In an industry overflowing with virtue-signaling leftists, Sydney Sweeney has unexpectedly become a symbol of Hollywood’s quiet counterculture. Her recent American Eagle ed, feature Sweeney playfully teasing the similarities between the words "jeans" and "genes.” The far-Left lost its collective mind, raging against both Sweeney and the ad. They suggested it implied white supremacy, because of course they did. Conservatives, recognizing the absurdity of the attacks, quickly rallied to her defense—turning Sweeney into an unlikely cultural lightning rod for common sense and normalcy in a town that’s forgotten both. Sweeney initially ignored the controversy, and it mostly went away.
This week, my social media feed became flooded with Sydney Sweeney memes, from her confrontation with a journalist from GQ Magazine. The reporter tried to guilt her into apologizing for her American Eagle jeans ad, and Sweeney’s response, as well as her evil eye expression, launched a thousand memes faster than Helen of Troy.
You also may have learned that Sydney Sweeney has a new movie out called Christy.
The film debuted in roughly 2,000 theaters over the weekend and grossed less than $2 million. That's not exactly the kind of opening that suggests a Hollywood success story. The Christy Martin biopic earned only $1.3 million in its opening weekend, which doesn't bode well for its long-term prospects at the box office. Personally, I’m not shocked. Despite the prevalence of the Sweeney memes on social media, I only just learned of this new flick yesterday, which is something considering the fact that the movie was part of the interview that spawned the latest round of Sweeney memes. I’m not all that good at keeping up with pop culture.
But here’s the thing, even though conservatives rallied behind Sweeney after the American Eagle ad controversy and her comments in the GQ interview, they didn't make a point to support the movie. The conversion rate between viral memes and ticket sales must be pretty low. And suddenly the Right’s Hollywood darling has become something of a punchline for the Left. I've seen several posts on social media pointing to the movie's lack of success and saying "Go MAGA go broke."
I don’t even know if Sweeney is confirmed to be MAGA or not, but if conservatives are rallying behind her because of a jeans ad and a GQ interview, it’s hard not to ask the question: should conservatives have turned out for this film? Conservative film critic Christian Toto seems to think so. Toto describes "Christy" as a moderately well-reviewed film that deserves awards season consideration and is worth the price of admission. He calls Sweeney's first meaty performance a winner and is calling for a "buy-cott" for Christy. A "buy-cott" would be the opposite of a boycott, a way to thank an actress who stood up to the woke mob. He argues that supporting a movie like Christy and a star like Sweeney could be the first step if conservatives want a bigger seat at the pop culture table.
It’s a fair argument to make.
But here's my take: I rarely go to a movie simply to support an actor. I went to see The Martian opening weekend because I loved the novel, not because Matt Damon starred in it. I went to see the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody because I like Queen music, not because of the actors and their politics. The recent biopic about Bruce Springsteen also bombed at the box office this year, which probably said a lot more about Springsteen than the actors.
At the end of the day, I go to the movies to be entertained, not to make a political statement. Christy might be a perfectly good film, and maybe I’ll check it out when it hits streaming, but most people choose what to watch based on personal interest, not ideological loyalty. Remember the gay rom-com Bros? That one crashed and burned too. Its trailer all but screamed that it was going to be the gayest movie ever made, and yet even the people who love to boast about their “allyship” didn’t bother to show up—and neither did most of the LGBT community. So why should conservatives feel compelled to support every movie just because the star happens to push back against the woke mob? That’s not how cultural influence is built, and it’s certainly not a strategy for creating a real alternative to Hollywood’s leftist echo chamber. If you want to see Christy, great—see it because it looks good, not because it makes a statement.
