OSC rips Hollywood for its crummy anti-war movies.

Uncle Orson Reviews Everything ^ | November 18, 2007 | Orson Scott Card

[Parody]

In the News & Record last Sunday, Lewis Beale of Newsday wrote about how "War films can be hard for Hollywood to peddle." It seems that "of the four flms released in the past six months dealing with the current world situation -- all with big-name stars and the full Hollywood studio push -- none earned a profit in its initial theatrical release."

Stephen Bochco explains the failure of these war films (as of his own TV series on the war, Over There) by saying, "It's a hugely unpopular war, and there's a staggering amount of depressing coverage.... 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."

And Dennis Rice of United Artists adds, "Anytime you believe a movie is going to be the same story as what you get for free on CNN 24 hours a day, people will ask, 'Why spend $10 to go see that?'"

Beale then lists successful World War II era films like Mrs. Miniver, Casablanca, and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.

But ... wait ... maybe the difference isn't that we all hate this war. Maybe the difference is that we hate Hollywood's attitude toward the war.

Mrs. Miniver is a powerfully emotional story about love and loss in wartime. It pulls no punches. But nobody doubts whose side the film is on. It isn't about blaming the government for getting us into the war. The film accepts that the war is being fought and then shows real nobility of spirit among those supporting it.

Need I point out that in Casablanca, it's clear that the Nazis and those who support them are the embodiment of evil, so that anyone on the other side is at least partly good?

And in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo there's no problem with a heroic story about bombing the heavily populated capital city of the nation that sneak-attacked us at Pearl Harbor and death-marched our soldiers from Bataan.

Here's a thought. What if Hollywood made a movie in which the people fighting the war thought that the U.S. was the good guys, that fighting Osama's terrorists in Iraq was way better than fighting them in Manhattan, and that the men and women who volunteer for service in our military are devoted servants of our country?

Bochco's and Rice's logic is like that of the researcher who trained a grasshopper to jump when he yelled "jump." He pulled off one leg; the grasshopper still jumped on command; he kept pulling off legs until the grasshopper stopped jumping.

The researcher's conclusion?

Grasshoppers with no legs can't hear.

Wrong conclusion, dimwit!

Remember what happened after Passion of the Christ made half a billion dollars at the box office? ABC dusted off an abandoned TV movie about Judas Iscariot -- and nobody watched.

What did Hollywood learn from this? That there's no market for "Bible movies"; Passion was just a fluke.

Can you believe anything so stupid? Passion of the Christ brought millions of people to the theaters who never went to see normal Hollywood films -- because they've given up on finding movies that tell stories they can believe in and care about. They trusted Mel Gibson to deliver a believer's movie -- so they went.

ABC's Judas Iscariot project, though, was obviously not for believers in the divinity of Christ. Christians avoided a film clearly designed to shock and offend them, and non-Christians didn't care enough to watch.

The audience is way more sophisticated than Hollywood: They want biblical movies, they just don't want anti-Christian ones. Likewise, they want war movies, they just don't want anti-American ones.

Here's a complete refutation of the idea that Hollywood's war films keep failing because the War on Terror is so "hugely unpopular": The Unit.

It may not get the top ratings numbers, but it's a realistic TV series about Special Ops soldiers who are fighting the War on Terror. The writers make it clear now and then that they share Hollywood's disapproval of the Bush administration -- but they treat the soldiers sympathetically and show the bad guys as murderous jihadists. In short, they're honest.

I believe if you tell the truth about the war and the kind of people who are fighting it, the audience will come. People can deal with heartbreak, with gritty reality -- as long as they don't think they're seeing enemy propaganda.

But as long as Leftist Hollywood lies about the war, treating it as a fraud or a mistake instead of a war being fought by soldiers who believe it is as essential to our future security as World War II, then they'll find that nobody wants to see their stupid movies.

As long as Hollywood filmmakers, like the Democrats in Congress, are against American victory, they'll get treated like Tokyo Rose. As long as they amuse us, we'll listen; when they propagandize us, they get only our backs.

[Parody]

He's belaboring the obvious, but with all the thick skulls in Hollywood, what else can he do?

[Grizzled Bear]

Some musical acts have enjoyed limited success by insulting and degrading their audience. Hollywood fails to understand that this market is a very narrow niche.

[Zhang Fei]

He's belaboring the obvious, but with all the thick skulls in Hollywood, what else can he do?

