Dave Farber
2018-08-16 03:03:53 UTC
Date: August 15, 2018 at 11:56:29 PM GMT+9
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] From box office to Oval Office: can a film ever lead to political change?
From box office to Oval Office: can a film ever lead to political change?
As America heads toward the midterm elections, Spike Lee, Michael Moore and Dinesh DâSouza all hope their films will have a profound effect on voters
By Zach Vasquez
Aug 14 2018
<https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/14/spike-lee-michael-moore-dinesh-dsouza-can-a-film-change-politics>
August is supposed to offer the average moviegoer their last chance to bask in big-budget spectacle and easy escapism, the time when studios unload the remainder of their summer tent-poles as they gear up for the heady days of Oscar season. However, a cursory glance at the slate of films currently on US release â including Spike Leeâs civil rights-era police procedural, BlacKkKlansman, Boots Rileyâs surrealist satire of late capitalism, Sorry to Bother You, the kinetic social drama Blindspotting, and, at other end of the ideological spectrum, the latest piece of revisionist history from rightwing polemicist Dinesh DâSouza, Death of a Nation â reveals a lineup that has more in common with the politically charged fare typically associated with awards season.
This is not a sudden development. From last yearâs Oscar darlings â Get Out, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and The Post â to this yearâs biggest blockbuster, Black Panther, American movies are more unapologetically political than they have been in over a decade.
The same can be said of the people behind the movies. Incited by the daily outrages and embarrassments of the Trump administration and forced to reckon with their own industryâs history of malfeasance brought to light by the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, as well as widespread calls for greater diversity in front of and behind the camera, American film-makers are no longer content to let their work speak for them. In interviews and across social media, they are expected to take strong political stances, even at the risk of alienating audiences or worse.
Recognition of this new paradigm still leaves one question unanswered: do film-makers really believe that their work can move audiences to take substantive political action?
Spike Lee certainly thinks so. While speaking to CNN about BlacKkKlansman â a film developed in response to the resurgence of white nationalism under Trump, and opened in wide release during the first anniversary of the deadly Unite the Right demonstrations that tore through Charlottesville last year â Lee said he hopes the film will convince viewers to show up for Novemberâs midterm elections and vote against Republicans.
Leeâs hopes are shared by fellow liberal muckraker and Gen X icon Michael Moore, whose new documentary, Fahrenheit 11/9, is due out at the end of September. During a recent appearance on HBOâs Real Time with Bill Maher, Moore said, âIâm finishing my movie and getting it out before the midterms because I want millions of people to get to the polls!â
Dinesh DâSouza produced his pro-Trump documentary, Death of a Nation, with the same goal in mind (though in the name of achieving the opposite electoral outcome), but the filmâs dismal opening would seem to put the kibosh on any hopes he had of taking credit should the Republicans hold on to the majority in Congress. DâSouza blamed âleftistâ critics for his filmâs brutal reception, but a peek at the box office history paints a more quotidian picture: like Moore, DâSouzaâs films have seen an unbroken streak of diminishing returns since he scored his biggest hit with 2016: Obamaâs America (2012), suggesting that the success of a partisan political documentary is dependent upon the opposing party being in power during the time of its release.
At any other moment, this equation would bode well for Mooreâs forthcoming film. However, while Moore was once one of the few unapologetically liberal voices able to cut through the cacophony of conservative commentary holding the market share on cable news and talk radio, itâs unlikely heâll be able to replicate his own career high. What realistic chance does a Moore documentary stand with audiences today, inundated as they are with political content across all available platforms â social media, TV, streaming services, YouTube, podcasts, internet message boards? The sheer fury Trump inspires in liberals and progressives may drive more people to see Fahrenheit 11/9 than his last several pictures, but anyone hoping it might replicate the success of Fahrenheit 9/11 (still the highest grossing documentary of all time) should probably temper their expectations.
Theyâd also do well to recall that while Fahrenheit 9/11 was undeniably influential, it didnât actually achieve the intended result. Released less than five months before the 2004 presidential election, the film possibly inspired more people to vote against George W Bush than might have otherwise, but clearly didnât inspire enough of them.
