Why Hollywood War Movies Are KIA
Saturday, November 10, 2007 at 01:45PM Bottom Line Up Front: Hollywood anti-war movies are tanking because Americans can spot enemy propaganda.
Anti-war movies dying a slow, painful death. Check out this article distributed by the Agence France-Presse:
Hollywood is casualty of war as movie-goers shun Iraq films
Almost without exception, the crop of movies have struggled to turn a profit at the box-office and in many cases have received a mauling from unimpressed critics as well.
"Rendition," a drama starring Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal about the CIA's policy of outsourcing interrogation of terror suspects, has taken just under 10 million dollars at the box office, a disastrous return.
Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis's latest film "In the Valley of Elah," about a father investigating the death of his son in Iraq, earned favorable reviews but less than seven million dollars following its release in September.
Even the action-packed "The Kingdom," starring Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner, fell well below its 70 million budget with around 47 million dollars in ticket sales.
The poor returns do not augur well for more war films due for release in North America later this month, notably the Robert Redford-directed drama "Lions for Lambs" and Brian De Palma's hard-hitting "Redacted," based on the real-life rape and murder of an Iraqi schoolgirl by US soldiers.
Veteran television producer Steven Bochco, whose 2005 television series "Over There" about a platoon of soldiers fighting in Iraq ended after just one season, said it was hard to engage audiences in a "hugely unpopular war."
"TV is fully saturated with this war and I don't know if you can do a serious drama about this war and locate any angle that would overcome the negativity about it," he told the New York daily Newsday.
Iraq films remain a difficult sell for audiences because of the swirl of confusion surrounding the rights and wrongs of the conflict, he added.
"World War II was hugely romanticized in terms of its fiction. There were unambiguous villains, and the feeling we were fighting the right people over the right issues, as opposed to this war, which many people feel is misguided.”
These quotes from Bonchco, whose own war series bombed, shows how completely out of touch filmmakers are: "WWII was hugely romanticized in terms of its fiction" and "there were unambiguous villains as opposed to this war"? What is romantic fiction about victory for the good guys? If there is any question about who the villains are in the current war, thank the main stream media, Democrats and liberals who've done their fair share of giving al-Qaeda the benefit of the doubt while maligning U.S. troops.
Steven Bonchco’s evaluation of why people are turned off by these movies implicates the naivete of modern day Hollywood. These anti-war movies don't bomb because the Iraq war is unpopular, but because most Americans can spot enemy propaganda. Most Americans are patriotic. Movies that do nothing to inspire but instead demoralize, tarnish the reputations of soldiers and the commander in chief rather exalt heroism on the battlefield, or cast doubt rather than inspire faith are unpatriotic.
Americans know who the troops are and the difficulties they face with this enemy. We would rather cheer them on rather than boo them when the battle gets tough. We want to be better than the Romans who watched lions tear apart innocent people for sport.
When French President Nicholas Sarkozy addressed Congress last week, he described why his generation loved American culture: (video)
My generation shared all the American dreams. Our imaginations were fueled by the winning of the West and Hollywood. By Elvis Presley, Duke Ellington, Hemingway. By John Wayne, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth. And by Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, fulfilling mankind's oldest dream.
What was so extraordinary for us was that through her literature, her cinema and her music, America always seemed to emerge from adversity even greater and stronger; that instead of causing America to doubt herself, such ordeals only strengthened her belief in her values.
What makes America strong is the strength of this ideal that is shared by all Americans and by all those who love her because they love freedom.
That was profound. Phrases like "America always seemed to emerge from adversity greater and stronger" represents a noticeable dichotomy between what America gets and what America wants from Hollywood. Notice George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Jennifer Garner and Robert Redford are not in the category of inspirational Hollywood types. In fact, Sarkozy’s citations stopped right around the time American culture began to take a nose drive, and our reputation along with it.
Hollywood rejects the Creator and so stifles it’s own creativity. If they were smart, they’d take a lesson from The Best Years of Our Lives, a 1946 masterpiece which won 7 Oscars that year, plus an 8th; an Honorary Oscar to Harold Russell for "bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance”. Russell was himself a paratrooper in WWII who lost both hands in the war and played a starring role in the movie. It also won 10 other awards.
How about The Longest Day (with 48 international stars including John Wayne), The Sands of Iwo Jima or The Green Berets, all of which were Academy Award winners.
So "hope, courage and victory" of yesteryear have been replaced in Hollywood by "suspicion, cowardice, torture, rape and defeat" in movies depicting the war, and Hollywood is still clueless to understand why America doesn't want to pay for a ticket.
