Politics and Movies

These are 3 of the films that I find tie in quite nicely with a lot of my political beliefs.

• V for Vendetta
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434409/
  This film has a lot to say about how easily politicians are able to manipulate the public through fear, despite the original graphic novel being written in the early 80’s, its message and content tie in wonderfully with now, as Fear is pumped out at us through media outlets daily. It also points out the uncomfortable truth that sometimes, the system is so broken, it cannot be repaired, but must be completely dismantled, and that sometimes, a “monster” is needed to do that.
  
  
• Kick Ass
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1250777/
  The politics to this are I suppose are more subtle, though the claims made about them are highly amusing, they range from “This is an Illuminati message” through to “Libertarian”. The main message is actually that we are all, each and every one of us responsible for our society, As the hero says “with no power comes no responsibility… except that’s not true” as Edmund Burke said “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”
  
  I don’t actually see why a society cannot be cohesive and look after each other whilst also retaining and protecting everyones individuality. It is where the left and right go wrong. Hardline Lefties would like our society to resemble the Borg Collective, whilst Hardline Righties would like our society to resemble the Wild West, just a union of “Lone Gunslingers” the ideal solution lies in the middle.
  
  
• Fight Club
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/
  Ahh, good old FC. The message of this, is that normal everyday people should stop being pushed around by large corporations, that we should again retain an element of individuality, in a world where marketing managers want us to join their particular Borg Collective. It is about how we are chained by debt, credit cards, the latest fashions, and how we should resist that. Interestingly, for such a “political” and a controversial political film at that, there seems to be very little mention of Government/The Authorities, this is all about the battle between normal human being’s Souls and Big Business, its more an anti corporate film than Political if anything, but its lessons can be applied to Politics.
  
  Rather wonderfully, the Right/Republicans in the United States were foaming at the mouth over this, and claimed that it was a “Fascist’s Handbook”. If that is the case, then please, send me my stylish Uniform with attention grabbing Insignia, for I must be a Fascist.
  
  By the means with which they grab us, whether a credit card with enticing APR, or a supermarket clubcard, these corporations are gathering and maintaining absolutely incredible data and information about our daily lives, and of course, with information comes power and to a point, control. People are rightly getting very worked up about various means the UK Government desires to spy and control our internet and other data use and habits (the proposed legislation includes the authority to scan and store postcards!) and all the other ways in which they want to access our data from various sources.
  
  They get worked up about this, as they should, but nobody stops for one second to think about what Tesco is holding on them right now, thanks to the Club Card they blithely signed up for to get the odd discount voucher. Tesco’s knows what you buy, how often you buy it, it knows what bank accounts or credit cards you use to buy it with, and can predict a stunning amount of stuff about you, accurately. Last year, one US Supermarket, I forget which, has become so accurate at using these methods with our data, that a young girl who had recently discovered she was pregnant received discount vouchers for Nappies, etc, before she had even told anyone she was expecting!
  
  Fight Club also get’s Kudos from me, for introducing me to one of the best songs ever written, to a stunning backdrop, no less.

The destruction of the banking system