Horror That Fears Politics

This pin points up AND down.
Support my work: / nathansartproject
paypal.me/AcolytesOfHorror
Twitter: @LIGHTNINGWOW
Assistant Directed by Phoebe Kuhlman. As always, she made this video a million times better in so many ways, big and small.
SOURCES
Craig Zobel; The Hunt
David Blue Garcia; Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Josh Ruben; Werewolves Within
Ryan Murphy; American Horror Story: Cult
Adam McKay; Don't Look Up
Rian Johnson; Knives Out
Ailsa Chang and Steve Inskeep; Sen. McConnell Obstructs Merrick Garland Nomination Vote www.npr.org/2016/03/18/470925...
Brian De Palma; Casualties of War
Cassandra Clarke; Texas Chainsaw Massacre Director Discusses Leatherface's Bloody Return www.cbr.com/texas-chainsaw-ma...
Christopher Crowe; Off Limits
David French; America Is Being Pulled Apart. Here's How We Can Start to Heal Our Nation time.com/5887428/american-pol...
Eric Kohn; 'The Hunt' Director Craig Zobel Fights Back Against Fake News, And Wins www.indiewire.com/2020/03/cra...
F. W. Murnau; Nosferatu
Francis Ford Coppola; Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola; Brahm Stoker's Dracula
Francis Ford Coppola; Gardens of Stone
Jackie Strause; 'American Horror Story: Cult' Isn't Only For A Liberal Audience www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/...
Jeff Burr; Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
John Irvin; Hamburger Hill
John Luessenhop; Texas Chainsaw 3D
Jonas Cuaron; Desierto
Jonathan Liebesman; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
Jordan Peele; Get Out
Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo; Leatherface
Katie Reilly; 'Action Is the Only Remedy to Indifference': Elie Wiesel's Most Powerful Quotes time.com/4392252/elie-wiesel-...
Kevin Fitzpatrick; Universal Cancels The Hunt Release After Trump’s “Hollywood Is Racist” Criticism www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/...
Kim Henkel; Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation
Luke Mogelson; A Reporter's Footage From Inside The Capitol Siege | The New Yorker • A Reporter’s Footage f...
Marcus Nispel; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett; Ready or Not
Mitchell Beaupre; Interview: 'Werewolves Within' Screenwriter Mishna Wolff on Subverting Dated Tropes In Her New Horror Comedy awardsradar.com/2021/06/25/in...
Nathan Wellman; The 'Bernie Bro' Is A Media Myth. It Needs To Die web.archive.org/web/201603181...
New York Times Editorial Board; America Has A Free Speech Problem www.nytimes.com/2022/03/18/op...
Oliver Stone; Platoon
Pat Aufderheide; "Good Soldiers" in Seeing Through Movies
Rose Glass; Saint Maud
Sam Adler-Bell; Unlearning the Language of ‘Wokeness’ nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/...
Stanley Kubrick; Full Metal Jacket
Tobe Hooper; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Tobe Hooper; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
Todd S. Purdum; Gingrich Shut Down the Government in a Tantrum 23 Years Ago www.theatlantic.com/politics/...
Wikipedia; Political Polarization in the United States en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politic...
AUDIO
♫ Track: [Electro Swing] ExoNova - Electro Swingity [No Copyright Music]
♫ Watch: • [Electro Swing] ExoNov...
Armchair Ambience; Vietnam War Ambience • Video
Freshly Roasted Beats; midnight walk. [lofi / jazzhop / chill mix] • midnight walk. [lofi /...
Freshly Roasted Beats; Swing Beats [Jazz Hop / Lo Fi / Chill Mix]
• Swing Beats [Jazz Hop ...
JS Bach; Goldberg Variation
jpegmafia; BBW from All My Heroes Are Cornballs
jpegmafia; Free the Frail from All My Heroes Are Cornballs
MinDatter; [FREE] Electro swing beat • [FREE] Electro swing beat
National Anthem of the USSR
Pavelness; Bohren & der Club of Gore - Street Tattoo • Video
The Turtles; Happy Together
Wanja [Nechtan] Gröger; Best Of Double Bass Drumming 2020! • Best Of Double Bass Dr...

[@thecatlurking]

The real villain was the two-party system we made along the way!

[@SpoopySquid]

This but unironically

[@mikegeoda6587]

if only Trump were strong enough all he did was to show how broken the system is aaaaand theres nothing you can do about it thx

[@gypsydanger1013]

Don't forget about the both sides are equally bad that were with us all along

[@HeatherHolt]

Ok this really made me laugh. ❤

[@drugsdelaney2907]

@@mikegeoda6587he didn’t do that on purpose.

[@jordanetherington1922]

I think it's weird that Werewolf Within expects us to think that a park ranger wouldn't have very specific views about oil pipelines. You don't become a park ranger unless you are cool with being in nature for a loooong time.

[@aidans4464]

He instinctively opposed the pipeline, but was afraid that openly speaking his mind about it would be mean.

[@geneparmesan8748]

When people complain that "movies are getting political," what I hear 99% of the time is "movies are doing politics badly." Get Out is an absolutely phenomenal horror movie, and you don't have to be a Poli-Sci scholar to understand the messages buried underneath about racial tension and power dynamics. There's the aforementioned Ready or Not with its horror-comedy look at class warfare. The first Purge was a (possibly accidentally) interesting look at how something like the Purge would disproportionately affect poorer people, while wealthy people with the money to lock their shit down would have a better chance of living normal lives (this is more intentionally showcased in its sequels). Sorry to Bother You gives great commentary on the things a black man needs to do to succeed in white corporate America, mostly by blending in. Squid Game is clearly targeting class and debt, and an entertainment industry that prioritizes entertainment of the elites over welfare of the lower class. This last theme is reflected in much older film and literature, such as The Most Dangerous Game (novel, 1924). "Don't Look Up" is a mixed bag for me, because I think the idea of turning the broad and hard-to-quantify climate crisis into an asteroid that we can all literally see and calculate, heading toward us, was an incredibly powerful and frustrating metaphor. The movie did a pretty good job of mimicking a lot of the capitalist and politically-motivated processes that would go into making us collectively ignore such a huge and obvious threat. But then I think it went way too obvious into its Trump Family/Elon Musk stand-ins, to the point where it just became more obvious cheap shots at Trump that'll be super dated in like 4 years. In short I love when movies get political, and there are loads of them that do it well, but it's annoying and even patronizing when they make it this painfully obvious.

