Posted on 03/08/2006 7:18:00 AM PST by goldstategop
In the minds of many of the rabid "Republican Party-right or wrong, Bush walks on water" crowd here, any movie that has any thing in it that the mindless drones percieve to be "anti-Bush" is automatically "anti-American.
Maybe we should hold our stones to see the evidence before we throw them?
Nah... that would require these folks to actually make up their own minds.
It's much easier having a Republican pundit like Rush or this this Debbie Schlussel chick tell them what to do.
Oh for goodness sake.
*The author is a rabid anti-Thatcherite who based the original comic on paranoia of her.
*The movie updates it to a US in chaos after a "failed" Iraq war.
*The evil TV personality is clearly based on Bill O'Reilly.
*The dictator is an evil Christian who commits genocide on homosexuals, Islamics, etc.
*Producer Larry Wachowski is himself a transsexual/S&M walking nightmare whose violent adolescent fantasies (The Matrix) impressed me not.
It's yet another degenerate Hollywood left-wing paranoia fever dream that flows out of their hole like so much diarrhea. I stopped being fascinated by such violent sci-fi garbage when I was 17.
But you go right ahead and get your thoughts provoked from comic books and The Matrix. I've chosen to grow up.
LOL, you sure got your knickers in a wad over this movie. I plan to see it tonight.
I hope my innocent mind doesn't get corrupted by all the bad things it says about the president and turn me into a "liberal".
I've chosen to grow up.
Yeah...I can tell from your mature, insightful and thought provoking post to andie.
Good luck in life, dopey.
Real grown up, yes indeed.
Knock yourself out.
This is a horribly flawed movie and a perfect example of flawed liberal thinking. It mad me so angry I could just scream.
We know from the first 2 minutes of the movie what the Wachowski brothers are trying to imply (I don’t know if you realize it, but Larry Wachowski got a sex change, can Hollywood get any more perverted… probably… LOL). The movie is not about a fascist government or a socialist government or marxists or communist. It is about a whole fictitious and unbelievable government. A conservative right-wing theocracy so extreme that it could we never exist as long as freedom loving people are willing to fight against tyranny. I mean it goes way too far. Orwellian is an understatement.
As Americans our founding fathers fought AGAINST that sort of thing; and I have a hard time believing that things would ever get that bad without someone taking a stand MUCH sooner.
On the plus side, the movie could be said to be about the importance of freedom... about what could happen if one person (or a small group of people) controlled virtually all branches of government... about what would happen if the media always sided with the ruling party... about what would happen if the government could label anyone that disagreed with them as unpatriotic or lock them up.
On the negative side, in doing this Hollywood seems completely detached from reality (as usual).
For example, in the movie the government convinces people to allow phone calls to be monitored; they allow the government to monitor EVERYTHING, from what they read, to where they go. And the people supposedly allow all this because they are frightened of terrorists.
Now I worry about terrorists as much as the next guy, but this is utter crap. It would be impossible for ANY government to fool an educated populous so completely that they would just surrender their liberties because it makes them feel safe.
I mean sure, maybe something small... like driving the speed limit... that we can all agree on... but privacy is too important to just give away like that. People would never let the government get away with that.
In the US our founding fathers fought for those freedoms... and our brave soldiers over in Iraq die every day defending them. We would simply not allow it. No one would!
Another thing in the movie that bothered me was the portrayal of government censorship. It made Fahrenheit 451 look tame (the book by Ray Bradbury not the movie by that obnoxious pig Michael Moore, someone should shut him up permanently). I mean everything was censored... from anti-government posters... to nude art work... to music with bad words... to pornography. I mean Alberto Gonzales wants to censor porn... but with the exception of John Ashcroft I don't think many people are clamoring for censor our art and music.
Another example, in the movie the government has exploited fear to expand their powers until they could control things like the decisions that we make in our own homes. For example, in the movie, gay people are not allowed to marry. I bet the Hollywood folks loved that... again the poor "oppressed" homosexuals… LOL
Although it makes for a creepy Orwellian story line; free societies believe that people have certain inalienable rights: like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Even for queers.
The movie also imagines a world were religion rules the government. This is also utter nonsense. There are far too many religions in the world. I for one can not imagine any society tolerating the establishment of a national religion... if I remember my history that is exactly what our founding fathers were trying to escape... the Church of England. To imagine a world were people would welcome that back is beyond ridiculous.
Another aspect that I found troubling was that the government in the movie had secret prisons where "terrorists" were held indefinitely and tortured. Again, although I see what the Hollywood folk that made this are trying to say... this again is something that people simply wouldn't tolerate... even out of fear. The bags over the head were a nice touch… I bet these people love Jane Fonda.
And lastly. The biggest problem I had with the movie. The "hero" fights the "tyranny" of the government by being a terrorist... guilty of treason... and calling himself a freedom fighter.
Now while I do understand that our founding fathers blew up English government property... were guilty of treason... and were probably considered terrorists by the English government... there is a HUGE difference.
We are Americans.
And we will always fight back when the government tries to control us or tax us or take away our guns or our liberties or our rights to make our own decisions and control our own lives. That's what makes us freedom fighters and not terrorists.
Like the movie said... The people shouldn't be afraid of the government. The government should be afraid of the people.
And that is something that we never need to worry about. Our government knows that we will rise up if they become too big or too corrupt or if they have too many cronies or if they just start acting like they can do anything they want and we will just allow it! Our government can't get away with things like that we are NOT idiots!
It short... don't go see this movie. Debbie is right. Sometimes I wish there were more limits on free speech.
Is that so?
