Chris Yogerst
PhD film student, editor and film critic for Parcbench, contributor to Big Hollywood. Follow him at twitter.com/chrisyogerst
Last night’s Red Eye discussed the recent loss of Hollywood director John Hughes, who died of a heart attack in New York this past Thursday. Host Greg Gutfeld noted that he “owned the 1980’s,†and he most certainly did.
Hughes was behind some of the best comedies of the 1980s including The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Uncle Buck, The Great Outdoors, and the Lampoon’s Vacation films. Christmas Vacation has always been a holiday favorite of my family, and is certainly one of Hughes’ most quotable films. Red Eye guests went on to discuss their admiration for Hughes; no one had anything negative to say.
Hughes’ films were fun, heartwarming, and hilarious. He made the types of films that everyone could watch and enjoy, the kind of filmmaking that is harder to find these days. He really was the Frank Capra (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It’s a Wonderful Life) of his generation.
Finding a filmmaker like Hughes may be getting tougher by the day, but it doesn’t mean we have to give up on the film industry all together. We just have to look a little deeper to find what we want. Conservatism and pro-Americanism may be suppressed in Hollywood but it is far from gone.
During an age where leftists like anti-military conspiracist Oliver Stone and anti-capitalist documentarian Michael Moore are heroes in Hollywood, people like Hughes sure will be missed. If his films were not necessarily conservative they were certainly American. They had universal themes that everyone could enjoy, no audience was left out.
It still appears there is a blacklist going on in tinsel town with the myriad of crazy actors and directors driving the industry. This kind of reverse McCarthyism is happening, but just like in the 1950s, filmmakers that oppose the views of the controlling interest just have to get more creative.
For example, Zack Snyder’s Watchmen, which was based on a left-leaning graphic novel, but was made into a fairly conservative film. Even gross-out comedies like Superbad, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and Funny People have good messages behind the toilet humor.
That being said, we shouldn’t always have to dig for something to enjoy. John Hughes gave us just that: good American films that will continue to be enjoyed for generations to come. His legacy leaves us a collection of films where we can always find universal humor and pure American fun.
Last night’s Red Eye program opened with host Greg Gutfeld speaking his mind about the left’s take on the recent public protests over Obamacare:
“The [left's] words are as poisonous as the Botox in her face. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn’t think much of the people who show up at town hall meetings to express their opposition [to] government-run health care. In fact to her, they’re worse than Hitler.â€
By now we have all seen Pelosi’s comments about the Tea Parties and the anti-socialized medicine protests being “Astroturf†(i.e., artificial) movements rather than genuine “grassroots†crusades. After Greg’s comment, we saw a film clip of Pelosi asserting that some of those who show up to the healthcare town hall meetings are brandishing Swastikas.  That’s quite a sweeping generalization. Disagreeing with someone is no reason to play the Hitler card.
The DNC has produced a new commercial that characterizes Tea Party protesters and town hall attendees as “angry mobs.â€
This is nothing more than predictable spin. There are more than enough very logical reasons for Americans to be upset at their federal government right now. Do the Democrats seriously believe that anyone who rejects their agendas is, by definition, a mindless drone? Do they not know anyone who has been laid off? Have they seen the latest unemployment figures?
Jonathon Hoenig of www.capitalistpig.com comments on these kinds of ads, saying: “These are ad-hominem attacks. It is basically saying that anyone who opposes a big government health care plan is Hitler, is a Nazi.â€
This is typical of the left. They scream about hate speech and racism, and they call Republicans “Hitler” in order to shout down the opposition. This is what happens when they have no real argument of any substance. Sure, conservatives call Obama a socialist, but they often will take the time to provide ample evidence justifying that assertion. During my years as an undergraduate, I heard tons of folks calling Bush a Nazi. None of them could come up with a single justification beyond the worn-out slogan, “no blood for oil.â€Â Most of these people were also 9/11 “truthers,” if that tells you anything.
Hoenig goes on to say:
“This steers the argument away from actual legitimate criticism. People who disrupt meetings aren’t protesters; they’re hecklers and should be thrown out. But there are a lot of folks out there that are trying to have this conversation and are getting chastised by Nancy Pelosi and others. I think it’s terrible.â€
This is reminiscent of every conservative I’ve seen who has tried to speak at a college campus. David Horowitz is no stranger to despicable heckling. Anti-illegal immigration crusader Tom Tancredo continues to be shouted down at college campuses across the country, as do many others.
Why can’t liberals sit down and have a serious conversation with the public about anything? The Democrats may have won the election, but they are losing the American people’s support extremely quickly. Even Jon Stewart (the host of Comedy Central’s satiric weeknight ”newscast”) and actor/comedian Dana Carvey are worried.
Last night’s Red Eye show discussed the upcoming film, GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra. It’s no secret that the film is drastically different from the show’s patriotic history. Host Greg Gutfeld said of the film:
“The characters are no longer a typical American soldier. Instead he’s part of an elite international force. MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch calls this a business decision; I call this a wussy decision.â€
Of course, Hollywood does not want American heroes. They would give everyone else credit for doing good in the world before allowing our heroic soldiers a title outside the realm of “murderer.â€
Red Eye regular Bill Shulz said:
“The original tagline was ‘The Real American Hero,’ here in this movie we probably have one, two tops. It’s a travesty!â€
This may or may not be the only honest thing Bill has said in months, but he is right. How can you take something so pure-blooded American and screw it up? Bill is usually sympathetic to the center-left agendas, but even he knows that GI Joe is only one thing, AMERICAN.
Greg goes on to say:
“The fact is, our mainstream media feels awkward about anything ‘American.’ But not the world, no, it loves America more than TV talking heads are willing to admit, which is why everyone risks their lives to come here, and get this, they like our heroes even more.â€
This is so true. Why do Hollywood elites have such a hard time understanding this? No matter how mercilessly they bash our country and tell the world how bad it is, people are still risking everything to land on U.S. soil for a chance to pursue their dreams.
An LA Times article quoted GI Joe director Stephen Sommers saying: “This is not a George Bush movie, it’s an Obama world.â€
Does this mean that with Obama in office, we can’t have anything purely American? Hollywood is marketing this film to those who grew up with the GI Joe show and action figures. Fans loved Joe for his patriotism. This film does not appear patriotic. If the buzz about this film is true, I hope it tanks.