[@AJX-2]

I have no problem with movies being political, but if I'm gonna spend money and time watching propaganda, it better at least be good propaganda.

[@westernmonk6036]

AAAAAAAAAH! GENEEEEE!!!!!

[@robertborland5083]

It is interesting because there are so many aspects of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre that open themselves well to political analysis; the decline of rural America, animal agriculture, patriarchal systems making women disposable, etc. A version that would want to return to the original could be fascinating, drawing upon events & ideas that developed after the original's release; a Texas Chainsaw Massacre that draws upon the '80s farm crisis, Sunaura Taylor's Beasts of Burden, & Carol J. Adams's The Sexual Politics of Meat, for example. It would be nice if -- instead of using a South Park style of cheap partisan politics for the pretension of political consciousness, those involved with making the film used the genre & story as metaphor, opening themselves to exploring & expounding upon the questions posed by the original.

[@matman000000]

One of the problems is that many current movies dealing with politics are just reactionary references to well-known figures, stereotypes and events. The parallels are so on the nose and superficial that in a few years, they'll be very dated and lose most of its pop culture context. Political movies which survived the test of time (Casablanca, Network, Do The Right Thing, Fight Club) often looked forward, not just backwards, and their stories worked on their own without the crutch of contemporary pop culture.

[@danse777macabre]

politics are shit and so are those movies

[@razmerry]

The point about Vietnam was really a good connection. I don’t even think we spent a whole day on it in school, and certainly not much of the surrounding context of the war

[@an_annanas]

That's so bizarre and disheartening to hear. I'm from South Africa, and we had a really big module on the Vietnam War - generally from the Vietnamese perspective.

[@razmerry]

@@an_annanas I wish I'd had that! American school history spends a lot of time on our Revolutionary War and 1800's politics, and then not so much time on anything else, even more so not outside of the country. I had a really good teacher in particular, but the curriculum is just set up against it.

[@bece00]

@@razmerry not to mention that they basically stop covering history in like 1979!

[@alexanderfloyd5099]

Really? I’m an old millennial and we got a ton of Vietnam War stuff in school. That’s really a shame it’s not taught anymore. So important, especially as an American. It’s when we collectively had to face the fact that we’re not the good guys for the first time. I guess that explains why it’s not taught in school anymore.

[@godemarcus4245]

@@alexanderfloyd5099 might depend on location i think? we also learned a bunch on the vietnam war in my apush class a year ago

[@Kouyou160]

The most horrifying thing was the picture of the “bipartisan” politicians getting along at the end.

[@AcolytesOfHorror]

truly the most cursed image I have ever put out into the world

[@heartdragon2386]

Because every bipartisan effort is generally bad for the non-wealthy?

[@Kouyou160]

@@heartdragon2386 ‘cause they’re not really bipartisan - the image was like saying their only interested in their own interests together - which is providing bread and circus while both of them suck us dry. Dems are more middle-right then ever before and they don’t follow through on the promises they make to the people during elections. Plain and simple. They’re actually one party - the wealthy. The world is not just, the people impose justice on the world - and there is no force to hold the wealthy politicians to account - we couldnt get Trump impeached and we certainly arent going to get him imprisoned. Clinton even comes from a long line of people who profited from slave-trade and colonialism and continue shady shit in the shadows - was she made to pay for any of this? No she had to be appeased by Obama not to grab for MORE power. The same thing will happen to Trump just you wait. They’ll let him keep his money and lifestyle to appease him at the very least. If the people want power they need to seize it, as slowly and surely as these people have seized power from us.

[@rynthorn1551]

This so makes me think of the the villains in The Legend of Korra. A weird pull but still. Each season has a villain that has an obvious real world political philosophy parallel. The communists and anarchists are portrayed as absolute lunatics who just want to kill or maim indiscriminately. They are all either killed or humiliated in some way. Meanwhile the fascist ends up crying in a field with the main protag about how she is only a fascist because she's just so scared of bad things to her home. Like, the differences are insane.

[@yetanotherrandomyoutubecha4382]

That's interesting because I always got the impression that AtlA (I haven't seen Korra) had a left leaning perspective. Maybe when you're already on that side, being more critical of your own and humanizing your opponent seems more novel. Either that or, as they say; "The only thing leftists hate more than the opposition is other leftists"

[@umi2751]

Fascism is the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. Every liberalism is one step away fascism.

[@umi2751]

@@yetanotherrandomyoutubecha4382 not really... The show is pretty insensitive towards indigenous peoples in many ways. There is an episode completely dedicated to convince the audience that oral traditions can be easily disregarded. It never really adresses imperialism and dictatorship in a more critical way, to the point that literally the 14yo blood heir to the throne that opressed the whole world in the series ascends to the throne. Character-wise is a good redemption arc, but he should not be the one ruling Fire Nation. The super structure of society is never tackled, instead they pose inequality as something to be blamed on individuals, not on the economical system they live in. Geez, the sweetheart of the series is actually a war criminal. In Legend of Korra it only got worse. They portray globalization as the solution for historical resentments instead of a facet of neoliberalism created in order to mantain the international labour division and exploit post-colonial nations

[@TheCourtJack]

@@yetanotherrandomyoutubecha4382 I mean it's pretty easy to be left against a genocidal monarchy today in ATLA and not so much when you have a United States stand-in for LOK. I like ATLA/LOK but it has a very liberal world view. Kay and Skittles did a good video essay series on it.

[@mordcore]

i can never forgive them for making toph a cop

[@ShadaOfAllThings]

Lets be honest: These movies are for Centrists. And not just people who are trying to figure out what the best ideas offered by either side are, I'm talking the kinds of Centrists who think there's a middle ground between "lets commit genocide" and "lets never allow people to commit genocide". The people who think that politics is just a game to play and that there's no real world implications to the shit they spew out of their mouths.

[@Jerry_Retro]

I don’t understand what you mean, is there an obligation to being on a certain side, is there someone holding a gun to our heads, if you are on neither side of the aisle then what does that do for you personally, how does it affect your life personally, because how people see it, politics isn’t affecting my life personally and it’s only the things around me that affect me the most, why should I participate, If I don’t believing god then I don’t have spiritual obligation to follow the teachings of the bible, if I don’t own a gun then I don’t have an obligation to the American second amendment, if I’ve been put in a situation that requires an abortion, then I don’t have to be pro choice, I can live my life not caring about issues that don’t affect me personally it’s called apathy, it’s something I’m very comfortable with and a lot people on the right don’t mind apathetic people existing, but the left despise us because to be frank we are the majority, the majority of people don’t care about climate change, abortion rights, gun rights, social justice etc. we just want to move our meaningless life along and since there’s no god there’s no spiritual obligation to the afterlife so it makes things even easier.

