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7 Mainstream Movies With Subversive Themes That Slipped Under The Radar

Beau Albrecht
April 23, 2017

Many movies (and TV shows, of course) have been larded up with propaganda to demoralize us and indoctrinate the public in politically correct thinking. The efforts range from fairly subliminal to annoyingly preachy. Sometimes classic Soviet films (such as Battleship Potemkin and Alexander Nevsky) are more fun to watch, despite being openly Communist. The key is the “openly” part, as they weren’t trying to hide it. Better yet, they weren’t trying to manipulate the audience with guilt and make them feel bad.

The shifts in Hollywood’s ideological leanings—from the beginning, to getting taken out to the woodshed in the 1950s, and to the present day—is a long story. As things are now, it’s likely to stay on the leftist tangent indefinitely. This won’t change until some filmmaker figures out that there’s a lot of money in movies that make the audience feel good, rather than insult it in one way or another. Given Hollywood’s cultural Marxist lineup and tight control, this will have to be from an indie effort or a foreign studio. Another possibility is that they’ll shrivel up and die from low interest, but that seems unlikely now. The suckers keep buying tickets.

Movies, like any creative effort, mean different things to different people. Sometimes films do convey a partially positive ideological message without intending to do so. The following either weren’t very political to begin with, or had a leftist subtext yet backfired to some degree.

1. The Matrix (1999)

The film: This one is a science fiction action movie as well as a kick flick. It covered new territory, a rarity these days now that Hollywood is running out of original ideas. It’s also the pioneer of spinning the camera around while someone jumps up and delivers a martial arts blow in slow motion. Overall, the sequels weren’t bad, but didn’t quite have the same sparkle as the first and left too many unanswered questions.

This modern classic introduces the idea of a world where things aren’t as they seem. The concept isn’t entirely new; certain religions (mainly Eastern) teach that the universe as we know it is an illusion, a small subset of a total reality we couldn’t make sense of in its entirety, or a dream of the Creator. All that’s interesting, but other than a measure of solace, it’s not too helpful to help us get by in our day-to-day lives. In any event, it opens up questions about the nature of reality; a bit like Plato’s allegories in The Republic.

The good stuff: The movie’s premise is that robots keep us ignorant throughout our lives while exploiting us as an energy source. (The latter part is a bit hokey; Hollywood needs some decent science consultants.) Anyway, our world isn’t like that, but there are indeed some disturbing trends about which the public is kept in the dark: finance, globalism, shadowy billionaire clubs influencing politics, democracy turned into a show resembling professional wrestling, and the like.

Notably for us, the movie gave us the red pill / blue pill terms representing the way of knowledge and the way of ignorance. It also gave us the “Matrix” metaphor for the unreal-reality image of the world as seen through the lenses of cultural Marxism, consumerism, and so forth.

This brings us to another matter: is it better to accept the ugly truth about things, or go on in blissful ignorance? I know what my choice is, but far too many people don’t want to listen to things that might challenge their comfortable world view. However, someone who avoids the truth simply lies to himself. The good news is that when an idea subversive to the orthodoxy gains critical mass, getting the truth out to the public has much less resistance from the barrier of willful ignorance.

The leftist reaction: Occasionally a lefty will note that it’s ironic that a movie with a largely non-White cast and created by a couple of transsexuals would be a source of inspiration for deplorables like us. To that, I say, so what? Those aren’t the reasons why we watched it, or anyone else for that matter.

2. They Live (1988)

They Live (1988) was another film decades ahead of its time

The film: A drifter puts on some special glasses and discovers a shocking truth: the world is being controlled by ugly aliens. Further, they’re exploiters keeping the world in a state of ignorance. It’s not exactly a big-budget whiz-bang science fiction epic, but that doesn’t get in the way of delivering the premise.

