The War Room

THESE ARE POLITICALLY INCORRECT?

Here is a perfect reason why I again urge people to read the essay below on the origins of Political Correctness.

This is an article on the "10 most politically incorrect films of all-time" but the writer, clearly does not even understand what the term means.

While some of his choices are correct (Team America, Song of the South) mostly he confuses raunch and boorish behavior with political correctness.

There's Something About Mary, Porky's and Airplane! are not politically incorrect; although they may contain the odd joke that is.

Political correctness is not just about being polite. Political incorrectness is not just about raunch; indeed most raunchy films (American Pie) are quite politically correct. What makes a film politically incorrect is not the subject matter but the films attitude about the subject matter.

And sometimes it is subtle.

Kevin Smith is not politically incorrect. He is very PC in who mocks...

Some politically incorrect films by today's standards:

Ghostbusters (pro-free enterprise; the villains are the Environmental Protection Agency; all the busters are chain smokers)

Red Dawn (an obvious choice, but how oftern do we see communists as villains in Hollywood)

Dirty Harry (the vicious pedophile is a hippy who wears a peace symbol and his villianous acts involve threatening to kill a Catholic priest)

Forrest Gump (a subtle but scathing attack on the 60's counter culture)

The Quiet Man (you don't get any more politically incorrect than seeing John Wayne drag Maureen O'Hara across the country side...and it's a love story to boot!)

The Passion of the Christ ( 'nuff said)

Dr. No or anything with Sean Connery as James Bond (the attitude, the girls, the guns)

Irreversible (the non-resolution of the rape sequence and depiction of the gay club as base and disturbed)

Straw Dogs (the rape sequence of Susan George in which we are never quite sure if she is 'enjoying' it or not; this is a truly disturbing sequence)

The Doors, Wall Street, Salvador (I know, I know he is a hard core leftist but most of Stone's first decade of films are very politically incorrect for their depiction of very traditionally masculine characters and female characters who try to nurture and domesticize the male protagonist).

There many more films that I could list here. Most films that come pre-1968 have attitudes that are considered anti-PC by today's standards; not by what they include but by what they omit.

I long for a period when Hollywood will dare to be anti-PC again. Hopefully it will be soon.

posted by Nicol DuMoulin @ 3:28 PM