[@ShadaOfAllThings]

@@Jerry_Retro I think you know what I mean because you decided to engage with something so god damn nonsequeter to the point I was making that its downright unhinged.

[@yeehawboy1410]

@@Jerry_Retro do you have a job? If so, then yes, politics affects your life

[@Jerry_Retro]

@@yeehawboy1410 I have a job because it's how you make money if we could print out money without the consequence of inflation, then I'd sign up for that but it's not the world we live in, in our day to day lives most people don't give a fuck about most people, except for our friends and family, if you were to die tomorrow I wouldn't give a fuck, and you wouldn't give a fuck if I did either I am by no means wishing you dead I am just saying people just look at the world through there personal lense, I don't know why being a leftist actvist does anything for me personally it's not a convincing sell, you can't just go around saying because you just gotta it's progressive, yeah I don't know why that helps me as an idulvisual, I work to eat, pay morgages, pay rent, if the climate is changing yeah ugh what does that do for me because if earth doesn't survive in 70 years from now I'm either too old or dead, so I'd care even less. Apathy for the win baby

[@maybemablemaples2144]

@@Jerry_Retro it must be so nice to be ignorant of the complete suffering around you. Truly.

[@Broeckchen]

Knives Out is such a great point of comparison, because such a huge catastrophe in the movie would not have happened if someone rich had just listened to poor Marta in the first place instead of thinking they, as an educated wealthy person, knew better than her. Like, even the genuinely kindest rich person in that movie still is too classist to put trust into someone from the working class who is sincerely kind and honest.

[@michaelhegwood9977]

I think calling it the "South Park" effect would be fair. Where a series is far more concerned about "both sides" that it fails to really say something

[@nachgeben]

South Park has a lot to say, and it's not complicated at all. If you're that incapable of seeing that, that's a you problem, not a problem with its creators.

[@SpoopySquid]

Hipster nihilism

[@reservationatdorsias3215]

@@nachgeben Big facts

[@brigade7678]

@@nachgeben hilarious, they change views all the time and MANY of their points boil down to "its dumb to have extreme views in either direction". Some episodes lack coheisive points and some are clear as day. I'm a HUGE sp fan, watched since season 1 aired, but man defending them blindly would get you mocked by matt & trey lol. They've even said themselves, with the 1 a week way they had to animate the show, they put out plenty of episodes where they changed their mind half way (or just days after air) saying the final product contradicted itself. you and the person above you both chose definitive and failed to get the show's message. They're left leaning libertarians afterall, they love the middle ground.

[@jesustyronechrist2330]

@@brigade7678 Is this a problem? People change their minds all the time. If anything, South Park would be more obnoxious if it constantly took a predictable stance and you'd know exactly what it would say about a thing. The whole show would be contrived. But I guess people hate that they can't immediately tell what someone is about at a glance. You are either right or wrong, good or bad, with me or against me. The point of the show is to make sure you are never quite satisfied and comfortable with your own stance. That you can't ever say "my standpoint is perfect and the inherently good one."

[@TalkingVidya]

One of my favorite songs by Rise Against put it pretty simple: Neutrality means that you don't really care, because the Struggle goes on even when you are not there

[@alim.9801]

That's a fantastic line, I love that

[@darkfruit2412]

(Spoilers for Knives Out) Great video. One thing I'd like to pile on to is your point about Knives Out and how it works much better than the examples you suggested, concerning the final villain reveal. Within the Thrombey family, there are people either shown to be or even downright described to be alt-right aligned (like the Nazi kid) who are pretty much actively opposed to sympathizing with Marta and her class status. Then there are others like Toni Colette's character and her daughter, who are more progressive and generally more open-minded, but are still depicted to be part of the problem of the entitled, rich who don't really give a shit about Marta and her issues. The movie goes to great lengths to satirize both the red-hat Trump supporter-esque side of the family, and also the "well-meaning, rich white liberal" side of it ("Immigrants, we get the job done.). Ultimately, the villain is revealed to be Ransom. But the film doesn't depict Ransom as being some apolitical mole who doesn't care about politics and only looks out for himself. After being caught, he specifically lashes out at Marta about how he and his family are entitled to their grandfather's house, his legacy, and its riches ("We allowed you to take care of granddad, to be part of our family and now you think you can steal it from us?"). Despite making fun of "both sides", Knives Out's bad guy *does* have a generally identifiable ideology, one that is more similar to the red-hat side than it is to the liberal side the film also considers complicit in the problem. So, as you said in the video itself, KO tackles these ideas much better, and I think it does so specifically because the ultimate moral doesn't just say "both sides bad" and run off, it does more than that. Yes, every member of the family is hypocritical regardless of their beliefs, but the one among them who literally tried to murder someone to preserve their wealth wasn't just some guy - he had a specific set of beliefs the film goes out of its way to critique, and y'know, *say something about* . As such, the end result is just way more compelling and interesting to think about.

[@Shockguey]

Just because the movie put up a mirror to NeoLiberals doesn't mean it's "red hat". Knives Out one of the most "Malcolm X's criticism of white people" movies ever made.

[@koffinkiss]

​@@Shockguey I think they meant the movie's villain, not the movie itself, as opposed to the other examples in the video

[@cidevant002]

It's also interesting to note how Ransom talks about the house like something that his ancestors build from the ground up, which is why he is entitled to it instead of Marta, and the detective, the "hero" of the story we have been rooting for the entire movie, says that is a bunch of bullshit because they just bought the house in the 80s. Ransom just tell him to shut up before being literally vomited on.

[@Shockguey]

@@koffinkiss Both the villain and the film fit the description. Calling it red hat is just passing the buck.

[@reservationatdorsias3215]

I want my families fortune = Red hat? You should sue whatever university radicalized you.

[@sadicalradness6927]

All of these movies feel like producer bait. People want movies that talk about politics, people want movies that have something to say! But they don't want you to say the wrong thing! And also everyone is tired of politics! So just talk about it a lot but say nothing! You can seem woke but you can also avoid alt-right harassment! Win-win! Plus, if you make all of your characters some kind of shithead, isn't it more fun to watch them die?

[@bece00]

Exactly!

