Bruce Willis

I agree with Atrios on this one, which probably won't surprise many: Who, indeed, does care, really? Conservative blogger tBogg is all up in presumptive arms about a potential Bruce Willis film that takes place in the current Iraq War, and about how liberals will want it to just die in "development hell." Atrios first, [to taint your perspective] then tBogg [then the General]:

Unlike conservatives who appear to see every Hollywood movie as an affirmation or challenge to their entire belief system I don't actually care if Bruce Willis gets to make his war movie or if it dies in "development hell."

Still, one has to wonder why they're so excited to see fiction about the war that they're mostly not willing to go see in person (it's still going on guys, in case you didn't notice) and about which they stamp their feet and shriek every time the dreaded MSM shows any kind of footage of.

Well, no, one doesn't really.

Atrios' point that conservatives seem to be most threatened by the cultural affirmation in media is really fascinating. He's dead on, here. They either accept a piece of literature or film as underscoring their moral principles or undermining it, and they accept or reject, vehemently, based on that code. But film is complex, and often they omit, misread, or at least culturally mispercept, the various interplays of meanings and values in the work. [Shocking, isn't it? because it's not like they don't have this same habit with the Good Book or anything...]

tBogg:

Citing the success of pro-war film The Passion of the Christ, the Hollywood editors of Open Robe Media are engorged with warlust and, since they have their finger on the pulse of the American heartland after flying over it two weeks ago to get sloppy drunk in New York, they think the time is right for a rah-rah all-American Mission Accomplished movie:

Die Hard star Bruce Willis is taking on two Hollywood traditions in his attempt, reported by the Timesonline Sunday, to make a pro-war feature film about United States involvement in Iraq. Willis is bucking a nearly unbroken skein of Tinseltown anti-war films that goes back to such Vietnam era favorites as Coming Home and Platoon. And the actor is doing it not with mainstream media source material, but basing his movie on the reporting of a blogger - former Green Beret Michael Yon. Chosen by Willis for his story is Yon's on the scene reporting of the heroics of the Deuce Four unit in Mosul, Iraq.

As Hollywood insiders would tell you, however, despite the participation of a bankable star, the film is still far from making it to the silver screen. Nevetheless, blogs are weighing in heavily in support of Willis, and of Yon, as if the movie were already a fait accompli. Betsy's Page has praise for Yon and wishes Willis luck. Captain's Quarters sees the potential movie as an antidote to the "idiotic Constant Gardner." The Bernoulli Effect wonders if its the next The Passion of the Christ. PJMedia's RogerLSimon also sees box office gold, if the film is made, and relates its potential to a poll in the Washington Post. And The Minefield is just plain "excited!"

Little word so far from liberal blogs that are probably hoping the project dies in what is known in Hollywood as "Development Hell."

Well it would be unkind of us to wish that it dies in "development hell" since it already comes with a deathwish of it's own in the name of Bruce Willis who is a decade past his action hero days...unless you're one of the few, the proud, the couldn't get into the movie you really wanted to see, and saw Hart's War or Tears of the Sun.

And Jeebus knows that the American public is just clamoring for flag-waving war movies like The Great Raid which pulled down a whopping $10 million at the American box office; not that the folks who green-light movies take such things into account. But Captain Cubicle gives it a thumbs-up because it's not like non-war movie The Constant Gardener and Roger "Scenes From A Mall" Simon sees "box-office gold" which kind of speaks for itself, so if the movie doesn't make it to the screen it's because Hollywood is objectively pro-terrorist and hates it when movies make lots of money like Saving Private Ryan

On the other hand, they could get Jason Apuzzo to direct and that guy who wrote Scooby Doo to write the screenplay.

I smell a hit.

Well, I smell something...

Atrios misses some of the more important cultural analyses from tBogg's perception [and yes, i will continue to cap that 'B' even though he does not]. tBogg's article takes place in a kind of preemptive conservative grouch-cloud- he's lamenting the fact that those terrible liberals have already dashed their plans once again and should be condemned for the cultural oppressors they are- even though absolutely nothing has happened yet, and, really, anyway, who cares? Really. Nobody's going to go out and protest the movie, demand that it should be shut down. Hell, lots of liberals may even go and enjoy it. Contemporary protesting of movies and demanding their immediate withdrawl seems to be owned by the cultural conservatives. [Consider, for instance, the different reactions to Last Temptation of Christ and Passion of the Christ] [links to come!]

But that language couldn't be more telling: films like The Constant Gardner, a haunting film about Africa and the rape of the nation by huge pharmaceuticals, played out in a nice, sparce, mystery story, are useless culturally because they are "non-war" films. The values of corruption in Africa by the West are not part of the cultural conversation to conservatives- this problem should be dismissed by virtue of non-interest [and yet, tBogg dismisses who the real Interests are in Africa]. One wonders what tBogg thought of Jarhead [but I don't care to search], which is itself a non-war film as well, masquerading as a warfilm.

And what is the greatest contemporary war-film success for tBogg?

The Passion of the Christ.

Ahhhh yes. War. It's beautiful when it is reduced to the thousand-lash torture of the Messiah while it removes every meaningful philosophical word the Messiah had said.