Robin PottratzWhy don't studios get it: Politics and Movies = Box Office Failure
September 29th 2008 22:57
It all started in 2004, when Michael Moore's assessment of the Bush presidency "Fahrenheit 9/11" became the first documentary to debut at no. 1 at the weekend box office and eventually became the first doc to gross more than $100 million domestically. From that point on criticizing Bush and his policies in film has become the seemingly brave thing to do in the flm industry. The strange thing is that with the exception of "Fahrenheit" films with political overtones have done nothing but land with a thud at the box office. Not even stars like Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Reese Witherspoon, and Charlize Theron can make these films profitable. This trend continues to this day, however there are a few new twists that have been added this time around that may change the box office fortuned of politcally charged films.
Politics and film have been mixing together for years before the success of "Fahrenheit 9/11." With films like "All the President's Men," "Platoon," "JFK," and "Bowling for Columbine," the country's palate for political film has not gone untouched. The difference between those films and the films of today is that the films of today exist in the post 9/11 world. People are seemingly more apprehensive about materials that are critical of the United States, because any criticism could be interpreted as being unpatriotic or unamerican. Such claims are ludicrious, however it is a truth of today's society. So what makes the films of 2008 any different than the political films of 2007...or even 1976 for that matter?
The difference is that the films of 2008 are taking a slightly different perspective than the films of the past. Two films of completely opposite perspectives will be released on the same weekend: "An American Carol," which looks at the state of the United States from, for the first time in recent memory, a right wing perspective, and "Religulous," comedian Bill Maher's documentary from "Borat" director Larry Charles about the place of religion in today's society. "Religulous," is perhaps the first film that is directly critical of religion's place in society. Most films with a religious overtone have to do with stories from the bible and cast religion in a mostly positive or inspirational light. Maher, however has taken the opposite approach. "An American Carol," is the post 9/11 debut of republican Hollywood. The film is comprised of almost entirely republican actors and even features an ironic cameo from Bill O'Reilly (I'll address why this is ironic in a bit).
What will be the box office fate of these two films? In my opinion both of these films will follow in the recent tradition of political films released in the past four years...they will both crash and burn. With "Religulous," there are two aspects to this film that will lead to its failure. The most obvious is the subject material. Our society as a whole is very protective of their religious beliefs and won't take kindly to a comedian telling them that their beliefs are stupid or wrong. The second aspect is the presence of Bill Maher. Since his criticism of the pope last April, Bill Maher has been a hot target of right wing groups and commentators all over the country. His polarizing presence will obviously go a long way towards the eventual box office failure of "Religulous." I will show my political bias with this statement: I hope I am wrong.
With "An American Carol," the problem is with its lack of marketable stars, as well as its polarizing material. The film stars Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight, Dennis Hopper, and Kevin Farley (Chris' brother). These aren't exactly huge box office names. Also, the film simply looks lazy. The trailer features little more that bland talking points, which has been the downfall of many of the left wing films that have been released in the past few years. Case in point: Kevin Farley plays Michael Malone(who is supposed to be Michael Moore) a documentary filmmaker who, in the trailer, says "I love America, thats why it needs to be destroyed." This film will be viewed by the liberal public, just as "Religulous" will be viewed by the conservative public: as little more than propaganda.
My last thought on "An American Carol" has to do with the cameo of commentator Bill O' Reilly. Last fall Bill O'Reilly used his show "The O'Reilly Factor," to bash political films as nothing but far left propaganda and garbage. He specifically targeted Brian De Palma's "Redacted," which dramatized the rape and murder of a 15 year old iraqi girl and her family by U.S. troops. He described the film as "vile, hateful propaganda." He was also critical of "Lions for Lambs," "Redacted," "In the Valley of Elah," and "Stop Loss." Now however, because he agrees with the subject matter of "An American Carol," its ok for him to not only omit any criticism of the film, but to in fact appear in it. Don't worry, his criticism of other political films continues...which leads me to the main event: Oliver Stone's "W."
O' Reilly has branded Stone's film as "a Bush hate film," without actually seeing it. I can't wait to see this film...if the trailers are any indication this film will be little more than an unitentionally funny satire disguised as history. However, like most Stone films, "W." will ignite a firestorm of controversy. If "JFK" and "Nixon" are any indication "W." won't be a history lesson, but it will be damn entertaining. Of course commentators like O'Reilly and Sean Hannity will condemn this film as propaganda, but see it anyway
How "W." will do at the box office is hard to say. Typically Stone's films are too polarizing to be box office successes. "W." may be different because it is assessing a sitting president. It may be able to make its shoestring budget back on simply the curiosity seekers. However it could crash and burn like all the other films of this nature...its hard to say at this point.
One thing is for sure, despite the box office numbers...it is still encouraging in the name of art that these films are being made, regardless of political affiliation. It shows that there is little fear in the film industry, which is always an encouraging sign. However, the box office numbers must increase otherwise art will be sacrificed for the almighty dollar.