[@saharasafari9]

It’s honestly not that hard as long as you have a good story to tell that pulls everyone in regardless of your overall political message

[@nickrustyson8124]

@@saharasafari9 Now of course that is something a lot of these movies don't have Good Writing

[@saharasafari9]

@@nickrustyson8124 It’s kind of embarrassing at this point. Even I could write a better story than half of the shit we see on screen. Hell I’ve seen better on webtoon

[@Jen-uk6ly]

@@saharasafari9 now don’t offend webtoon😭😭but I agree like a child could do better

[@eggman37]

If I see the words "your so canceled" unironicly in a movie I hate it. I hate it so much

[@catlawyerwilldefendfortrea6038]

I think the problem ends up being that the movies are produced by people who take advantage of an unjust system but also the target audience consists of people who are on the left. They end up feeling very centralist. The recent Batman movie had the same vibe. Cops are corrupt but not really. Thomas Wayne is corrupt but not really. Even a show like Severance. It's being praised for it's commentary on the horror of work culture but it also spends multiple episode justifying why someone will take that job and not once the answer is that the characters are broke and need money to survive. They aren't small replaceable cogs in an uncaring machine but they are given special attention and focus of unknown conspiracy. Compare that to something like Sorry to bother you. The difference in tone is immense. And yet one of them is more popular that the other.

[@mxmissy]

I think one of the things I'm tired about in media that portrays politics in some form like what was used as examples, are how the creatives go on about how their piece isn't political in nature. And it really pisses me off when people think that or say that about art. And especially with that quote from Craig Zobel who said "...a lot of people don't think about politics all day ... There's a way to make a movie that doesn't hold any politics in it that everyone can enjoy", which is just a wild statement. The first half of that quote is so misguided, like yes, I don't think about politics every day of my life, but my world is political in nature. A lot of my identities are related to politics, how I get paid, how I'm able to access healthcare, how I'm able to pay for medication. People who don't have to deal with the same issues I do obviously are not going to think about politics all day. Especially a white guy (yes I do know that Zobel is of Jewish faith, but he's still a white guy). But onto the second part of the quote, it's absolutely asinine. Because this shit is the exact same shit that a lot of conservatives say, that they often say that politics in a movie makes the movie bad. The issue isn't putting politics in movies makes it bad and no one can enjoy. It's putting politics in movies and being lazy with it. The original Star Wars (and I don't like to give Lucas any credit, I mean the protagonists' first name and last name's initial is just... his last name. Luke S.) was inspired by Vietnam, WWII and the Nixon admin. The film is enriched with politics, but the "I don't want politics in my media" crowd don't see that. It's why it's such a joke in nerd spaces that the conservative nerd's favourite pieces of fiction are things like Star Wars, Star Trek, the Fallout series (specifically New Vegas), The Punisher, Fight Club... etc. etc. etc. By trying to be apolitical, you'll still fall on a side. And it's not that politics is binary or anything. It's that politics will influence us no matter what. Art and politics are entrenched with each other. Whether that's from creating portraits of kings or queens, to writing a poem about how oppressive conformity is as it ruins some of the smartest people. Not only that but how often the arts are looked down upon by those in politics. In 2023, here in Australia, the New South Wales Government cut funding to their film sector. They were going to axe $60 million in funding, not only that but 85 film and tv projects and 30k jobs. However, they "surprisingly" found money so they can reverse the cuts. Politics can be as overt as The Hunt is, where it is beating you over the head by "both sides are bad!!!!" to subvertive tactics like anti-consumerism in Dawn of the Dead. And even if you try to make a film w/o politics... it just turns out shit tbh. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[@jedgrahek1426]

My dad has turned into the audience for this kind of thing, after having progressive views on pretty much everything my entire childhood. He doesn't see the problems themselves, he sees making a big deal out of the problem as the real problem, ect. That's great if you want to be a monk, but it isn't an actual position, and the more one refuses to take any positions the more one becomes an ally of the status quo. His perspective baffles me, but I bet he would be a big fan of these movies (if he was the type to even watch horror movies, but that isn't really the point).

[@Nobody-qs3bj]

Honestly, this is the same frustration I have with my parents... I feel you on this one.

[@clevelandplonsey7480]

They’re probably just exhausted

[@tristantries9211]

​@@clevelandplonsey7480honestly that is reasonable. It IS exhausting existing trying to survive trying to make ends meet and trying to make sure you can retire and end of life are taken care of without adding stressing over the politics in the nation on top of it. It's exhausting me and I'm still on the young half of life let alone if I was become elderly

[@ianp5367]

It's because having any position is a waste of time and energy it doesn't change anything. The two party system exists for the sole purpose of keeping it as an "us vs. them" world. The only way to win is to realize the world will keep spinning regardless of whether you care or not.

[@RSStarfire]

I’m not baffled by it. Being able to take the moral high ground and feel like you’re better than “both sides” with zero critical thought is pretty appealing.

[@NemoK]

"If you're triggered by trigger warnings please close your ears now..." That's great. I'm gonna use that.

[@elizabethdevido2081]

Excellent video. You’ve articulated a lot of thoughts and feelings I’ve had about the relationship between politics and media, and my frustrations with the “keep politics out of it” mindset. I know making a video like this is probably scary and nerve-wracking, so just know your work is appreciated. I’m a new subscriber and I’m excited to see more videos!

[@karlnykwest4199]

Nice video. I really liked your point about the dialogue in these movies sounding more like arguments on social media than actual arguments. I think that's why so many of them feel emotionally hollow. It's like the producers/ filmmakers themselves can't wrap their heads around the context of what they're trying to represent.

[@AJX-2]

For them, politics isn't real, it's just a show that happens on their phone screens.

[@enderponydragon6317]

The one line about everyone needing to shut the fuck up and listen resonates with me on a spiritual level and this video is a goddamn masterpiece. I also really enjoyed the segment where you talk about the main leads of each story basically not caring for the conflict in general, pretty much working on their own terms. This is an overall awsome take of this 'political horror' genre. Well done!

