Conservatives routinely wail and moan about the lack of right-leaning fare in Hollywood.
And rightly so. There are countless stories waiting to be told that simply aren’t, in large part because they come from the right - or are perceived as right leaning.
Still waiting for the first movie celebrating a war hero from either Iraq or Afghanistan, or even a film documenting the fraud surrounding the UN.
Is the Oil for Food imbroglio dramatic enough for ya?
But conservatives don’t put their movie tickets where their mouths are.
Take “An American Carol,” David Zucker’s send-up of Michael Moore and other liberal icons. It stunk, but shouldn’t conservatives have supported it in droves all the same, if only to send a message to make more like-minded movies?
But “Carol” tanked despite friendly coverage on right-leaning radio shows and web sites.
The same appears to be happening with “The Stoning of Soraya M.”
The film, about an Iranian woman stoned to death for committing adultery (she was innocent), made some early noise at the box office and received copious attention from the right. It’s light years better than “Carol” and in a just world would draw Oscar buzz for star Shohreh Aghdashloo’s startling performance.
But today, after six weeks in theaters, the film has mustered only $572,066 as of Sunday (according to Box Office Mojo).
Yes, it’s only been shown on a fraction of the movie screens as the big movies, but indie distributors routinely allow their films to be shown on a small number of screens hoping audience demand prompts them to expand that number exponentially.
After six weeks, it’s unlikely such a plan will be necessary. And conservative minded movie fans have themselves to blame the next time they criticize the state of Hollywood content.
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I'm an award-winning journalist and film critic with more than a decade of experience in newspapers, magazines and the Web. I'm a member of both the Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association and the Denver Film Critics Society.
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Glad to see someone making a point of this. Carol wasn’t even the highest grossing “conservative” film the week of its release, it was beaten soundly by “Fireproof.” And given the subject matter, I felt it was a better movie than many gave it credit for.
If conservative want to make noise and break down the Hollywood gate, the best way to do it is by making money.
I think conservatives fail to see movies that agree with them for the same reason liberals do: they don’t care. When was the last liberal tirade to make piles of money? Michael Moore’s 2004 doc? Pics like “The Contender” and “Lions for Lambs” and the scores of others have all largely flopped as well.
At the moment, what’s happening in Iran is far less important than what’s happening in Washington DC. I feel like alien beings have landed, taken over 2/3s of the media and are implementing their agenda to turn America into a virtual slave state. Give me a movie exposing the statists, Euro “for the children” wannabes and greedy authoritarians and I’ll be there. Heck, I’ll contribute money.
Where the h*ll is “Atlas Shrugged”??
I think James has a really good point about this. I see movies to be entertained.
I don’t want to be preached at - from either side.
That said, I wish I had the guts to see this movie in the theater, but the stoning scene, as described by you and Mike Rosen on the show several weeks ago, turned me off. I will rent it, but don’t want to subject myself to the onscreen violence. Violence, when it is based on a real event, really bothers me.
It never made it to many markets, including my home of Wichita.
If “conservative” movies only make it to NYC and LA, then obviously they will not find much of an audience.