'Frank Miller and the rise of cryptofascist Hollywood'

[Sibboleth]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/nov/24/frank-miller-hollywood-fascism

Excerpt:

A sturdy corollary emerges in the wake of the graphic artist Frank Miller's recent diatribe against the Occupy Wall Street movement ("A pack of louts, thieves, and rapists … Wake up, pond scum, America is at war against a ruthless enemy"), available for perusal at frankmillerink.com). That corollary, of which we should be reminded from time to time, is this: popular entertainment from Hollywood is – to greater or lesser extent – propaganda. And Miller has his part in that, thanks to films such as 300 and Sin City.

[Beet]

Well, I've known he was a rightie before, so it doesn't tell anything much new. Actually though, I don't mind right-wingers in art so much, so long as I am able to identify and analyze it. Aesthetics and politics are not the same thing.

[CathKhan]

What a strange man. In the 1980's he was against nuclear proliferation and that can be seen in his "Dark Knight Returns". In the 2000's however it seems 9/11 pushed him radically in a different direction on foreign policy. He has been historically anti-censorship. I never looked at his "going nuts" through a political perspective though, instead focusing on his his "art" has degraded from the somewhat realistic 1980's into that sh**thole 1990's-2000's artsh**t. In general, his mind is probably degrading, though I can't say I don't appreciate a good rant about anything, especially with words as graphic as "rapists" and such. I wonder what, as a whole, his political views are.

[Stardust]

I don't think Frank Miller really has consistent political views outside of 'authoritarian'. A lot of the liberals I know blast him as being some sort of individualist, but nothing could really be further from the truth. As far back as The Dark Knight Returns the guy was engaging in some pretty serious authority-worship. And yeah, you could point to Superman as the government dupe to try to counteract this, but the basic message of TDKR is that "when central authority fails, use more force".

[Free Palestine]

I was aware of his fascism since I read some things about the imagery in 300.

Hollywood in general does has some very culturally conservative tendencies.

[Foucaulf]

Came for the article, stayed for the comments:

What a petty little rant this article is. I do not agree with Miller's point of views but I defend his right to state them without being hounded as a cryptofascist and by demands that people deprive him of his livelihood [...]
This is a shoddy and Blairist-PC piece of writing if ever I saw one.

[H]ow about before you stereotype comic books as "made expressly to engage the attentions of pre- and just post-pubescent boys", you read a work as complex and layered as Alan Moore's 'Watchmen', or the same author's 'V for Vendetta', or Art Spiegelman's 'Maus', or Marjane Satrapi's 'Persepolis'?

We get it, you win. You are definitely the most left wing person in the entire universe. You can stop trying now.

It's an article that's excessive with the offensive fluff. At their core, the films Moody talk about is the implementation of American virtues into a narrative focused on one protagonist, the "leader". Too much of it has to do with the American virtues themselves.

[opebo]

Well, really, how could a large industry that requires hundreds of millions in investment per each project be anything other than cryptofascist?

[Simfan34]

Is it just really is that for opebo, effort=fascism?

Or am I not getting something?

[Vasall des Midas]

Is it just really is that for opebo, effort=fascism?

Or am I not getting something?

Huge projects requiring a lot of collaborators, run in a ruthlessly authoritarian way without even lip service to socialist ideas = fascism. Arguably. In an old school Mussoliniesque way.

[© Tweed the Younger]

Is it just really is that for opebo, effort=fascism?

Or am I not getting something?

Huge projects requiring a lot of collaborators, run in a ruthlessly authoritarian way without even lip service to socialist ideas = fascism. Arguably. In an old school Mussoliniesque way.

I think it's time for an extensive intellectual defense of opeboism.

[opebo]

Is it just really is that for opebo, effort=fascism?

Or am I not getting something?

Yes, you're not getting that your correlation of 'individual effort' with any political or economic ideas is absurd and juvenile.

[CathKhan]

So apparently Miller's political change, on foreign policy at least, was a direct result of 9/11:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Terror_(graphic_novel)#Development (I was actually waiting for this to come out and apparently it has, but it doesn't look like there was much talk about it at all. Maybe I'll check it out)

For the first time in my life I know how it feels to face an existential menace. They want us to die. All of a sudden I realize what my parents were talking about all those years. Patriotism, I now believe, isn't some sentimental, old conceit. It's self-preservation. I believe patriotism is central to a nation's survival. Ben Franklin said it: If we don't all hang together, we all hang separately."

[Χahar]

So apparently Miller's political change, on foreign policy at least, was a direct result of 9/11:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Terror_(graphic_novel)#Development (I was actually waiting for this to come out and apparently it has, but it doesn't look like there was much talk about it at all. Maybe I'll check it out)

For the first time in my life I know how it feels to face an existential menace. They want us to die. All of a sudden I realize what my parents were talking about all those years. Patriotism, I now believe, isn't some sentimental, old conceit. It's self-preservation. I believe patriotism is central to a nation's survival. Ben Franklin said it: If we don't all hang together, we all hang separately."

What a coward.

[Boris]

I'd like to see Frank Miller and Alan Moore collaborate on a graphic novel, with the stipulation that they each independently alternate writing pages.

[CathKhan]

I'd like to see Frank Miller and Alan Moore collaborate on a graphic novel, with the stipulation that they each independently alternate writing pages.

That'd be great.

[Paul Kemp]

"The Dark Knight Rises" is severely overrated.

[CathKhan]

"The Dark Knight Rises" is severely overrated.

Which one? the good one "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" or its sh**tty sequel "Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again"?

[Paul Kemp]

"The Dark Knight Rises" is severely overrated.

Which one? the good one "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" or its sh**tty sequel "Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again"?

Oops I meant to say "Returns" rather than "Rises." Clearly I'm caught up in the hype for the new film.

[dead0man]

Somebody in Hollywood isn't toeing the company line?  Put him on "the list" and make a big deal out this new "rise"!

[Marokai]

So apparently Miller's political change, on foreign policy at least, was a direct result of 9/11:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Terror_(graphic_novel)#Development (I was actually waiting for this to come out and apparently it has, but it doesn't look like there was much talk about it at all. Maybe I'll check it out)

For the first time in my life I know how it feels to face an existential menace. They want us to die. All of a sudden I realize what my parents were talking about all those years. Patriotism, I now believe, isn't some sentimental, old conceit. It's self-preservation. I believe patriotism is central to a nation's survival. Ben Franklin said it: If we don't all hang together, we all hang separately."

Ugh, so he's one of those.