[@ajiththomas2465]

I agree. Even "being apolitical" is a political stance, even if people don't realize it. It signifies a certain level of privilege that protects them from the consequences of bad policies which disproportionately affect the marginalized. Everything is political, because it _always_ has been political, especially in film. Even films that people would consider "apolitical" like the _Sonic the Hedgehog_ movie do indeed have political messages through how they frame certain subjects, who they frame as the good guys and bad guys, who they criticize or more importantly who they _don't_ criticize, and of course corporate product placement. Usually the people complaining about a movie "being political" is because they don't like or agree with the politics in question. Honestly, my frustration with movies that try to take the "enlightened centrist/both sides are bad" stance is that not only is the American Overton Window so narrow and skewed heavily to the right wing compared to the rest of the world but they also conflate 3 different concepts together: Unbiased, Objective, and Neutrality. There is no such thing as an "unbiased" source. Everything has a bias in it. Anyone who claims that they're immune to ideology is utterly ruled by ideology. Objective deals primarily with stating the facts but people confuse and conflate it with Neutrality, which is not the same. A reporter is not supposed to listen to Person A say it's sunny outside and listen to Person B say it's rainy outside, and then report that it's cloudy. Their job is to look outside and report what they see. Neutrality is sometimes used to try to provide a balanced perspective on things but it can also just as easily be used to obfuscate and aid with the oppressors. For example, what's the "neutral" stance on the Holocaust? Were "both sides bad" in the Holocaust or World War II? Neutrality is not the same as objectivity. Do you see the sharp differences between Unbiased, Objective, and Neutral? So-called "apolitical/centrist" films can't or don't differentiate between the two and that's why I find them to be cowardly.

[@Yamsthenills]

My minor nitpick here is that both sides were indeed bad during WWII, although not where the Holocaust is concerned, and in fact that there were far more than two sides in the war, many of whom continued to be rode roughshod over by the major powers well into the cold war and even today.

[@jonpato]

I found the woke fascist.

[@cola8481]

@@jonpato Which person are you addressing? Genuine ask

[@ryancarroll2886]

@@jonpato woke is explicitly, to the letter, antifascist. oh my god, you follow that crackhead Whatifalthist and the LITERAL fascist Sargon

[@Matthew-ks8fm]

“ reporter is not supposed to listen to Person A say it's sunny outside and listen to Person B say it's rainy outside, and then report that it's cloudy.” Hard disagree. It’s not a journalist’s job to discern and expose lies, it’s the reader’s job.

[@PauLtus_B]

To be honest, I found don't look up kinda worked as everything became about image instead of the problem. Their genuine terror was shrugged off because they were being "too emotional".

[@loki1456]

My cousin literally thought he said "night of a thousand taints" and we argued about it for so long, it's become an inside joke. 😂

[@losgann]

Damon Lindelof (who wrote The Hunt) made a lot of the same allusions to poilitics without substance in his Watchmen series. I don't think it's just fear of saying something political, but a manifestation of the dead end centrist-liberal politics of the people creating this kind of art. In interviews about Watchmen (2019), Lindelof spoke about the need for an equally strong Democrat and Republican party. People like Lindelof are political because of the threat of change (which is why Trump mobilised them), but they're equally terrified of things shifting to the left. They're mostly fine regardless of whichever American political institution is in charge as long as no massive changes happen, which is why a third, apolitical threat (in their opinion, I think their 'apolitical' is very revealing) comes in to negate any possible change and leave things politically stagnant.

[@JinStreams]

Its so annoying to see media try to say nothing, the people behind these have so little faith in their audience that they believe people are incapable of enjoying art they disagree with.

[@bece00]

This is one of my favorite videos of yours! I have hated these "both sides" political horror movies... completely tone deaf

[@nachgeben]

Honestly, the only reason people hate it is because they're insistent nothing is wrong with their side and can't handle that maybe there's something to be said about how their side conducts themselves. For example, if your idea of political activism is to show up at someone's door and hurl insults at them, then you're a log dead in the water and will have no impact in the world. You want something to change, you have to do more than just whine on someone doorstep.

[@bece00]

@@nachgeben i disagree. I hate it because i generally think centrism is a useless ideology. Theres plenty you can criticize the left for (especially democrats) but they are nowhere near as evil as the right wing in the US.

[@Isaac-ot6jh]

@@nachgeben ok that’s like not how ether side really works, people don’t like both sides crap because it complains while not offering anything.

[@CrowTR0bot]

@@nachgeben It's because these "apolitical" movies tend portray the right wing semi-accurately while strawmanning the left side using right wing talking points while quietly trying to avoid talking about what the left stands for. The Right--which believes in vertical and often bigoted hierarchies--is indefensible, so they make the left look bad so people get apathetic and try to meet the fash in the "middle."

[@QuikVidGuy]

I gotta say "people so obsessed with partisanship that they never resolve it before the monster kills them" SOUNDS like a great premise, but why is it so rarely done on purpose?

[@kristalcampbell3650]

It is so frustrating that to express any idea or take any stance automatically puts you on the defensive. There's a reason movies like this keep getting funded though apathy funds the status quo and rich folks who can afford to produce movies love the status quo. Also, "go watch fox news" wow, *slow clap* the black delegation would like to thank you for your service 😅 don't feel too bad we've all let righteous indignation make us shitty responders sometimes. Also Also, I just rewatched your essay on midsommar. It still hits home. Love your work!

[@jwm1444]

I think, if I can arm-chair psychoanalyze and project a bit, a lot of these filmmakers probably don't come from truly progressive families. They likely come from families that are in the political center or conservative families that they avoid talking about politics with. Because if they avoid politics entirely while talking to said conservative family members, they can actually have a decent time with them. I know this because that's how it is with my Dad's side of the family. All conservatives that I have to avoid any political conversation with if I want to have even a modicum of a good time with. Great video, I thought for sure your next would maybe be about "Men" or "X" but this was a truly pleasant surprise.

[@WhaleManMan]

If I could assume shit people I don't know for a second, I think they come from conservative families because theyre wrong.

[@heartdragon2386]

The thing that really bothers me about the trope is that it seems completely oblivious, or willfully ignorant, to the fact that the majority of people ignoring politics is exactly what got us here. Not going to wag a finger, because many folks work to the point that digging into politics with their limited free time would probably be detrimental to their mental health.

[@chrisconley5401]

The line at 6:21 is the the most bad ass quip I've ever heard.

[@The_Creative_Name]

I heard that JPEGMAFIA snippet during the very scary POLITICAL transition. You’ve got good taste Nathan. :) Keep up the good content. Always fun and insightful to watch.

[@FLASK904]

I think the Gang explained it best when it comes to politics in showbusiness..."Sometimes dogs die...there is also disease, and cars"

[@MrBazBake]

If it helps you when the question on black fathers comes up again, the CDC says black fathers are more active in their children's daily lives than white fathers, are more likely to help with homework, and most cohabitate with their children. The statistic on "single mothers" also includes mothers who live with the father of their child out of wedlock. It's not a question of absent fathers so much as unmarried parents living together because, next to Native Americans, they have the highest rates of employment discrimination and economic instability. (Prison is also a large contributing factor as well, and it likewise overburdens other minority groups.)

