The unblinking eye


Message films, the good, the bad, and the ugly
Libertas has been talking about creating a hypothetical conservative film. In Put Up or Shut Up Part 5: Theme, they talk about the "message film" and make some excellent points.

The unionizing in Norma Rae is the device the filmmakers use to explore a fascinating woman. Charlize Theron in North Country is the device the filmmakers use to explore a very tired liberal cliche. Norma Rae explores the universally interesting human condition. North Country explores chauvinism and corrupt corporations. One tries to change your mind, the other your heart.

Clooney’s Good Night and Good Luck fails because it’s theme is speaking! truth! to! power! and is filled with sanctimonious white shirts spouting platitudes with only superficial exploration of the human condition. On the other hand, the theme of Tim Robbins’ Dead Man Walking is about everything but capital punishment which is why he was able to make such a powerful anti-capital punishment statement. By using the execution of the worst kind of man as a device to explore the themes of faith, redemption forgiveness, and justice versus vengeance, Robbins opens his film to all of us because we can relate to what the film’s really about, which is real people dealing with enormous personal stakes.

The Defiant One’s is not about racism, it’s about friendhsip. Cool Hand Luke is not about a lousy prison system it’s about individualism. The China Syndrome is not about nuclear power, it’s about doing what’s right. A Civil Action is not about corporate polluters, it’s about a very selfish man becoming unselfish. Yes, these films hang on a liberal outlook, but that outlook doesn’t overtake the film making it patronizing when we already agree or excluding us when we don’t. And I’m specifically using only liberal striped films so you know this is not about politics, it’s about making a decent film.

It's not about the message, it's about the story and the characters. Most of the "message films" today bore me, and I am a political junkie.

That is why these films don't find a foothold in "flyover country." It's not that people are ignorant, it's that they don't want to be lectured to, they want to be entertained. When I saw Good Night and Good Luck I was amazed that anyone could goof a film up that badly. Edward R. Murrow was one of the seminal figures in American journalism with an absolutely fascinating life story, and that film almost put me to sleep. I couldn't even make it through North Country. And don't get me started on Michael Moore's "documentaries."

People care about injustice, but they want story and character development in their film.

Let me give you an example of one of the great character mismatches in modern film, Superman Returns. Now I was in high school when the first Christopher Reeve film came out. I wanted to like Superman Returns. I would have been satisfied if the film had been decent. But no, they had to turn Superman into Superstalker. The characters of Superman and Lois Lane were so far removed from their origins that they did not fit into the film or the story. And it is not just because it is a "superhero" film.

Compare that with The Aviator, another film about an over-the-top character, where the relationships pretty much define the story. Not to mention dead-on portrayals of Katherine Hepburn and Jean Harlow.

Or what about Office Space, an absolutely brilliant gem where the characters are so dead on that by the time the situation goes beyond absurdity, you don't even notice? Or Dangerous Minds, where the characters ARE the situation.

These aren't message films, they are good stories first and last. What gives them their power is not their politics (although all have modern liberal leanings), but the fact that they are stories.

Better to reach the heart than the mind. Better still to reach both the heart and mind.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Thu - November 23, 2006 at 08:30 AM  Tag


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