I don't think they're stupid. They think we're stupid and we not only need to be brought around to their point of view, we'll pay for the privilege. What they're discovering is that we might be stupid, but we're not interested in their propaganda.

[ncphinsfan]

He’s right, right, right, right and right. I love the grasshopper analogy. Pull of the grasshopper’s legs, it won’t jump, it’s deaf.
Go, Hollywood!

[Zhang Fei]

At least not to the extent of paying for it.

[Old Sarge]

There will never be another uplifting story of the contest of arms in our lifetime.

The last was “The Lord Of The Rings”, and it was already sixty years old when filming started.

[stevem]

Stephen Bochco explains the failure of these war films (as of his own TV series on the war, Over There) by saying, "It's a hugely unpopular war, and there's a staggering amount of depressing coverage.... 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."

It's almost impossible to believe that someone putatively literate could say something this stupid.

[Malone LaVeigh]

Here's a complete refutation of the idea that Hollywood's war films keep failing because the War on Terror is so "hugely unpopular": The Unit.

Definitely one of my favorites.

[Turret Gunner A20]

ping

[puroresu]

A large percentage of the people in today’s Hollyweird hate our military. I refuse to pay to see their drivel.

[rawcatslyentist]

>"It's a hugely unpopular war,"

Yeah, the islamonazi types dont cair much for it!

[Lucas McCain]

My problem with “The Unit” is that the producers don’t seem to know which audience to target. They spend half the time dealing with military action stuff and the other half dealing with women at home soap opera stuff. If they would ditch the women at home stuff I would watch much more faithfully and I’d bet there ratings would improve.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

NEVER FORGET

.

Actually,

...one of the most important Motion Pictures in the last 100 years is a 2007 ImaginAsian Entertainment Vietnam War film that horridly relives what happens to a once Free South Vietnamese family during the last week of, and then after, the Fall of Saigon to Communism:

.

..”JOURNEY from the FALL”.. MoviePremieres = Fall of Saigon CLARITY..

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1806248/posts

.

Truly a must see message for all Americans now,

in a new time of war
in a new century
with our own Freedom
directly at stake
right here at home.

Now available on DVD.

http://www.TheImaginAsian.com

.

NEVER FORGET

.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

MEL’s -PASSION- sparked by -WE WERE SOLDIERS-

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1085111/posts

.

[PzLdr]

They did the same thing on TV with “Tour of Duty” [about ‘Nam]. Second season they added female leads, so the show would attract women with ‘relationship’ story lines. Lost the men.

[Billthedrill]

What if Hollywood made a movie in which the people fighting the war thought that the U.S. was the good guys, that fighting Osama's terrorists in Iraq was way better than fighting them in Manhattan, and that the men and women who volunteer for service in our military are devoted servants of our country?

I can tell you what would happen. Ebert would throw two thumbs down one it, the other critics would pan it, it would be resolutely ignored at Sundance, Cannes, and the Academy Awards, and it would pull in the better part of a billion dollars. And sooner or later some smart guy in Hollywood is going to figure that out.

[shield]

Look at the movie UNITED 93...it was one terribly sad movie...but we went to see it...it told the truth about a plane full of American Heroes...it hurt...but we went....we've bought the DVD and have watched it again...and again...

If commie hollyweirdo wants to lose money on HIT PIECES against America, the WOT, and our troops with those old by-gone stars...let'em...one day they'll go broke and busted...

[Turret Gunner A20]

MEL’s -PASSION- sparked by -WE WERE SOLDIERS-

Definitely the best I have seen in the past 50 years -- and the General's book it top drawer, too.

And, Hey -- climb aboard more often -- I miss giving you a hard time more often.

TG A20

[RayChuang88]

You'd think Hollywood would think hard about doing something that offends the majority of the audience after the King David and The Last Temptation of Christ fiascos of the 1980's (as described in Michael Medved's autobiography Right Turns). Is it small wonder why movies that agrees with the views of the audience did very well? Look at the success of the Lord of the Rings movies (based on a book written by a devout Catholic), the first Narnia movie, and the recent word-of-mouth success Bella.

[VeniVidiVici]

One of the first was the movie version of Sum of All Fears changing Islamofascists to Nazis.

Terrible movie. It would have tanked too if Clancy’s name wasn’t attached to it. Even with his name there I doubt many movie goers realized before they went that the story line had been changed so as not to upset a group of people.