[snip]
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-------------------------------------------Subject: [Dewayne-Net] From box office to Oval Office: can a film ever lead to political change?
From box office to Oval Office: can a film ever lead to political change?
As America heads toward the midterm elections, Spike Lee, Michael Moore and Dinesh DâSouza all hope their films will have a profound effect on voters
By Zach Vasquez
Aug 14 2018
<https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/14/spike-lee-michael-moore-dinesh-dsouza-can-a-film-change-politics>
August is supposed to offer the average moviegoer their last chance to bask in big-budget spectacle and easy escapism, the time when studios unload the remainder of their summer tent-poles as they gear up for the heady days of Oscar season. However, a cursory glance at the slate of films currently on US release â including Spike Leeâs civil rights-era police procedural, BlacKkKlansman, Boots Rileyâs surrealist satire of late capitalism, Sorry to Bother You, the kinetic social drama Blindspotting, and, at other end of the ideological spectrum, the latest piece of revisionist history from rightwing polemicist Dinesh DâSouza, Death of a Nation â reveals a lineup that has more in common with the politically charged fare typically associated with awards season.
This is not a sudden development. From last yearâs Oscar darlings â Get Out, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and The Post â to this yearâs biggest blockbuster, Black Panther, American movies are more unapologetically political than they have been in over a decade.
The same can be said of the people behind the movies. Incited by the daily outrages and embarrassments of the Trump administration and forced to reckon with their own industryâs history of malfeasance brought to light by the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, as well as widespread calls for greater diversity in front of and behind the camera, American film-makers are no longer content to let their work speak for them. In interviews and across social media, they are expected to take strong political stances, even at the risk of alienating audiences or worse.
Recognition of this new paradigm still leaves one question unanswered: do film-makers really believe that their work can move audiences to take substantive political action?
Spike Lee certainly thinks so. While speaking to CNN about BlacKkKlansman â a film developed in response to the resurgence of white nationalism under Trump, and opened in wide release during the first anniversary of the deadly Unite the Right demonstrations that tore through Charlottesville last year â Lee said he hopes the film will convince viewers to show up for Novemberâs midterm elections and vote against Republicans.
Leeâs hopes are shared by fellow liberal muckraker and Gen X icon Michael Moore, whose new documentary, Fahrenheit 11/9, is due out at the end of September. During a recent appearance on HBOâs Real Time with Bill Maher, Moore said, âIâm finishing my movie and getting it out before the midterms because I want millions of people to get to the polls!â
Dinesh DâSouza produced his pro-Trump documentary, Death of a Nation, with the same goal in mind (though in the name of achieving the opposite electoral outcome), but the filmâs dismal opening would seem to put the kibosh on any hopes he had of taking credit should the Republicans hold on to the majority in Congress. DâSouza blamed âleftistâ critics for his filmâs brutal reception, but a peek at the box office history paints a more quotidian picture: like Moore, DâSouzaâs films have seen an unbroken streak of diminishing returns since he scored his biggest hit with 2016: Obamaâs America (2012), suggesting that the success of a partisan political documentary is dependent upon the opposing party being in power during the time of its release.
At any other moment, this equation would bode well for Mooreâs forthcoming film. However, while Moore was once one of the few unapologetically liberal voices able to cut through the cacophony of conservative commentary holding the market share on cable news and talk radio, itâs unlikely heâll be able to replicate his own career high. What realistic chance does a Moore documentary stand with audiences today, inundated as they are with political content across all available platforms â social media, TV, streaming services, YouTube, podcasts, internet message boards? The sheer fury Trump inspires in liberals and progressives may drive more people to see Fahrenheit 11/9 than his last several pictures, but anyone hoping it might replicate the success of Fahrenheit 9/11 (still the highest grossing documentary of all time) should probably temper their expectations.
Theyâd also do well to recall that while Fahrenheit 9/11 was undeniably influential, it didnât actually achieve the intended result. Released less than five months before the 2004 presidential election, the film possibly inspired more people to vote against George W Bush than might have otherwise, but clearly didnât inspire enough of them.
[snip]
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