I can remember a time when I would watch cop shows and accept that they were the good guys. No matter what they did, they were in the right because they're the police.
How things have changed. Since my "conversion" more than 2 years ago, I've found that there are so many movies and TV shows that I have difficult time watching. Even movies and shows that I love are bogged down by statist moments that are difficult to see past. Let me give you a few examples:
Cop Shows
To any anarchist, it should go without saying that I can't watch a cop show without thinking of the main characters as the bad guys. I mean, it just seems insane to me now. They threaten and kidnap people because of the substances they choose to ingest and sell.
These people are supposed to be the heroes? I see them as nothing more than violent meddlers. And then I just laugh when they have to deal with "corrupt cops."
You're all corrupt.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Don't get me wrong, I adore this movie. I'm a big comic book geek plus, it is unabashedly pro-freedom. The Mises Institute even wrote an article calling it "Rothbardian."
As a political libertarian I thought this movie was perfect. As an anarchist, I find the ending problematic.
I'll give a brief summary: After several rousing speeches about the value of freedom over security, Captain America punches out the bad guys and takes down a corrupt government organization. Hooray! Right?
The movie ends with a montage of FBI and CIA agents arresting members of the "corrupt" faction of the government. Yayyy... the "good government" players have saved the day. Ugh.
I still love the movie, but it's hard for me to enjoy that moment.
The Untouchables (1987)
This is one of the worst offenders I can think of. I loved this movie when I was younger and now I can hardly stand it. Why on earth should I side with prohibition era cops? Why on earth would I side with men who have made it their business to arrest or kill anyone for the crime of selling alcohol?
The movie ends with a reporter telling Elliot Ness that there are rumours that prohibition is ending. He asks Ness what he'll do if that happens. Ness responds, "I'll have a drink."
Years ago, I thought that line made him an interesting character. How noble, he enjoys alcohol but was still willing to uphold the law and abstain without question! I thought to myself. Now I just think, What an asshole. He's shooting and arresting people just because the government tells him to. He would have no problem doing exactly what these "bad guys" are doing if the government allowed it. He's an immoral yes man.
What about you?
What movies or TV shows have been ruined by your political (or non-political) leanings? Let me know in the comments!
~Seth
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Great post! Thought provoking and funny. Steemit Filmmaker's unite. Following.
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Ooo, another filmmaker! I'll follow you back. You should take a look at my experimental 16mm film here on Steemit. I've also done a bunch of animated content here.
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Analogy for the non-anarchist: If you know basic firearm handling principles and safety rules, action flicks can be literally painful. The older they are, the worse it can be.
GET YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER, IDIOT! WATCH YOUR MUZZLE! NO, THAT IS NOT HOW THAT EVEN WORKS! WHAT THE HECK IS THAT SHOTGUN COCKING SOUND DOING IN THE MIX WHEN I SEE A 1911?
That's a bit like the philosophical reaction for the anarchist when witnessing cinematic statism.
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Great analogy. Thanks for commenting.
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ill just watch the matrix one more time, all is well :)
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For me it's anime. I don't watch a lot of American movies, mostly because they're crap. But has anyone noticed how almost all anarchy is written from the perspective of the state? I challenge you to find some good anime where the state is the antagonist and you have an anarchist, or even an underdog, protagonist. They are few and far between.
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It goes for any movie with a cop in it, knowing that they are IQ limited and trying to emulate an IQ over that limit is laughable every single time. Apparently people with a high IQ quickly leave the force, so the courts agree, no cops with iq over 125. Hilarious and criminal at the same time.
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How dare you insult the boys in blue! :P
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Hey! Hello from the Voluntaryism group on FascistBook. I used to love the movie Untouchables too. What you wrote about it is very true. I would have been a "gangster" back then I suppose.
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Have you seen the movie Lawless? It's about prohibition era moonshiners. Now those are some characters that I can side with!
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It sounds familiar, but I'm not sure. I will check it out, thanks!
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Kinda had to work hard to enjoy Zootopia with the rest of the fam. I'm such a downer.
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Oh man, that's exactly how I felt! All of my family was telling me how great it was, but I had a hard time getting through it.
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Freaking A, tell me about it @sethlinson!!!
You hit it right on the head and with solid examples!
What an amazing way to ruin it and what a trade of to see it!
😝😉😏😎
The main brainwashing tool doesn't have a hold and we can actually see the BS clearly now 💪😎👍
I really enjoyed this one! I feel your "pain" haha
Steem on 🐳💯!!!
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When you've had such a major shift it worldview, you begin to see the insanity everywhere!
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A lot of movies. Most of them filmed in the brain washing Hollywood sets. Always the Americans are the good people and germans/russians/native americans/japaneses/cubans or insert any enemy of Tio Sam are the Bad guys. The history is tell not according the true. The history is tell for the convenience of the winners.
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A lot of media is designed to actively brainwash. But even the media this isn't designed that way is still made by filmmakers who are themselves brainwashed, so the message is consistent: government=good, America=good.
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I can't watch anything anymore. It's all so stupid and social justice warrior-ish. One day I will rewatch all the great 90s and early 2000s movies with my son (when he gets older)
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I think there's still a lot of great stuff coming out. But you need to wade through the muck to find it!
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I don't bother. I'm sure there are some great movies made..but where are they? Not on Netflix, not on HBO, not on Amazon Prime. I'd gladly pay to watch non-political movies where the leading role is black or a woman just to "we're all the same, and blacks and women are underrepresented in the movie industry, so let's just randomly throw them in anywhere".
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For those that you lose there will be other works that you come to appreciate more. When I watched Avatar The Last Airbender for the 2nd time I started to notice certain things that could be libertarian.
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As a libertarian, and later an anarchist, I really appreciated The Lego Movie. Seriously, it's incredibly pro-freedom!
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Try and find an armed civilian taking out a bad guy. According to Hollywood, it never happens.
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Just wait for the cops to come. You'll be fine!
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Batman. Does he count?
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I do agree but it gets worse... have you looked into the CIA and DoDs influence on Hollywood and TV? They pretty much control all the content.
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I know there's a lot of meddling, but I don't believe all content is controlled. Especially not in the internet age. Not that I think it makes much of a difference... most of those who aren't active brainwashers are already brainwashed so the message is the same either way.
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i don't know, i didn't think anarchist watched tv or movies cause it's brainwashing / reprogramming no? either it enters your conscious / subconcious mind. i thought an anarchist wouldn't like being told what to do or how to behave... i still think this but now i'm having a new thought process to analyze
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I don't believe most movies are designed to actively brainwash anyone. And if you always keep your mind alert, you'll be fine.
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Salam persahatan di komunitas steemit....mari sama- sama saling berbagi karya.
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| The beauty of sharing knowledge ... The beauty of
friendship helps each other, @lesmanggis look
forward to all steemit community friends Please
upvote/ resteem if you like |
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Good isn't so much a "side" as it is a state of being. It doesn't matter what uniform you wear, so much as what your life means. If your life stands for noble principals, those principals might compel you to wear a uniform and fight. Those principals might also land you in jail later, it depends on society.
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