All films are political, Part 4

we message by omission. leaving reality before the door.

keep your clothes clean… or else!

First off, thanks for joining me on this journey. Yeah, the big one here on HopeForFilm where we contemplate how a non-dependent cinema ecosystem can bring us better films, a better career and industry, as well as elevate our work, but also on our most recent excursion, considering how ALL FILMS ARE POLITICAL (and cinema going too). What once was one installment, is now up to four.

Initially we led with a plea to not have politics be politicized, but rather another aspect of our humanity. We followed with some consideration into representation, and then violence, commerce, and soft power. Today let’s look at the myth of a hero, what do you say?

Personally, I find a host of things in this world that seem intended to diminish people’s self-esteem — particularly in cinema. That is political, and some may call my reaction against it, also political, but I am against that. I’d vote to call it something else. I think we should aspire to be our better selves, capable of more, and excited to be alive. Whenever I watch a superhero film, I frequently think “these people (the filmmakers) don’t really like us puny humans” and although I know that is not true for I have met some such makers and know them to be good dyed-in-the-wool humanists just like me, the basic takeaways that such stories leaves us with is something else entirely.

Whatever happened to those tales of remarkable human endeavors that we once found so exciting? How come we don’t make them like we used to? Like the hero’s journey, the victim’s psychology, and the impossible triumph of the underdog, much of our cinema trains us to be unhappy with what we have and who we are, and instead helping us to combat it —- unless like John Wick we can kill by the hundreds, we better be gifted with some strange power, or just give up now. Maybe shopping will help.

Superhero films, like any form of spectacle, bring with them multiple layers of