Comments on: FDL Late Nite: Politics in Pop Culture

By: mk ultramaroon

mk ultramaroon — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 16:26:26 +0000

Robocop

Extremely underappreciated meditation on the dangers of unchecked corporate criminal oppression of the common man and his fight for justice and identity in a world saturated with guns, drugs and an absurdly rampant consumerism.
As prescient then as it is relevant today, with some of the best film lines, ever.

Throw in an amazing performance (one of many others in the film) by Kurtwood Bitches Leave! Smith as one of the screen’s greatest villains, Clarence Boddicker and you have a true cinematic gem.

5 Stars. (I’d buy it for more than a dollar…)
~

By: jennifer

jennifer — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 12:37:36 +0000

BLADE RUNNER, not only the conscience of man, but of what we create

By: skippy

skippy — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 04:07:41 +0000

hi kids, sorry to be late to the party, and a party with a theme i love.

however, i’d take exception to the parameters of your question, simply because any literature, to be good, raises questions about our lives and our place in the world.

you kind of change your course in the middle of your post. you start out talking about films with social commentary, then ask for suggestions of films with a political over/undertone.

not that the two are mutually exclusive, but neither are they identical. as i said before, any good piece of literature talks about our place in the world, which can be examined as social commentary, which can be linked to political themes.

this truth of the basis of good literature is what makes people on drugs think that watching “wizard of oz” with the sound down while listening to “dark side of the moon” brings up syncronicity…it doesn’t really, but both pieces talk about identity and making one’s way in the world, with overtones of surrealism. they are, in the broadest of senses (as outlined in your post, or if you are smoking some good shit) two sides of the same themed literary coin. so of course it seems like they merge.

watch “the women” with the sound turned down while listening to the “jagged little pill” album after smoking some alcapulco gold, and you’ll be entertained and amazed.

to answer your question, tho, i simply cannot watch “network” on television. tho reality has surpassed chaevsky’s hyperbolic metaphors more than a dozen years ago, there is still bite and truth to the premise. even more so, when howard beale rants and raves, and urges everyone to turn off their television sets, it is so powerful a moment, and his points are so clear, that, indeed, i get up and turn off my television.

the first two thirds of wag the dog is pretty good. i will debate anyone that insists “duck soup” is satire. it’s just the marx bros. in war, as opposed to at the opera or at the races. no satire, just vaudeville.

By: Biff Spaceman

Biff Spaceman — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 22:59:09 +0000

Robocop 1 and 2 (privatization of government) and Starship Troopers (neofascism, globalism, xenophobia) were pretty clear indicators of the GOP future, as was The Handmaid’s Tale (religious fanatics’ uterocentricity), counterpointed with Don Johnson in A Boy and His Dog (A woman is a woman but a boy LOVES his telepathic id-channeling dog). Oddly the adult feature New Wave Hookers is shown to have the same themes but you won’t find it at Netflix, apparently. GATTACA was epic and worth watching a couple of times to appreciate the mise en scene and the characterizations. 12 Monkeys was probably the best acting we’ll ever see out of the two male leads. B5 was brilliant but not worth the 400 dollars to own I think.
Dick’s The Man in the High Castle and Sinclair’s It Can’t Happen Here are big literary warnings. Of course the Russian literature of the Soviet period is critical because it shows the same kind of fatalistic acceptance of tightening strictures on personal freedoms to protect against the dangers of Freedom in actual practice. Corporations won the cold war and now own the state, unlike the Soviets, and with less ambiguity than the Germans had 1933-1945.
Laibach made me do it. One man! One State! One Dream! Geburt Einer Nation is the satyrical reinterpretation of a Queen song into a techno-Germanic pop anthem.

By: stupid typcal fucking moonbat

stupid typcal fucking moonbat — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 22:17:34 +0000

I like the social and political commentary of “Blackhawk Down.”

American soldiers = Republicans

They deserve to be dragged in the streets of the countries they illegally and immorally invade.

By: Pachacutec

Pachacutec — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 21:34:35 +0000

Oh yeah: It’s a Wonderful Life.

Very progressive subtext.

By: The Constructivist

The Constructivist — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 21:32:39 +0000

Hmm, lots of gaps here. Try Watchmen, Miracle Man, and The Authority for smart takes on superheroes and world politics; David Brin and Kim Stanley Robinson for politically-inflected science fiction; loads of feminist sci fi from Ursula K. LeGuin to Marge Piercy and Sheri Tepper…. The better question is what in pop culture does not have a political angle to it?

By: The Constructivist

The Constructivist — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 21:28:59 +0000

Anyone watching Adult Swim on Cartoon Network? Two of the best political anime of all time have been running. You must see Full Metal Alchemist for its treatment of war and imperialism and Stand Alone Complex (both the 1st and 2nd series) for its treatment of politics and technology.

By: Al Weisel

Al Weisel — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 20:49:03 +0000

What about the godfather of rebel movies, Rebel Without a Cause? It has the first gay teenager in films and many people believe it foreshadowed the political movements of the 1960s.

By: fillerbunny

fillerbunny — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 20:13:23 +0000

stuff people may not have mentioned….

Yoshiyuki Tomino’s “Mobile Suit Gundam”
anything written by Terry Pratchett, especially after “Eric”
(despite the fanservice) Vandread and Martian Successor Nadesico
the original Twilight Zone TV series had several episodes with exceptional commentary
the music of Ministry and Skinny Puppy