The good stuff: The subversive elements are basically the same as in The Matrix, but it strikes considerably closer to home. We don’t actually have skull-faced aliens—or space lizards, for that matter—running the show, of course. However, there are indeed a number of insanely wealthy figures acting behind the scenes. They throw their money around to subvert democracy by buying politicians, to push globalist policies with their secretive billionaire clubs (such as David Rockefeller’s Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, and Bilderberg Group), to stir up trouble, and to wreck Western civilization.

Indeed, the movie’s image of plutocratic extraterrestrials exploiting humanity and controlling us through subliminal messages seems rather like champagne Socialists and the media establishment. It does also lend itself to (((politically incorrect))) interpretations for similar reasons. John Carpenter, the director and screenwriter, denies that’s what he meant. He says it was about crass commercialism and money-grubbing corporate culture, and I’m inclined to take his words at face value. Indeed, the subtext is moderately leftist, with obvious themes of class struggle and colonialism. Sometimes liberals are on the right track.

The leftist reaction: They occasionally get a little squirmy over this one.

3. The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), The Return of the King (2003)

The films: This was a great high fantasy series, with good acting and lots of landscape porn. A rich cultural tapestry is woven by the loose correlation between the Hobbits and the early Victorian British, Rohan and the Saxons, Gondor and the Byzantines, the elves and the Norse ljossalfar, and the dwarves and the svartalfar. The story is close enough to the books to satisfy (most of) Tolkien’s fan base, but appealing to the general public too.

The series features themes of good versus evil, struggle and sacrifice, perseverance and triumph, as well as a subtle public service announcement about the dangers of meth addiction. What’s there not to like? Indeed, the series is morally uplifting in a way that few movies are today. Finally, it’s pretty hard to get three films in a row with consistent results, but they knocked it out of the ballpark.

The good stuff: Parallels to today’s situation are hard to escape. Some evil and very powerful figures plan an invasion of the civilized realms by hordes exhibiting extremely bad manners. If the homelands are overrun, they’ll be extinguished and darkness will fall forever. Few know what’s really at stake, and motivating their apathetic leaders to start protecting their own people (which is any government’s first duty) is a very arduous task. Other than that, Wormtongue would make quite a Washington lobbyist or a Eurocrat, now wouldn’t he?

The leftist reaction: There’s been a bit of frosty grumbling. Still, they can’t really say too much about it. A few notes by Tolkien were a bit politically incorrect by today’s standards, but he pointedly stated that he wasn’t writing allegory.

4. The Phantom Menace (1999)

Now that we’re wrapping things up with the Milky Way, it’s time we planned our leveraged buyout in the Andromeda Galaxy.

The film: Here we have the first of the Star Wars prequels, anticipated by the fanbase for a generation. There are some things to be said for it, such as the underwater scenes and the part-Byzantine, part-Romanesque architectural style on Naboo. Natalie Portman does an okay job as the teenage Queen, with her main superpower being her ever-changing wardrobe.

Even so, the screenplay was mediocre, with many WTF elements; you can’t really blame the actors for the results. It’s basically a turkey: too much deliberate kiddie appeal, the major characters don’t really shine, the midichlorian thing was unnecessary, slavery in a high-tech society with lots of robots doesn’t make sense, and of course JarJar. (In the sequel, if that retarded amphibian had been the one blown to bits by the bomb, the audience would’ve stood up and cheered.) Even despite all that, it’s a cinematic epic compared to the Star Wars Holiday Special.

The good stuff: The galactic council scene was quite a circus, a reminder of Washington political farce with all the bloviating, hot air, babbling lobbyists, and refusal to act sensibly. (As for the EU, Nigel Farage and a few others like him do an effective job of speaking the truth, but still the Eurocrats can’t be bothered to attend to their government’s first duty.) As for Palpatine—the Phantom Menace himself—it turns out that he’s both running the revolution as well as positioning himself for leadership in the government. Playing both halves against the middle—sounds familiar?

The leftist reaction: JarJar was criticized for seeming too Jamaican, and Watto was criticized for seeming too Jewish. Myself, I think they were just too dorky.

