# Left/Right Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 6, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568 "2007-08-06T03:01:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/41 "2007-08-13T20:08:55Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] What would be the RW analogue of _Grapes of Wrath?_ [/QUOTE] Maybe **It’s a Wonderful Life**. (Friendly, self-sacrificing neighborhood bankers will save you from the Great Depression.) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/42 "2007-08-13T20:15:06Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Or of _Matewan?_ [/QUOTE] Maybe **Gung Ho**. (Thanks to all your unionizing, you lazy American workers got laid off. Take a tip from the Japanese and sacrifice more of yourself for the team. Then your bosses will reward you!) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/43 "2007-08-13T20:21:49Z")
[QUOTE=Chimera] Ummm…WHAT??? Sure, Star Trek promotes a very Communistic view of the future in a sort of self-righteous manner. But B5 on the right? The one where they fought their own government, threw off both sides of the First Ones control, etcetera? The one where they gave casual respect to all different religions and perspectives? You’re obviously using some odd definition of “Right” to which I am previously unacquainted. [/QUOTE] Actually it is the way Jerry \*Michale Garibaldi \* Doyle described the show at a con once. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/44 "2007-08-13T20:49:45Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] Whaaaaaa? Seriously, I don’t get this. The only difference is that Huxley posits that the fascist state can more easily control people by keeping them “happy” rather than keeping them miserable. Which one is the left-wing screed and which one is the right-wing screed? [/QUOTE] **1984** negatively portrays a right-wing (control of population, use of war to keep people in line, etc.) dystopia, while **Brave New World** shows a hedonistic, amoral and nonjudgmental society that, while nominally under a government, is mostly self-governing. It’s not perfectly Left vs. Right, both being extreme and not concocted with modern ideologies in mind, but the tendencies and opposition are clear. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/45 "2007-08-13T21:32:13Z")
[QUOTE=athelas] **1984** negatively portrays a right-wing (control of population, use of war to keep people in line, etc.) dystopia, while **Brave New World** shows a hedonistic, amoral and nonjudgmental society that, while nominally under a government, is mostly self-governing. It’s not perfectly Left vs. Right, both being extreme and not concocted with modern ideologies in mind, but the tendencies and opposition are clear. [/QUOTE] Oceania was “right-wing” like Stalinism & Maoism are “right-wing”, in which case the term means nothing. Re the Fordian World Community being non-judgemental & self-governing. Well, people are indeed pretty peacefully self-governing _if they’ve been totally programmed since conception_. And as far as non-judgemental, mention at a Community Sing that you want to get married _snicker_ and have a baby _gasp_. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/46 "2007-08-13T21:51:37Z")
(With a nod to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=432515)) Left wing: \*\*ET \*\* and **Close Encounters** (Let’s all hold hands and welcome the friendly outsiders.) Right wing: **Alien** and **The Thing** (No, no. The outsiders want to infiltrate and destroy us!) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/47 "2007-08-13T21:52:35Z")
Exactly! You think totalitarianism is a right-wing ideology? You never heard of a man named Joseph Stalin? ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/48 "2007-08-13T22:40:10Z")
**Red Scorpion** is the ultimate right-wing fantasy. Which is hardly surprising when you consider [who wrote it](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0098180/fullcredits). ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/49 "2007-08-13T23:28:59Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] Maybe **It’s a Wonderful Life**. (Friendly, self-sacrificing neighborhood bankers will save you from the Great Depression.) [/QUOTE] You mean like Mr. Potter? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/50 "2007-08-14T00:00:04Z")
**The Matrix** feeds into both left and right-wing conspiracies about the “powers that be” creating a sedated, brainwashed populace. But it has more leftist elements in it. All the bad guys are corporate-looking white guys (or they’re scary dreadlocked white guys.) All the good guys are either young white people or they’re a person-of-hue. (Who does Neo get wisdom from? The Mystical Negroes–Morpheus and the Oracle. And the Key Maker is Asian.) Everyone’s dressed like an urban hipster when they step into the Matrix–no Tucker Carlson’s types allowed. > [@spoke](#): > > Right wing: Alien and The Thing (No, no. The outsiders want to infiltrate and destroy us!) I think the **Aliens** epic is more leftist, with the military trying to save the aliens all the damn time. Oh yeah, and the strong female character. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/51 "2007-08-14T00:43:07Z")
Empire of the Sun: War is a horrific and dehumanizing event. Hope and Glory: War can be an adventure! Both are from 1987 and show WWII through the eyes of a young boy. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/52 "2007-08-14T00:43:56Z")
[QUOTE=monstro] I think the **Aliens** epic is more leftist, with the military trying to save the aliens all the damn time. Oh yeah, and the strong female character. [/QUOTE] It’s actually a corporation (not the military) trying to save the aliens. So it does have that anti-corporate vibe going. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/53 "2007-08-14T02:58:41Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Or of _Matewan?_ [/QUOTE] Would “Hoffa” qualify ? Not only the rise of the union (like “Matewan”), but how, once established, the union itself becomes corrupt and self-serving. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/54 "2007-08-14T03:01:23Z")
[QUOTE=Laughing Lagomorph] Empire of the Sun: War is a horrific and dehumanizing event. Hope and Glory: War can be an adventure! Both are from 1987 and show WWII through the eyes of a young boy. [/QUOTE] What about The Last Emperor? 1987, WWII (and a bit more) through the eyes of a young boy. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/55 "2007-08-14T13:42:58Z")
Right-wing: **The Chronicles of Narnia** Left-wing: **His Dark Materials** ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/56 "2007-08-15T00:01:40Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] What about The Last Emperor? 1987, WWII (and a bit more) through the eyes of a young boy. [/QUOTE] Well, its a good movie, sure. But do you consider it left, right or neither? It really covers a LOT longer historical period than either of the other two though, from his birth through old age. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/57 "2007-08-15T00:17:40Z")
I haven’t a notion of what the contrasting movie would be but **Forrest Gump** struck me as quite rightwing. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568/58 "2007-08-15T00:43:02Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] I haven’t a notion of what the contrasting movie would be but **Forrest Gump** struck me as quite rightwing. [/QUOTE] I believe Roger Ebert proposed the Tom Cruise flick _Born on the Fourth of July_ as a natural counterpoint to _Forrest Gump_. I haven’t seen that one myself though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-right-movies/414568.md?page=2)