out, just like their friends, the brave lions if islam. Look how well it's working out for them...

Posted by M. Murcek">M. Murcek 2007-11-21 14:21|| 2007-11-21 14:21|| Front Page Top

#18 Zen and 'moose, you guys are BOTH spot-on, as usual. I'd even go a step further to link all the muzzie attacks worldwide in some sort of quasi-documentary or timeline. Link the sort of yahoos in control of Afghanistan pre-9/11 (the Taliban) to the jihadi "schools" in Pakistan, through the Saudi-funding arm of those madrassahs.

But, outlining the attacks (in a coordinated, timeline-centric mode) leads the average Joe with half a brain to see the level of State-sponsorship and coordination it takes to pull these attacks off. Yes, it would be awfully graphic, but I think that the average 'merican can take it.

I had thought about starting at Tehran 1979, but that's so old that the average American would not want to see the historical record. Start with 9/11, then show the Bali bombing, the Paris suburbs' car-b-q's by "disgruntled yoots", the Madrid train bombing, the Moscow theater seige, the 7/7 bombing in London, etc.

But, the piece-de-resistance (sorry, that's redneck typin') would be the individual stories to show the true horror that is Islam. Show the genital mutilation, the abject state of women in Islam, but also relate the absolute horror of the attack on kids in Beslan, the beheading of Daniel Pearl, the Paleos using 12 year old retarded kids for suicide bombers, yesterday's story on the 1 year old as suicide bomber in the attempt on Bhutto's life in Paki-Waki, the beheading (online no less) of Nicholas Berg and that Italian contractor (can't think of his name right now), the broad daylight stabbing of Theo van Gogh (and give some story time to Ms. Ali), etc. It's these individual acts of barbarity and inhumane treatment of men, but especially women and children that will tug at America's proverbial heart strings and make us all face the common thread in all of these attacks...Islam.

My eyes were opened when I just searched "terror attacks" on wikipedia. Someone has linked every single major attack worldwide on there. I was astonished (and I, like many here, consider myself a LOT more informed than the average Joe of the threat that Islamofascism poses) at how many smaller attacks happen worldwide that we don't hear about or we forget. Someone should make a film just linking all of these events to show how violent Islam truly is wherever it has a foothold.

Posted by BA 2007-11-21 18:39|| 2007-11-21 18:39|| Front Page Top

#19 I'm betting old war movies are getting reasonable ratings when shown on TV or the DVD sales are still good despite Iraq war weariness. I think everyone knows why these movies aren't selling and they are just trying to fudge the issue.

Posted by rjschwarz 2007-11-21 20:08|| 2007-11-21 20:08|| Front Page Top

#20 I'd throw on Midway anyday of the week.

Posted by Slappy 2007-11-21 20:48|| 2007-11-21 20:48|| Front Page Top

#21 Darfur Now 86K total after 3 weeks.

Even the lefty 'cause' films aren't cutting it. Or maybe 'not on our watch' was spelled sideways.

Posted by KBK 2007-11-21 21:46|| 2007-11-21 21:46|| Front Page Top

#22 I'm betting old war movies are getting reasonable ratings

Several of the Cincinnati PBS stations have been showing a multi-part documentary on WWII for the last two weeks or so, I think, one or two hours each night. The other night President Roosevelt warned after the Pearl Harbour attack that the war was going to be very long and very difficult. So even the PBS audience is deemed interested in certain kinds of pro-war productions. The Buffalo PBS station just advertised The Longest Day to be shown on Friday. The station manager seems to think the same audience that watches the Israel Philharmonic's 70th anniversary performance with Zubin Mehta and Pinchas Zuckerman likes old WWII movies about the invasion of Normandy.

Posted by trailing wife in Buffalo for Thanksgiving 2007-11-21 22:09|| 2007-11-21 22:09|| Front Page Top

23:59 Mike N.
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