Politics in Film: Propaganda or Entertainment?

Quotes:

• “t’s hard to watch so many movies that have their actors quite literally summarize to me the filmmaker’s opinions It feels like it’s a way for them to signal to us that they themselves are woke and good which why would I watch your movie to find those things out about you when I can just go on your Twitter you don’t look at a painting to learn that capitalism is bad If you want to understand the wise and hows of the various systems that oppress us You read theory and good art can and maybe should spark that curiosity”

• “film is not a delivery medium for information It’s a complex and layered sensory experience”

  • Film = moving pictures = optical illusion

• “Why are you using your movie to address controversy in order to justify its own existence instead of just making a movie whose existence is justified”

• “It’s wrong to suggest that basically everyone is complacent and that the majority of people can’t be effectively organized especially in the most dire of circumstances”

• “I believe in doing more than just sharing my opinions summarizing films and being agreeable I want to engage in real criticism”.

• “I’m interested in exploring why films with such overt political goals often crumble under the weight of their own ambitions”

Notes:

• Barbie

  • Sasha’s diss of Barbie is “intentionally vague and muddled together” like what does she means by “sexualized capitalism”.

  • Barbie doesn’t address or criticize itself well because it was soooo capitalist

  • Not subversive, educational,

  • It’s a commercial

  • “it’s obvious that these women have never intellectually engaged with feminist discourse despite feeling comfortable profiting off of feminism Look no further than Gloria’s viral monologue”

  • “She wants to want to be thin and not feel ashamed She wants to have the power to be mean and squash people’s ideas She has no problem with rampant individualism She’s focused on her desires rather than the need to abolish the amorphous societal forces that define them”

  • Lacked women of color in higher up production positions

• There Will Be Blood

  • Comrade from 5 to 7 loves this movie

  • I hated it, I thought it was so boring. Maybe I should rewatch. Setting, boring. Characters, boring. Blahhhh.

  • Fever of capitalism

  • “As I write this in 2025 oil is unfortunately still oil but oil is also lithium Oil is our attention Oil is convenience Oil is Mars and the stars and our entire galaxy”

  • He went through hell, he’s not just a spoiled bloodsucking businessman

    • Hard to see him as not a victim

  • Longing for vulnerability and thirst for power will always be in conflict

  • Story is devoid of women (why it was hard to pay attention for me lol)

    • Women are often used as tools and demonstrations of domination anyways.

• Don’t Look Up

  • Characters are shameless capitalists

  • Movie over explains itself

  • Condescending

  • Is this movie… a liberal jack off film???

  • Filmmakers see their films as a teaching tool

  • Nihilistic depiction of the global south

  • POV is through the US– the US saves the world

  • Takeaway is that the filmmakers hate humanity (common)

  • Not a warning, a mirror who thinks poorly of us

  • This guy likes to experiment, but also tell you everything.

• Satire

  • does not need to be funny.

  • Moral obligation to punch up (YES— I’m a big believer in PUNCHING UP)

  • Modern satire likes to be superior and attempts to be bipartisan (probably because it relies on capitalism to exist)

• Idiocracy

  • Reduces everything to stupidity

  • Reduces people in the south to dumb people who can’t organize and take care of themselves and so things deteriorate. Reduced to intellectual inferiority.

  • Says that we are destined to demise because of our own stupidity.

  • Stupidity is our foremost issue. (same with don’t look up)

• Wall-E

  • Same miserable conclusions– humans are stupid and can’t save themselves (turns humanity into fat babies)

  • “these examples that I’ve talked about and many more lack any real moral conviction and therefore aren’t in a position to effectively expose anything worthwhile”

Overall takeaway:

• These films blame brainlessness; reducing oppression

• “Not all propaganda is inherently bad but you can’t make that decision for yourself if you don’t understand that what you’re watching is propaganda to begin with Listen I’m not judging anyone for wanting to watch fun movies or for wanting to be entertained I mean I love You’ve Got Mail a charming but supremely capitalist movie that does not reflect the world I want to live in but I’m aware enough to know what I’m getting myself into”