Politics and film have been mixing together for years before the success of "Fahrenheit 9/11." With films like "All the President's Men," "Platoon," "JFK," and "Bowling for Columbine," the country's palate for political film has not gone untouched. The difference between those films and the films of today is that the films of today exist in the post 9/11 world. People are seemingly more apprehensive about materials that are critical of the United States, because any criticism could be interpreted as being unpatriotic or unamerican. Such claims are ludicrious, however it is a truth of today's society. So what makes the films of 2008 any different than the political films of 2007...or even 1976 for that matter?
The difference is that the films of 2008 are taking a slightly different perspective than the films of the past. Two films of completely opposite perspectives will be released on the same weekend: "An American Carol," which looks at the state of the United States from, for the first time in recent memory, a right wing perspective, and "Religulous," comedian Bill Maher's documentary from "Borat" director Larry Charles about the place of religion in today's society. "Religulous," is perhaps the first film that is directly critical of religion's place in society. Most films with a religious overtone have to do with stories from the bible and cast religion in a mostly positive or inspirational light. Maher, however has taken the opposite approach. "An American Carol," is the post 9/11 debut of republican Hollywood. The film is comprised of almost entirely republican actors and even features an ironic cameo from Bill O'Reilly (I'll address why this is ironic in a bit).
What will be the box office fate of these two films? In my opinion both of these films will follow in the recent tradition of political films released in the past four years...they will both crash and burn. With "Religulous," there are two aspects to this film that will lead to its failure. The most obvious is the subject material. Our society as a whole is very protective of their religious beliefs and won't take kindly to a comedian telling them that their beliefs are stupid or wrong. The second aspect is the presence of Bill Maher. Since his criticism of the pope last April, Bill Maher has been a hot target of right wing groups and commentators all over the country. His polarizing presence will obviously go a long way towards the eventual box office failure of "Religulous." I will show my political bias with this statement: I hope I am wrong.
With "An American Carol," the problem is with its lack of marketable stars, as well as its polarizing material. The film stars Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight, Dennis Hopper, and Kevin Farley (Chris' brother). These aren't exactly huge box office names. Also, the film simply looks lazy. The trailer features little more that bland talking points, which has been the downfall of many of the left wing films that have been released in the past few years. Case in point: Kevin Farley plays Michael Malone(who is supposed to be Michael Moore) a documentary filmmaker who, in the trailer, says "I love America, thats why it needs to be destroyed." This film will be viewed by the liberal public, just as "Religulous" will be viewed by the conservative public: as little more than propaganda.
My last thought on "An American Carol" has to do with the cameo of commentator Bill O' Reilly. Last fall Bill O'Reilly used his show "The O'Reilly Factor," to bash political films as nothing but far left propaganda and garbage. He specifically targeted Brian De Palma's "Redacted," which dramatized the rape and murder of a 15 year old iraqi girl and her family by U.S. troops. He described the film as "vile, hateful propaganda." He was also critical of "Lions for Lambs," "Redacted," "In the Valley of Elah," and "Stop Loss." Now however, because he agrees with the subject matter of "An American Carol," its ok for him to not only omit any criticism of the film, but to in fact appear in it. Don't worry, his criticism of other political films continues...which leads me to the main event: Oliver Stone's "W."
O' Reilly has branded Stone's film as "a Bush hate film," without actually seeing it. I can't wait to see this film...if the trailers are any indication this film will be little more than an unitentionally funny satire disguised as history. However, like most Stone films, "W." will ignite a firestorm of controversy. If "JFK" and "Nixon" are any indication "W." won't be a history lesson, but it will be damn entertaining. Of course commentators like O'Reilly and Sean Hannity will condemn this film as propaganda, but see it anyway
How "W." will do at the box office is hard to say. Typically Stone's films are too polarizing to be box office successes. "W." may be different because it is assessing a sitting president. It may be able to make its shoestring budget back on simply the curiosity seekers. However it could crash and burn like all the other films of this nature...its hard to say at this point.
One thing is for sure, despite the box office numbers...it is still encouraging in the name of art that these films are being made, regardless of political affiliation. It shows that there is little fear in the film industry, which is always an encouraging sign. However, the box office numbers must increase otherwise art will be sacrificed for the almighty dollar.
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Comment by Damo
Partisan opinions often make dry film dryer.
If you watch controversial films some years after they caused such a noise you often find a dull film by someone with an axe to grind.
When dealing with real people what happens is this:
The villain moves on to retirement.
The heroes make blunders.
The central issue dies out.
The emotional chest beating looks to be over something that does not matter anymore.
Comment by Lester Caudill
Round Politics
However An American Carol seems to based on a true story, and it is extremely funny, I hope it is the box office hit of the year.