Exposing political and moral agendas in movies
Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone) meet, magic happens, they sing, they dance, yada-yada, they fall in love. The stars align. The angels sing. What more could anyone ask for?
Tough to tell whether The Invisible Man is simply the name of a new movie or a commentary on the way men in American society have been minimized – and boys feminized – over the past three decades.
The film, of course, was directed by Scott Derrickson from a screenplay he wrote with Jon Spaihts and C. Robert Cargill, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as surgeon Stephen Strange along with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Mads Mikkelsen, and Tilda Swinton. In it, a down-and-out Strange learns the mystic arts following a career-ending car crash.
The latest incarnation of Charlie’s Angels was produced, written and directed by a woman – joy!! — specifically, Elizabeth Banks. The titular angels are played by Kristen Stewart (hazzah, she’s a lesbian in real life!!), Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska. Each comes from a different ethnic backgrounds (go, progressive Hollywood!!).
Richard Dawkins — English ethologist, evolutionary biologist, author, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, one-time University of Oxford’s Professor for Public Understanding of Science and avowed uber-atheist – is not a religious guy. As he told the American Humanist Association in accepting its Humanist of the Year award in 1996,“It is fashionable to wax apocalyptic about the threat to humanity posed by the AIDS virus, ‘mad cow’ disease and many others, but I think a case can be made that faith is one of the world’s great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate.”
It’s a movie for Millennials who are sick of hearing from their old-geezer baby boomer parents about the Space Race, Gemini capsules, Tang, something called the Right Stuff, a dead politician named John Glenn, and Neil Armstrong taking “one small step for man, one a giant leap for mankind.”
A Vigilante, starring Olivia Wilde and directed by Sarah Daggar-Nickson, and Ma, starring Octavia Spencer and directed by Tate Taylor — all but make being male a war crime, punishable by…. well, how twisted is your imagination?
Endgame is one hellacious cinematic experience, the culmination of a decade-long, 22-movie arc that features a huge star-studded cast, titanic battles, mind-bending time-travel paradoxes, unexpected plot twists, shattering special effects, a bravura musical score, inspiring acts of heroism, rich and complex characters, syrupy romance, fond farewells, eye-moistening speeches, long-hoped-for resolutions and even a good old-fashioned happy ending sealed with a kiss.
Happy Feet does touch on green themes, with humans cluttering up the Arctic mainland with refuse and overfishing the surrounding oceans. But the last-minute unification of humans to save the penguins is just that: last minute. Harping on the eco-friendly agenda only distracts from the real program: a two-part hit on traditional order.
Moana is a hero in spite of her elders, not because of them. Which is strange because the movie seems to want to celebrate heritage.