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Reader Comments (12)
Hi Amy,
I'm always a little leery of attributing one thing to another without real statistics, but in this case, I'm not sure how you'd go about getting them. The decline in going to the movies at all for instance and why...the horrendous cost, that you really don't have to wait super long for things to come out on DVD, how a lot of people have whole systems at home with surround sound and what all to make the home experience more enjoyable, special effects taking the place of acting (that's my two cents there)...
But maybe that's what it is too...I don't like war movies in general and movies where I know what the ultimate outcome is usually. There are exceptions. A Night to Remember (Titanic), Marie Antoinette (Norma Shearer) to name two...
But I agree, the Best Years of Our Lives is fantastic. I just read Farley Granger's biography (Strangers on a Train and Rope with Hitchcock) and he mentioned it. He was in the Navy at the time and they actually considered him for the part, but couldn't wait for him to be discharged to begin production so the part went to Russell. He said rightfully so I think that for all he wasn't an actor and you could see that, he brought a poignancy to the role and he did a superb job and the right man played the part....
Thanks for letting me post my thoughts,
Sharon
Maybe Hollywood should have listened to General Patton, even George C. Scott's effort at playing him in the movie.
"Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight. When you, here, everyone of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players. Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American."
Hollywood wants to portray losers and as the General said, We hate losers!
Amy and Sharon, The Best Years of Our Lives is one of my all time favorites. We label WW2 as "the Greatest Generation," but the movie shows they faced much the same as Veterans of other Wars, at least early on.
As far as I'm concerned, how can we call any Greater than those serving today? Unlike other wars, every single one of them today volunteered and keep volunteering.
Hollywood can't seem to understand that a small portion of our society loves America enough to fight for it.
All true.Hollywood's failed surge because it truly lacked what America is all about. Unbridled optimism. Also known as American exceptionalism. No surprise as The Great Satan doesn't buy into defeat -and in an especially sweet dual epiphany - Holly Wood and a certain political party have.
Also posted on the subject at Cheat-Seeking Missiles, about how the current visceral dislike of Hollywood started with Michael Moore at the Democratic convention in Boston and grew through the months of the presidential campaign until it came to this ... Hollywood drinking it's own KoolAid.
The problem I see with these movies is more wide reaching - Americans may reject them, but they are played overseas and in the middle east and are believed as truth. This is frightening.
Flag gazer makes a point. The impact these films have outside of the U.S. is profound. Hollywood has massive influence and its movers and shakers ought know better.
As NPR noted "Hollywood is an entertainment-industry juggernaut; its success in exporting movies, TV shows and music that have vast, global appeal is unparalleled. At the same time, anti-American sentiment is rising overseas, most notably in the Middle East, Latin America and Europe".
Alas, the last thing America needs is Hollywood fuelling anti Americanism.
Patriots of the U.S.the world over must send a loud message to Hollywood lefty's by boycotting their products!!!
Sharon, I'm not sure where the stats would come unless a poll was conducted, and we know how accurate polls are. The next best thing would be to compare content as I did in my entry. The contrast in content of these movies, modern day vs. yesteryear, that it seems the obvious conclusion. Even French Pres Sarkozy cited my examples, i.e., older American culture, as a source of international inspiration.
I agree, Amy. The contrast is obvious.
Well, Hollywood writers have now gone on strike. LOL! Doesn't affect me whatsoever. I never watch anything but Fox News, Hallmark and the History Channel. I choose my movies from NetFlix and most of them are from a time before Hollywood went bonkers.
I think war is evil, but I still don't think these movies sound good.
I liked the "Flags of our fathers" because I think it shows how evil wars is even when people feel that it is necessary. I am glad that National Socialists were defeated, and would hate a world with Japanese in control of all of Asia. However, I do think that neither of these would have been possible without the willingness of the US to go to war in WWI.
Anyhow, you seem to have good taste in movies even if we do arrive at these positions with different political agendas.
How many nam movies became successful? Not too many - why? The war was on TV on a daily basis. The ones that were true to form were Platoon and maybe a handful of others. The norm is not popular. Who wants to see this? I didn't and I lived it it.
By the way, let me add this. Most war movies have too many sub plots, totally unrelated to the "theme" of the movie. War is war and that should be the end of it. I saw Saving Private Ryan, and it made me want to barf. I would rather escape and watch something unbelievably funny that sit and get depressed over war movies. Anyway, aren't we always in some kind of conflict anyway?
I've gotta say this, THE GREEN BERETS, was NOT a true to life movie. It may have seemed so, but it wasn't. It was probably the first movie out there that had something to do with NAM, aka the awards.