WaPO is quoted as saying: “The only things less popular than the war itself are dramatic films and television shows about the conflict.”
I agree about the film part, but TV? Saturday night, I watched reruns of NCIS and THE UNIT (a superb series about Delta Force written by one of America’s greatest playwrights, David Mamet, who recently came out as a FORMER liberal.
On the 4th of July weekend, NCIS had a marathon opposite ratings behemoth LAW AND ORDER. Don Belesario, who brings us NCIS also brought us JAG (still in reruns) and MAGNUM P.I. Interestingly, years and years ago, Tom Clancy and Tom Selleck wanted to make a MAGNUM P.I. movie but Universal Studios wasn’t interested. Obviously, it’s not just THIS war that Hollywood opposes.
Americans LOVE heroic movies. This generation of Hollywood moviemakers doesn’t want to make them. The American public, individual by individual, has decided to boycott anti-American, anti-military films. Interesting isn’t it?
I’ve revisited many of my favorite war films of late. John Wayne’s THE GREEN BERETS was the only Vietnam war film made during the Vietnam war. Perhaps it takes a bit of time.
I loved 300 which is about the Spartans vs. a humongous army of Persians (Iranians), which has many analogies to our current cowardly congressional situation.
And I was also pleasantly surprised by CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR, which had Democrat rather than liberal propaganda. Both book and film are rather anti-Republican which is not quite the same thing. The film does, after all, deal with Texas Democrats who are usually to the right of Rockefeller Republicans.
Years ago, an apolitical (I think) but brilliant young film maker, made a deal with the crazies in Hollywood that he would work with any studio that allowed him to make his films at home in Austin, Texas. He got his deal. Robert Rodriguez (SIN CITY, SPY KIDS, DESPERADO) has small, skilled non-union crews and makes his films for a fraction of what they would cost in Hollywood. Rodriguez even wrote a book on how to make films cheaply called REBEL WITHOUT A CREW. And his DVDs have as special features, his “10 minute film school.”
And such a film could be made for very little money, even with famous actors if everyone took money on the back end. From profits, rather than salary up front. Bruce Willis has done this many times. He would be the first actor I’d approach.
Once such a film made large profits, you’d have a George Lucas type situation on your hands, with an independent studio that could make other such films.
I firmly believe that the American public is hungry for films about our heroes and heroines. And no, I hadn’t heard about the female National Guard solider who won a Silver Star for almost single handedly destroying a terrorist ambush. With all the nonsense about Britney, et al the Fox News Channel covers, you would think they would have made this young woman a star.
And I wonder has David Mamet read Michael Yon’s dispatches? Wouldn’t that be a great team?
More heroes, please.
