Posted on 05/04/2005 2:51:42 PM PDT by rogermonroe
I'm a liberal but growing increasingly disenchanted with the left. I'm also a movie fan. I'm looking for a list of the movies most beloved by conservatives, movies that support conservative ideals, films that make a good argument for conservatism. I figured this was the place to go. If you were making such a list, what would be on it? Rambo? Red Dawn? What?
Quigley, Down Under!
Perhaps more libertarian than conservative, but still deserving a mention is "Brazil". Surreal pictures of a welfare state that thinks of itself as capitalist, in the grip of a war on terror.
Pat always struck me as being a fan of "Triumph of the Will" or, since he has a Confederate fetish, "Birth of a Nation."
High Noon?
kidding, right?
I guess that movie can mean different things to different folks...
Supreme Court Justice helps to fight corruption in a small town where he is visiting.
Frank Morgan gives an impassioned speech about citizenshp and the Constitution.
Links to IMDB
The Incredibles.
Family values, personal honor and integrity writ large.
Interesting Google:
http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/47/highnoon.htm
means different things to different folks....
Epic on the timeless struggle between light and dark, freedom of the individual vs collective mind-stapling "ISM's"; Good vs Evil. And more.
I'm sure they won't.
I'm sure they won't.
(sorry, couldn't resist - insert mirthful grin here...)
You mention: "I'm a liberal but growing increasingly disenchanted with the left"
Perhaps that was just a polite way of entering into dialogue, but perhaps you actually aren't a modern liberal at all.
Many claim that title for certain definitions, but historians would generally agree the Classical Liberalism of English history started with the Old Whigs. Perhaps with Locke, but certainly well in place and best exemplified by Edmund Burke the leader of the Rockingham Whigs in the House of Commons in the 18th century.
And guess what?
The term conservatif (sp?) in French was coined in the 19th century to describe careful prudent reformers of the Burkian type.
The Old Whigs were the proponents of Property Rights, Freedom from Arbitrary Power, the Rule of Law, Preservation of Inherited Rights and Institutions and the proponents of Careful Reform to Preserve Law, Society and Institutions of time honored development.
They felt that true freedoms could only come about in an Ordered Liberty -- a liberty where there was a corresponding Justice and related Duties.
Read up on the difference between the French Revolution (wherein the New Whigs got inspiration for divergent paths) and the American Revolution. In fact get Himmelfarb's book on the French Englightenment and how it differed from the English/Scottish Englightenment and the American system the evolved from the later and you might find that all Labels aside, certain principles rather than dogma are more appealing to you.
Art, which includes movies, are generally mildly revolutionary in their creation. As such, created art is rarely conservative. Conservatives preserve that which is of time proven value so they respect certain movies and other art, after it has proven its worth.
I doubt if you will find an answer for a search for virtues by examining values -- especially values in Art as found in movies. Look instead in classical literature and in the solid acts of men and women of noted virtue. Good luck.
1. Conan the Barbarian
2. The Incredibles
3. Dirty Harry
Sadly, I can't find a way to get The Big Lebowski on this list. That's too bad, because it's a damn fine film in it's own right.
To Kill Mockingbird
Hey, I also like Kelly's Heros. And I cried at the end of Dirty Dozen. What can I say? Not big on movies. Shrug.
My brother never wanted to go to war,it's called duty,honor and love of Country,soldiers have families too.
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse.
A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight; nothing he cares about more than his own personal safety; is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of men better than himself"
John Stuart Mill
Oh, I like the movie...definitely one that can be watched again...It just has been thrown up as a political movie for years (the first few times I saw it, I had no idea about politics)...
It was my first real date with a young lady, and I chose this flick. I loved it, but she was rather less impressed. It's been tearjerkers in such situations for old Cad ever since...
Best movie ever: "True Grit", which proves even a young girl can beat back the biggest, ugliest, meanest forces of evil if she merely sticks to her values, allies herself with a man of principle, and learns how to tighten her shot group.
Close second: "Casablanca", which proves even a French-loving, straight American expatriot can be brought around to recognize that evil must be fought if the message is delivered by a beautiful blonde.
Another favorite: "Barbarella" because it displays the lunacy of the 'best' the left has to offer.
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