[@HeatherHolt]

The “Dew it!” at 23:47 had me rolling dude, after you said “fight club meets revenge of the sith” 😂 damn

[@lifotheparty6195]

Oh you missed an incredibly important part. It’s “shut up and get back to work.”

[@Badficwriter]

I will say one thing about Knives Out..I spent years caring for my father in law and he absolutely tried to manipulate family with money. People think the patriarch was the noble one in that movie and his family were the bad guys, but that situation didn't happen by accident. He was an awful man who screwed his family over. His nurse was his beloved pet. The friendship between him and Marta was an illusion.

[@katszulga1888]

If you're looking for a really good movie about the Vietnam War I can't recommend The Quiet American enough. Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, and Tzi Ma give such amazing performances, and you really understand the politicking that was happening as that war started.

[@FrankieSmileShow]

This reminds me of times in media where "the middle east conflict" is brought up as a kind of symbolic shorthand for "important and complex topic" and then quickly dismissed without saying anything about it. Or when someone in a cartoon says something political to show that theyre deep, so another character can gawk at the big words before quickly changing the subject. Its like, its not about bringing up a subject matter, its about the fantasy of having brought up a subject matter itself, like several steps removed from politics. Not exactly the same phenomenon as this, its more of a short form version of it for a single scene instead of an entire story's premise.

[@AJX-2]

"The middle east conflict" is such a great vague shorthand, because there's literally always some conflict or other in the middle east, and from an American perspective they're all basically interchangeable.

[@stevenboelke6661]

It's a function of capitalism. "We don't want to scare off any potential customers by condemning their politics"

[@corwin32]

I appreciate the PSA. Facial integrity is a important issue that not many take seriously. I hate this new type of "all of 'em are bad" political view. I especially hate the idea that I get from these movies that a piece of art can't say something or mean something. Why bother with it at all then? Well done & gutsy video.

[@tequilasunsetpharmd9297]

Hard agree on how these films and series don’t so much write characters, they insert posters from every cause. Pop culture is becoming more postmodern in trying to create subversions for subversion sake. It’s not enough to show that characters can have internally conflicting beliefs with their actions and speech; the character has to look at the camera and say “boy, sure is weird for a conservative to be pro-gay rights, bet you didn’t see that coming.” It doesn’t say anything, it’s a cheap “makes-you-think” tactic for either pandering or to be thought of as provocative by putting the least amount of work in as possible.

[@thinkfirst1989]

I would not say Don't Look Up is in the same category as these other films, yes it's political but it's more about the horror of our institutional inability to confront and coordinate the resolution of extreme existential threats. I would put it in a category with Dr. Strangelove and the Day After Tomorrow, which have much more in common, thematically with ensemble thrillers where the way groups work together or fail to work together in a crisis determines their fate, and then thematic tension really derives from the will they/won't they in the precariousness of the characters' ability to work together.

[@opossumboyo]

It’s been said many times before, but the problem I had with “Don’t Look Up”, as someone who has worked in environmental science for years, is that it makes the “correct” answer too easy. A giant meteor flying towards the planet is a clear and obvious threat. There isn’t really a disadvantage to trying to solve the problem. In fact, there was a massive advantage to be gleaned; any nation that “solved” the problem would expend a trivial amount of industrial effort to literally save the world. They’d be heroes in the eyes of their people, and likely the entire species. The climate crisis is far more complex, and “solving” it has massive economic and social consequences for the nations who make that a priority. Nate Hagens has a podcast series about the issue called “The Great Simplification”, which sounds ominous because it very much is. Solving the crisis requires immense sacrifice. “Don’t Look Up” pisses me off because it makes the problem seem like it is a binary between the stupid, greedy elite (and their misled masses) and the intelligent, caring members of the scientific world. In reality, the “real” solutions are not only politically impossible, they are wildly unpopular with all but the most radical in the sphere.

[@JinStreams]

It's weirdly focused on blaming the average person for their apathy while largely ignoring that the people who are the largest contributors are the ones who are fully in control of whether anything is done.

[@SleepyBoi_9000]

*you describing the plot of AHS:C* Me who has never seen the show: “WHAT??”

[@AcolytesOfHorror]

it's honestly so much weirder than even I was able to describe here

[@SleepyBoi_9000]

@@AcolytesOfHorror Morbidly curious honestly haha

[@VelocitrapLords]

@@AcolytesOfHorror the prospect of AHS Cult getting dunked on was a big motivator to watch

[@ikeekieeki]

Ryah Murphy must be stopped

[@bouncingbuttons7441]

I think one of the reasons this feels especially disingenuous is that it's portraying both sides as equal and opposite, often pairing liberals against right-wingers that are much more explicitly far right than the other side is portrayed as far left, but they're both treated as if they're equal in extremism. This is... it's a bewildering choice to me, for a lot of reasons, but considering how the American political spectrum looks, it's not surprising. Liberals are not the extreme versions of a political standard like many right-wing media outlets make them out to be, they tend much more towards the center of the spectrum (and always have) and tend towards inaction, but are so much more prevalent in media than those who are much farther left. We must therefore consider that in creating these pieces of media, the ones in charge of producing it are far more interested in showing characters who are widely represented of groups seen in the media. It's interesting to me that most of the people in these shows are middle to upper class, able bodied, cisgender, and white (with the occasional gay or person of color introduced, usually on the liberal side). It makes it so much easier to show that "wow! these two groups really are so similar after all!" because they're made up of people with privilege, who have more flexibility in choosing a political stance because they are less likely to risk active harm. As a trans person, although there are conservative trans people, they're usually held with disdain among the community, because the people who fought for our rights to exist were neither apolitical nor conservative. They were radical enough to riot, and they did, at risk to themselves. It's much easier to show the clear divide between liberals and the alt-right because liberals in many ways do not act in opposition to the far right, and therefore it is easy for them to get radicalized to it, even as they hold disdain for it. (The Phil Ochs' song 'Love Me I'm A Liberal' makes note of this, he introduces liberals as "ten degrees to the left of center in good times and ten degrees to the right of center if it affects them personally") Just look at J. K. Rowling, a really excellent example of the effects of radicalization on liberal people. She started off advocating for unity and fighting for marginalized groups (in her way, which usually meant some sort of charity fund or weird kind of representation, a little backwards, but not bad) and I think still believes that that's what she's fighting for when she champions hate against trans women and harmfully invalidates the gender identity of trans men in the interest of "protecting 'real' women". That's what these films showcase to me, and why I feel they are devoid from any real commentary on political divide or extremism. Liberals are so afraid of being viewed as radical as the far left, as marxists and socialists and commies, that they forget to be afraid of the real danger of being radicalized by the far right. In my experience, many people on the left can do just as much damage to marginalized groups as people on the far right (through inaction or ignorance or bias), the only difference is that their view of what is 'violent' is only consigned to the physical, to guns and fists. They do not view ideology itself as violent, and therefore they assume they have the moral high ground in any situation, with no consideration of what would need to happen in order to back that ideology up. Both liberals and the alt-right are people I dislike and distrust as a disabled trans man, but at the end of the day, at least I know where the alt right stands and I can choose to combat that. The liberals are convinced they're on my side until they have to stick out their necks for people like me, and then I know I absolutely cannot count on them. I don't need to watch a movie to understand that.

