Politics and Movies

I generally have contempt for movies that attempt to make a political message - often they are silly, stupid, and reveal a startling lack of sophistication on the part of the movie-makers. But it is without a doubt that certain films develop a political impact and that movies, in general, underscore certain political ideals.

Brokeback is a rather obvious case of a movie with a political impact, humanizing homosexuals in a love story. Not such a big deal in the US, particularly in Collyfornia, where I reside. I doubt Brokeback changed anyone's mind about gay marriage or any immediate, short term political realities. It does, however, reflect the large changes in social attitudes towards homosexuals that have come about in the last 30-50 years in the states.

Where such a movie might have a greater impact is the subject of this article.

As of yet, no one is screening the film in the socially regressive Middle East, but with the Oscar buzz and general publicity of Brokeback, clearly the cat is out of the bag - a big gay cowboy movie is on the loose. For nutjobs, it's just more evidence of America being the big satan. But for normal people in the Middle East, although it might reveal a world they don't recognize or want to recognize, they also note the subtle chipping away of what we call tolerance to their conservative social values. The curious, progressive folks probably want to see the movie, if nothing else, to see what all the fuss is about. They will debate the merits, and maybe not even like the film, but ultimately, the idea and curiosity inherent to human beings of listening and watching stories will undoubtedly overcome. And this is the political impact of movies, writ large. That they collectively become part of the social fabric of this nation, but increasingly, the entire world.

From our perspective, it is stupid for these countries not to release the film - we see it as a sign of social backwardsness and intolerance - which is probably is. The curious thing about movies, however, is that US distributors make the same choices ALL THE TIME regarding both national and particularly international films within the US. While we do not actively sensor movies, there is a "market" sensor that determines the value of films and what we are able to see in this country. Not to mention the types of films that are taken under the marketing wing of large studios and mass-marketed - are precisely those films which can be mass marketed. Has this stunted the growth of movie narratives? Many complain of the crap state of movies? Is this the fault of our own system? Or are those merely curmudgeons, who would force Tarkovsky down our throats all day if they had their way?

Anyhow, movies and politics. From a large, global perspective, they matter....but from the standpoint of making them - shit, it's hard enough to get a good story and actors together, thinking about the global impact of a film is a waste of time.