5. Crash (2004)

The film: This one is a tear-jerking drama set in Los Angeles. Ethnic conflicts are at the forefront, though some of the characters mellow out a little toward the end. One damn thing after another happens because everyone’s so raaaacist. Overall, the movie reeks of moralism more than a televangelist’s used underwear.

The good stuff: Even despite all the preachiness, this illustrates one of the main problems with multiculturalism: many cultures means many conflicts. The more the film went on, the more dysfunctional everything seemed. What else is going to happen when you pack people from all around the world, who have differing values and little in common, into the same space? Leftists believe the answer is doubling down on their suicidal population replacement policies while singing “Kumbayah”.

The audience, of course, is supposed to think “this conflict wouldn’t be happening if everyone wasn’t so raaaacist.” Well, it also wouldn’t be happening if Los Angeles (like many big cities today) wasn’t a multicultural pressure cooker. It wasn’t always that way, and it didn’t happen all by itself.

The leftist reaction: It won three Oscars. In fact, it was chosen for Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain, but not without some cattiness about the decision.

6. Blazing Saddles (1974)

The film: This one is a little different, from before Hollywood got so pozzed out. It’s a comedy Western with something in it to offend everyone, which is pretty much the point, and the results are hilarious. Liberals actually used to have a sense of humor—whatever happened to that? It would be damn near impossible to get a movie like this greenlit these days. Although Hollywood is running out of ideas and rebooting old movies (all too often not an improvement), don’t expect a remake of this one any time soon.

The good stuff: The point here isn’t all the up-to-eleven political incorrectness. Rather, it’s the realization of how much things have changed. Conservative viewers weren’t standing up and shouting “Amen” about the stereotypes; liberal viewers weren’t spazzing out with rage. Everyone just took it for what it was. When you watch it now, you realize that there was once a time when people could just laugh it all off.

The leftist reaction: Back then, it got three Oscars nominations. These days, it would send hordes of triggered SJWs running for the nearest safe space.

7. The Last Samurai (2003)

The film: This one is set following the Meiji Restoration when Japan transformed from feudalism to the Industrial Age in a single generation. Undoubtedly it was a bumpy ride, and the movie has parallels to real events. An American military advisor is captured after an ill-fated battle and comes to see that he’d been fighting on the wrong side. The combat scenes pull no punches. When the Gatling guns come out against the cavalry for the final battle, it’s the end of chivalry. This was a foretaste of the insane carnage of the First World War, the beginning of our society’s century-long roller coaster ride to hell.

The good stuff: Aside from a few minor sour notes, it’s a deeply conservative film. On one side are some rather decadent opportunists who want to transform Japanese society haphazardly, all in the name of “progress” and of course lots of money. On the other side are very traditionalist warriors bound by a strict code of honor who call bullshit on that. And so the tragedy unfolds. There’s something to be said for dying righteously, though I prefer victory.

If you liked this one, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is worth a look too.

The leftist reaction: Mostly it was babble about the “White savior” trope and whether or not a non-Asian film studio had any right to depict Japanese society. The good stuff went straight over their heads.

Honorable mention

Office Space (1999): It’s a fine satire about corporate bullshit. Some people have quit their cube farm jobs after seeing this one.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 and they keep doing remakes): It’s not political, despite claims from both sides. Still, if you’ve ever had friends whose brains got hijacked by the cultural Marxism mind-virus, you totally can relate to the pod people scenario.

The Wizard of Oz (1939): “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!”

Read More:  10 Hollywood Films For Men That Leave Today’s SJW Movies In The Dust


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Post Information
Title 7 Mainstream Movies With Subversive Themes That Slipped Under The Radar
Author Beau Albrecht
Date April 23, 2017 2:00 PM UTC (6 years ago)
Blog Return of Kings
Archive Link https://theredarchive.com/blog/Return-of-Kings/7-mainstream-movies-with-subversive-themes-that.17479
https://theredarchive.com/blog/17479
Original Link https://www.returnofkings.com/119709/7-mainstream-movies-with-subversive-themes-that-slipped-under-the-radar
You can kill a man, but you can't kill an idea.

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