J
Joe Gillis
Guest
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions...antiwar_movies_hurt_america__and_debase_.html
If Tokyo Rose were alive today, she wouldn't get jail time - she'd get
a three-picture deal.
Throwing all caution and fiscal sanity to the winds, the Hollywood
establishment is releasing a slate of anti-war films that do violence
to the cause of American victory - and to the art form of film.
Art is best served by an open competition of ideas. When only the anti-
war left is allowed to make films in Hollywood and pro-American voices
are excluded, the result is movies that are ideologically rigid,
morally shallow and creatively sterile. Is it any wonder that recent
anti-war films like "Rendition" and "In the Valley of Elah" have
bombed at the box office?
Hollywood's enforced ideological conformity is obvious: "Elah," the
Tommy Lee Jones vehicle now in theaters, and "Redacted," directed by
Brian DePalma and set for release later this month, both depict
American troops in Iraq as murderers and psychopaths. "Rendition,"
released last month, asserts that the American government allows
innocent Muslim civilians to be tortured. "Lions for Lambs," featuring
Robert Redford and Tom Cruise, depicts a venal Republican senator
risking the lives of American troops in order to advance his political
career. "Stop Loss," starring Ryan Phillippe, posits that the only
noble American soldier is the one who refuses to serve.
Even the relatively tame "The Kingdom" concludes with a coda that
draws a moral equivalency between American CIA agents and Saudi
terrorists.
These films and others are the crescendo of three years' worth of anti-
war films. Even our sacred memories of World War II have been
tarnished in recent years by films like "The Good German" (a ghastly,
morally confused remake of "Casablanca").
This proliferation of anti-war cinema in the midst of a war is
unprecedented. In World Wars I and II, Hollywood filmmakers - both
conservative and liberal - rushed to support the war effort regardless
of which administration was leading it.
During the Great War, conservative stars like Mary Pickford and
Douglas Fairbanks worked with liberals like Charlie Chaplin to raise
millions of dollars through Liberty Loan drives.
During the Second World War, Hollywood's Republican studio heads -
patriots like Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner and Darryl F. Zanuck - did
not hesitate to make films supporting the war effort when Democrat
Franklin Roosevelt asked for their help. Great pro-war films like
"Casablanca," "To Have and Have Not," "Sergeant York" and the "Why We
Fight" series were the result.
Hollywood's support for American military efforts continued during the
Korean War and into the early Vietnam era. Despite growing anti-war
sentiment, the studios made not a single major anti-Vietnam War movie
while our troops were still on the ground fighting. The only notable
Vietnam movie made during the war, John Wayne's "The Green Berets,"
was ardently pro-American.
That all changed when the Baby Boomers took over Hollywood in the
1970s and weaved a new cinematic narrative of anti-American self-
loathing. This narrative is now being applied to the post-9/11 world -
and dissenting conservative voices are being systematically excluded.
Talented filmmakers like Cyrus Nowrasteh (ABC's "The Path to 9/11"),
Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Robert Avrech ("Body Double"),
novelist and screenwriter Andrew Klavan (Clint Eastwood's "True
Crime") and actor Robert Davi ("Profiler") have all tried to get pro-
war projects made these past three years, and have all been turned
down by the Hollywood system.
Even superstar Bruce Willis has tried to get a film made about the
famed "Deuce Four" battalion serving in Iraq - but has gotten nowhere
with the studios.
The resulting ideological conformity is a disaster both for America
and for the art form of film. Art must serve truth if it is to be
compelling. When Hollywood systematically muddies distinctions between
freedom-loving Americans and terrorists, it's no wonder the resulting
films resemble the tedious "Rendition" - instead of enthralling
classics like "Casablanca."
It's hard to tell good stories when you equivocate about tyranny - and
even harder to get the public to go along with it.
If Tokyo Rose were alive today, she wouldn't get jail time - she'd get
a three-picture deal.
Throwing all caution and fiscal sanity to the winds, the Hollywood
establishment is releasing a slate of anti-war films that do violence
to the cause of American victory - and to the art form of film.
Art is best served by an open competition of ideas. When only the anti-
war left is allowed to make films in Hollywood and pro-American voices
are excluded, the result is movies that are ideologically rigid,
morally shallow and creatively sterile. Is it any wonder that recent
anti-war films like "Rendition" and "In the Valley of Elah" have
bombed at the box office?
Hollywood's enforced ideological conformity is obvious: "Elah," the
Tommy Lee Jones vehicle now in theaters, and "Redacted," directed by
Brian DePalma and set for release later this month, both depict
American troops in Iraq as murderers and psychopaths. "Rendition,"
released last month, asserts that the American government allows
innocent Muslim civilians to be tortured. "Lions for Lambs," featuring
Robert Redford and Tom Cruise, depicts a venal Republican senator
risking the lives of American troops in order to advance his political
career. "Stop Loss," starring Ryan Phillippe, posits that the only
noble American soldier is the one who refuses to serve.
Even the relatively tame "The Kingdom" concludes with a coda that
draws a moral equivalency between American CIA agents and Saudi
terrorists.
These films and others are the crescendo of three years' worth of anti-
war films. Even our sacred memories of World War II have been
tarnished in recent years by films like "The Good German" (a ghastly,
morally confused remake of "Casablanca").
This proliferation of anti-war cinema in the midst of a war is
unprecedented. In World Wars I and II, Hollywood filmmakers - both
conservative and liberal - rushed to support the war effort regardless
of which administration was leading it.
During the Great War, conservative stars like Mary Pickford and
Douglas Fairbanks worked with liberals like Charlie Chaplin to raise
millions of dollars through Liberty Loan drives.
During the Second World War, Hollywood's Republican studio heads -
patriots like Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner and Darryl F. Zanuck - did
not hesitate to make films supporting the war effort when Democrat
Franklin Roosevelt asked for their help. Great pro-war films like
"Casablanca," "To Have and Have Not," "Sergeant York" and the "Why We
Fight" series were the result.
Hollywood's support for American military efforts continued during the
Korean War and into the early Vietnam era. Despite growing anti-war
sentiment, the studios made not a single major anti-Vietnam War movie
while our troops were still on the ground fighting. The only notable
Vietnam movie made during the war, John Wayne's "The Green Berets,"
was ardently pro-American.
That all changed when the Baby Boomers took over Hollywood in the
1970s and weaved a new cinematic narrative of anti-American self-
loathing. This narrative is now being applied to the post-9/11 world -
and dissenting conservative voices are being systematically excluded.
Talented filmmakers like Cyrus Nowrasteh (ABC's "The Path to 9/11"),
Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Robert Avrech ("Body Double"),
novelist and screenwriter Andrew Klavan (Clint Eastwood's "True
Crime") and actor Robert Davi ("Profiler") have all tried to get pro-
war projects made these past three years, and have all been turned
down by the Hollywood system.
Even superstar Bruce Willis has tried to get a film made about the
famed "Deuce Four" battalion serving in Iraq - but has gotten nowhere
with the studios.
The resulting ideological conformity is a disaster both for America
and for the art form of film. Art must serve truth if it is to be
compelling. When Hollywood systematically muddies distinctions between
freedom-loving Americans and terrorists, it's no wonder the resulting
films resemble the tedious "Rendition" - instead of enthralling
classics like "Casablanca."
It's hard to tell good stories when you equivocate about tyranny - and
even harder to get the public to go along with it.