[@AJX-2]

Radical politics is scary for the same reason that all horror is scary: it is a threat to our comfort and security. Even if the status quo is bad and makes you miserable, at least it is predictable. The devil you know beats the devil you don't. Humans crave stability, and anything that threatens it is scary by default.

[@AniMana21]

That anecdote about the car ride made me think. I sometimes have that kind of gut response, but I've learned the best way to respond to a question that seems like it might be coming from a bigoted place is to ask "Oh? Why do you think that is?" rather than outright deny it. Because yeah, some stats that seem bad up front are true, but the more important thing is how you interpret that information.

[@cjharshman9234]

I find any talk of politics and pop culture completely inseparable from class, and I really wonder how these tropes would be played out differently if we weren't in a recession with a crushing economic system. Capitalism has always been bad but I think we can all agree that we're in a period of "Oh god, oh no, things are really bad and going to get worse". Things feel dire, even for people who don't like/want to think about the ways that its manifested, and I think a lot of these projects build on that. It's difficult to think about why things are so bad because any investigation in that direction leads to a sense of severe helplessness and these (and other) pieces of media are saying "No you're right, you don't have to think about it" by giving these apolitical characters most of the agency in the cast and putting them in direct situations against helplessness. I can see that being very validating and even inspiring to the people who see themselves represented in these characters. Of course this doesn't fit neatly into every project of this genre (not even all the ones you presented) But the thought is there. And I wonder how this trope would change and potentially become less relevant if that systemic sense of helplessness wasn't as present in our current climate.

[@vikingkirk762]

"Capitalism has always been bad." - Communist Boomer on laptop he stole from Millennial Son

[@Matthew-ks8fm]

@@vikingkirk762 “wow you’re critiquing capitalism while existing within it such a hypocrite gotcha!!1!” It’s an all encompassing system

[@SamSepiolTheHeretic]

How is capitalism bad? I agree it is getting worse, largely because capitalist supply chains are being bottlenecked by fasci tariffs and financial markets are imploding because of socialist money printing. But capitalism? I guess the world before 1865 was good… if you’re insane.

[@vikingkirk762]

@@Matthew-ks8fm ... America is COMMUNIST, Edge Lord ...

[@vikingkirk762]

@@SamSepiolTheHeretic We haven't been a capitalist nation since the 80s, and certainly not since 2000. If labor is meaningless, then you are in a COMMUNIST hellhole ...

[@milesclay2209]

So I was a pretty big fan of ahs when cult was first coming out, and it was literally right after the 2016 election. It was way too soon and way to topical, in the most insensitive way. I think it's easier to watch it now that there's some distance, but at the time it was really bad.

[@drinks_menu]

I remember thinking it only could have worked if it came out then, i think if they waited would have been a lot less topical, and also less effective.

[@bece00]

It just didnt feel right to me personally, they use our evil fucking political system as some silly plot device. That is probably on the writers tho because i definitely stopped watching after this season

[@lotsandlotsofants]

That's exactly what I loved about it. It was like watching horror unfold in real time

[@nickrustyson8124]

Even then that brings up the problem of it becoming dated, which to me, if you're making a piece of media there are two things you don't want it to end up as, Boring, or Dated

[@STRANGEANATOMYBAND]

@@bece00to my memory, that’s how the show has always been. Even the first season clumsily attempts to tackle subjects like school shooters and abortion. AHS has always taken real life horrors and turned them into campy schlock.

[@Giangiaofficial]

This channel, this project is such a breath of fresh air in the horror essay niche! I hope you'll continue and develope "Acolytes of Horror"

[@NoName-ym5zj]

Have you played Disco Elysium? I think it's a great game that does the "Everyone is crazy" actually well, while at the same time not being "both sides" and having a clear stance on issues. Main Protagonist is this drunk ass amnesiac detective and over the course of the game you can choose to invest into many different political belifies, but the thing is ... EVERYTHING the character draws from them is completely unhinged, but it's not because the ideas themselves are unhinged nessecearly, it's because the main character is using these ideologies and politics as a coping mechanism to fill the void inside left behind by a bad thing that happened to him, ain't gonna spoil it even though it's pretty obvious from the start what happened, but if you actually listen to what they are saying wether they are a fascist, communist, feminist or whatever, everything they say is the most surface level, extreme version and their whole thought process of getting to that point is laid bare for us to see that they are not choosing these ideas, because they belive in them, but because they are simply looking for something to give them purpose and help cope with a lack of one since THE THING happened.

[@TheBoboSamurai]

That is an excellent explanation of a serious problem. People resorting to ideology as identity tend to embrace extreme, black/white applications of ideas. When a person's identity is an ideology, any nuance is a threat to the sanctity of self.

[@ericjourdain892]

Hey Nathan, I love how this is going! Never been more proud of you. I do love your take on noncommittal neutrality, it's a very provocative angle, wishing you the best with the trolls... + How many takes did it take without the baby cry? 🤪

[@AcolytesOfHorror]

lol it was indeed an issue.

[@sorchara9119]

Art is a means through which to communicate ideas. Whether they're sub-textual, meta-textual or just within the text itself, all of it is ideas. Why would you ever want to make a film that "doesn't say anything"? Centrism is where ideas go to die.

[@VelocitrapLords]

Politics are, indeed, happening

[@SpoopySquid]

Big if true

[@totorod]

Anyone who is outraged at “politics” in their games/movies/Star Wars, are actually just outraged that a particular piece of media doesn’t align with their own politics. Maybe the media even (correctly) make the outraged “fans” examine and address what is repulsive about their politics…

[@morganburt2565]

everyone hates politics unless they agree lmfao

[@Aster_Risk]

I would still rather see stupid, incorrect right-wing politics than centrist garbage.