Sometimes I wish there were more limits on free speech.
You have just proven that there are many timid sheep who will trade their liberty for security.
You are afraid of the message of this movie, so you would like to prevent others from seeing it.
I'll bet you are all gung ho for the Patriot Act too.
Nice "conservative" values there pal.
Like the movie said... The people shouldn't be afraid of the government. The government should be afraid of the people.
Our government knows that we will rise up if they become too big or too corrupt or if they have too many cronies or if they just start acting like they can do anything they want and we will just allow it! Our government can't get away with things like that we are NOT idiots!
I have to disagree with you here. The overwhelming majority of Americans will go along with whatever the government says. Yeah, they may argue and complain but they will do NOTHING meaningful to stop it. In fact, in too many cases, they will continue voting for the very people that put those policies in place.
The government has been too big and tyrannical for quite a while now. Every year our liberties get further degraded, REGARDLESS of who controls Congress and who is in the White House.
Tyranny doesn't come in a single shot take over. It comes as a gradual process. I agree that if someone came in today and tried to install full Orwellian-totalitarianism that the American people would not stand for it. But that isn't what is happening, nor what will happen. They will slowly eat away at our liberties, until one day we live in a totalitarian regime and we won't know how or why it happened.
Already the government has far more influence over our everyday lives than they were ever intended. They tax individuals, "oh but it's to ensure that the government has enough money". Then the install welfare programs to make the people dependent upon the government. The people don't stop it because these are for "good" causes. Then they expand the government further, controlling more aspects of life, to "help fight poverty". That's worthwhile so we let it happen. Next thing you know they are requiring us to wear seat-belts and saying we can't smoke... but it's for our own good. Each step along the way makes sense and seems to be for a good cause. By the time we realize that we've lost all freedom and liberty, it will be too late.
I'm sorry, but I completely disagree with you that America is any different. It is only a small few of us that will fight back. It can happen here, it IS happening here and if we don't remain eternally vigilant it WILL happen here.
Sometimes I wish there were more limits on free speech.
I'm going to assume that was a joke and ignore that comment. If you don't understand why, reread my comments above.
Go see the blasted movie and sit through 2 hours of propaganda, it is just up you alley! Nobody is stopping you.
We are discussing the merits of this evil crap and the agenda behind it. You know still using our brains and looking deeper to the message.
Fear it....no way! Just watching stupidity in action and when it come to Hollywood. Lately it is one idiotic stumble after another when it comes to their audience and the utter mind boggling lack of knowledge whence the freedoms in America sprang from!
Looks like this years box office will be just as interesting to watch.
LOL, whatever you say.
"Hollywood's moonbat view of the War On Terror, on Bush's America, on evil Christians and on those conservative fascists cracking down on beautiful Muslims. A movie only Osama Bin Laden could love. This is what the Far Left thinks of the future: terrorists good, America (with the futuristic dystopian UK as an allegorical stand-in for Bush's America) bad. Skip it."
I've just seen the movie last night, and I'll point out a few things for those who haven't seen it:
1. The US is mentioned a grand total of 3 times in the film, and only in passing.
2. The buildings that the "terrorist" V destroys are both _EMPTY OF PEOPLE_ when they are destroyed.
3. V DOES NOT TARGET OR KILL CIVILIANS.
4. The Government depicted in the movie is UNAMBIGUOUSLY EVIL.
"Debbie is right. Sometimes I wish there were more limits on free speech."
Speaking of flawed thinking....
"As Americans our founding fathers fought AGAINST that sort of thing; and I have a hard time believing that things would ever get that bad without someone taking a stand MUCH sooner."
Earth to reason2006: In case you haven't noticed, the movie is shot in the UK, and all of the characters are British, NOT AMERICAN. You may want to take that into account when you make statements like "our founding fathers fought AGAINST that sort of thing" BRITAIN's founding fathers didn't. There are a few who fought against overly centralized power, such as those who forced the Magna Carta through, but on the whole, the history of BRITAIN is EVOLUTIONARY NOT REVOLUTIONARY. And if you extrapolated from current trends in the UK, with it's emphasis on disarming it's own people, and laying criminal charges against those who defend their home with a firearm etc. I highly question equivocating UK society with US society.
Agreed. But I was commenting on the original review of the movie which pointed out (and rightly so) that the Wachowski brothers adapted the original book to create a thinly veiled commentary on the current US administration.
"The movie takes place in futuristic England, and there is only one American star (Natalie Portman). But it's quite clear to whom the "commentary" is directed: Joe and Jane American."
The history and politics of the UK are certainly worth discussing, but that is not what the review was addressing.
It is disturbing that the British would allow the government to disarm them. They also allow the government to listen to their phone calls, monitor what they read, monitor where they go, force them to carry ID or be arrested and monitor them via video surveillance. They don't seem to understand that if they allow there government to do that they are no longer free and might as well be living in the world portrayed in this movie.
BTW "Sometimes I wish there were more limits on free speech." it is entirely possible that I was being sarcastic ;)
Oh yeah, just look at those hollow, vacant eyes. Makes me tingly all over.
BTW, movie was excellent.
Indeed I agree :) Cool I will have to see about watching it.
Or at least wait 3 weeks ofter opening. The first two weeks have the studio generally getting 50% of the gross, with the percentage decreasing thereafter
I would have loved to see Dark Knight on screen, with Clint Eastwood playing the aging Batman. Miller's Batman really came across as very Dirty Harry-ish
I definitely recommend it. Yes, they get in a few digs on the US, which I wasn't crazy about. But overall the movie is great, definitely one that will spark discussion.
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