Seemingly Fierce Anti-War Lineup for Hollywood

The Guardian ran an article today describing some of the new star-studded anti-war movies that are slated to come out in the next year. I'm a bit skeptical at the moment. I really liked Syriana, however George Clooney's Oscar acceptance speech where gave a nod to the progressive bastion of Americana that is Hollywood for giving an award to Hattie McDaniel, who potrayed Mammy, really took the jelly out of my donut (especially having recently view Spike Lee's seminal "Bamboozled"). On the other end of the spectrum, the recent Mark Wahlberg film "the Shooter" showed a vigilante conspiracy flick where Wahlberg, a disgruntled ex-special ops soldier, gets framed for an assassination of an African leader who is against resource exploitation of his country by the US and the subsequent massacres being carried out in the name of profit and eventually hunts down the evil-doing politician and advisor (Danny Glover). Needless to say, the left-leaning impulse is a breath of fresh air in this well worn reactionary genre (cough cough Rambo), though the politics are muddled to say the least. Nonetheless, the subject matter of these movies seems great: extraordinary rendition, CIA torture, Afghanistan, and PTSD.

It remains to be seen, as the author points out, if these movies will get made, but the over half dozen slotted to be filmed definitely relfect the sea change in public opinion against the war in Iraq and maybe even an increasing questioning of the Afghanistan invasion. The real groundbreaking part of this story is that these films are set to be released while the conflict is still raging. No critical film was made about Vietnam until three years after it ended. Hopefully these films will be right what the Doctor ordered for the anti-war movement, as "Sicko" proved to be for a newly sparked movement for universal healthcare.