Academy Award time: What's the most liberal movie of all time?

[cincinnati65]

Which movie (past or present) embodies the most liberal message?

[the_Watchman]

I remember liking High Noon as a kid. I think they hid the liberal symbolism pretty deeply because they still felt pressure from Washington.

[Rick_Hunter]

Yeah, Agnes Of God, I think that's it. That movie was POOP.

[cincinnati65]

Forgot about that one....

[Rick_Hunter]

Yet, they are all moral-liberals who all agree on social issues.

------------------------

Um, like what? Guns? Drugs? Welfare? Free speech? Libertarians and liberals generally disagree on these social issues.

[EastIdaho]

Dances With Wolves, I liked the idea of the movie but it showed the Army as a bunch of fools.

[Shethink13]

Hmmm. I must have missed somthing too. I saw the movie and to me it seemed more like trying to give a man a fair trial,(that means beyond a reasonable doubt), and not just some quick Banana Republic trial, where guilt is presumed and not innocence.

I suggest you watch it one more time. Only this time, try to ignore the belligerence of Lee J. Cobb's character and concentrate on the absurdity of Henry Fonda's goofball scenarios.

I would agree if the arguments made for a not-guilty verdict were based on evidence presented. But these guys went out of their way to exonerate this guy. How about going out and finding/buying a knife exactly like the one that was the alleged murder weapon? Is that the purview of a jurist?

[RangeRatt]

no, Rick, tell us how you really felt about the film....</Sarcasm off!>

[Rick_Hunter]

BTW: M*A*S*H, including the TV show, deserves a mention. The characters demeaned anti-Communism, promoted the idea that the war would go away if we would just quit fighting, and heavily slandered Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

------------------------------

I never really noticed this when I watched M*A*S*H. On the other hand, I liked Hogan's Heroes better as far as war-related sitcoms went. "Schuuuuultz!!!" (hee hee)

[nopardons]

Oh gee, I'd forgotten all about that movie. LOL

[Clemenza]

Henry Fonda's goofball scenarios

I always found Fonda to be one-dimensional, wooden and overrated as an actor. I still don't see much difference between him and, say, Maclean Stevenson.

[x]

"MASH" must have been pretty liberal -- or maybe just anarchic. Lots of movies of the time fit the bill: "Easy Rider", "Zabriskie Point", "Joe", "Billy Jack". Mustn't forget Jane Fonda in "Coming Home." Or Spike Lee's movies -- like "Do the Right Thing." Also, "Regarding Henry." "The Piano." "Pleasantville." Didactic movies like "War Games" -- if that's what the Matthew Broderick vehicle about Nuclear War was called -- "The Russia House," and a long boring discussion about ecology with Sam Waterston and Liv Ullmann.

A lot of what the media usually does blends into the soft left message. Curiously, a lot of "right wing" adventure films are loaded with "left wing" messages by the choice of villains. Kevin Costner's done a lot of that, though it often backfires. Movies thrive on dramatic tensions and oppositions, and the acceptable kinds of villains become ever more restrictive. Many women's films are feminist and therefore generally liberal. The case with youth movies is similar. The bad guys are always going to be the "uptight squares." Smarmfests with Whoopie Goldberg and Robin Williams. The Seventies paranoia thrillers also fit the bill. And Spielberg. Are his movies liberal, or just escapist?

[Clemenza]

My pick is "The Day After".

When I was in High School, we watched this movie in Father Ed's Peace and Justice class. When the film was over, a not-too-bright kid asked: "Father Ed, was this based on a true story?"

I kid you not.

[nopardons]

You're correct ; the other poster is wrong.

[Rick_Hunter]

Going back to the classics, how about The Grapes of Wrath?

------------------------

Haven't seen the movie, but I read the novel. Boy, did it suck; achingly dull too.

Of Mice And Men was a better effort from Steinbeck IMO. It had this "It's a tough old world and that's just the way it is" vibe to it.

[Eternal_Bear]

"King Kong"

[Clemenza]

I H8 Steinbeck, although Travels With Charlie was enjoyable.

[El Cid]

re: #50

John Wayne hated High Noon.

Say it ain't so!
I thought it was intended to have an entirely different message. I always saw this movie as a great allegory of the Cold War. Gary Cooper was the USA - who had helped clean up the town. The rest of the town who enjoyed the benefits of Gary's work - and now deserted him in his time of need - were our erstwhile european 'allies'. And of course the bad guys were the commie thugs ...
Do you mean this wasn't the message? You're not going to burst my bubble - I enjoy this movie, and I enjoy the ending where Gary the Sheriff basically tells his cowardly allies to eat spit...

[Rick_Hunter]

My pick is "The Day After". When I was in High School, we watched this movie in Father Ed's Peace and Justice class. When the film was over, a not-too-bright kid asked: "Father Ed, was this based on a true story?" I kid you not.

That miniseries scared the crap out of me when I was a kid, especially when they showed evertbody getting vaporized.

[Torie]

The Contender was a bit heavy handed wasn't it?

[carpio]

Madison Guaranty, the Little-Rock thrift owned by Clinton's business partners which failed at a cost to taxpayers of $73 million.