[@nickrustyson8124]

@@morganburt2565 Yeah basically, like everyone jerks Robocop off for it's satire of capitalism and the Police, but it's still pro Police, and the movie is literally trying to sell you on a car that can be described the very much same way what they described the ED-209 "designed it to look impressive and flashy, but it really isn't very reliable "under the hood". Like a modern American car cranked out by vacuous corporate executives and lowest-bid design teams, they cut corners everywhere." that describes the Ford Taurus to a tee

[@totorod]

And literally everything is political :) all politics are are a belief that the policy with which we engage in x should be y.

[@totorod]

The point was, that the backlash against “politics” in games/genre fiction/comics/movies is in fact backlash against politics that “the gamers” or “the Star Wars fans” or “the (insert popular piece of genre fiction here) fans” don’t agree with. Their not outraged that Disney was making a insincere “woke” political stance by casting John Boyega. They aren’t expressing skepticism at Denis Villanueve’s motivation for casting Sharon Duncan (Idaho!) to play Liet Kynes. They aren’t put off by half hearted corporate appeasements to the left elite and SJWs. No, they’re just racist, or misogynistic, or both, and they’re upset that the tide of history is (at least temporarily, and very sloooooowly) turning against them and they won’t get their white ethnostate where women are wholly subservient to men.

[@edmeadart]

Your videos are so incredibly high quality and I'm always excited when I see a new upload from you! Definitely one of my favorite channels right now.

[@LynnHermione]

this is a great video but also I feel you are giving them too much credit. many of these i feel include topical elements because they know it sells, and then refuse to commit to let the movies act as a sort of Rorschach test: it lets the audience proyect on the characters and read ones as villains and others as victims according to their own beliefs, all so corporations dont lose the money of either group.

[@cathb3749]

Your video remind me of South Park. When i was young i loved this show and thought it was super subversive and intelligent. And also, im european so i didn't get all the political commentary. But more and more i began to understand what they said about politics and that usually it was not good arguments or even arguments. And I listen somebody explain that actually they didnt say anything about politic, they just said: "shut up". The episode that really chocked me when i saw it again was the one when the kids used the f-word but they said it was not homophobic because they didn't think about gay people. And its so stupid when i think about now X) Also i didn't know that the manpig (?) was a f*** anti-climat statement...

[@viniciusairesstaub2995]

We usually use symbolism to talk of politics as the deeper structure of social relations - as opposed to, for example, affection, or moral values, etc. Or even: we use vampires to talk about the rich, or zombies to talk about consumerism. So: apparent events are superficial and politics are the deeper truth. But the other way around is also possible: we can use politics as symbolism for other matters. So, intead of making a script of a father and daughter who have a tough relationship as a metaphor for the struggle of conservatism vs progressivism, I could do it upside down: a conservative dad and a progressive daughter fight, but it's all a metaphor for dificult relationships. I think these movies are, more or less, picking the political divide as a way to criticize human universal, apolitical stupidity. It makes politics just an appearance, and human nature/foolishness the essence, the thing that's actually going on. Which is proper to comedy, satire, and also horror, where deconstructing beliefs in favor or nihilism and lack of symbolic safety is a common path. However, the fact that this form of structure is being chosen so often really relfects a political truth. It is that the political divide really *is* just an apperance, it is really superficial, in comparison to the "real", deeper, political struggle going on. In the US, the two parties actually are really close in their politics (with the exception of what Trumpism represents to democracy), but very different in their symbols, affections and identity. So, the "political" divide can really be seen as petty, and even apolitical. In the country that is the center of capitalism, the two opposing parties are both neoliberal and can't and won't change the way people live. The highly energized political divide, all the hate and lack of politeness, isn't proportional to the different between the two parties. Even Trumpism is only possible in this political scape where it's all about the symbols and the aesthethics. So, I think those movies are actually translating this angst of the voidness and pettiness of "politics" and democratic options.

[@TheBoboSamurai]

👍👍

[@laurentsaint-laurent3659]

Great essay.. A little aside about the "absent black father".. I think it apperaed in the late 1960's and one of the reason appear to be because to make more sense economically to be a "single mother" because 2 parents families didn't get benefits, even if the father was unemployed.. So some guys ended up being "absent fathers" to avoid being a charge for the family.. Couldn't rememeber where I read that but it was supposed to be remedied to by allowing benefits-help to more families .... until the theme was hijacked by the Right..

[@Finn_01]

The thing about Joe Biden -- sometimes, I find myself thinking "Remember back when we kept saying 'Get Joe in for four years because he's gonna be better than Trump by default, then elect someone better than Biden for the years after'? Because it feels like people forget the second part of that two-part plan."

[@brigade7678]

he was "supposed to" hand it over to his VP at one point as well. All promises unfulfilled. Hes up there stumbling geriatric (like so many politicians jfc) and its proof more than ever that, just as its smart to have a minimum age limit, we need a MAX age limit in politics.

[@Finn_01]

@@brigade7678 Update: I vastly underestimated just how shitty this skeleton man would be

[@Nabo42]

"Politics is happening...a lot." Well said sir, well said.

[@Wraiven22]

A fellow “Bernie Bro” that loves horror and looking into political undertones in media? Hitting that sub button so hard, SO HARD

[@missdiction4455]

Hands down my favorite video of yours just from that corner intro 😂 good to see you back!

[@trevorjones8969]

Thanks for this. Of course, me being a resident of the UK (specifically England), definitions of the 'Left' and 'Right' are significantly altered. From my pov the US has a Right a la DT, and a Liberal less right, a la DNC (see Heather Cox Richardson's work on youtube re this). Still, I'm really looking forward to your piece on Garland's 'Men'. Here's my own up until now privately held view that you have inspired me to share: "Great film-making, bad storytelling. Bit fed up of 'men' writing for women's oppression without at least some consultation on the issue. Garland's writing (and adapting of other's writing) of women (Ex Machina is his best and that's two men and two AIs) is a law of diminishing returns. 'Men' the film demonstrates the failures here - starting, just for an example, with David Lynch's tale of a 'woman in peril' in 'Inland Empire', but that notwithstanding we've had of late Aronofsy's awful 'Mother! (ding!)', Aster's personal breakup film, 'Midsommar', and Kaufmann's indulgent 'I'm thinking of Ending things', to name a few. The question of the extent to which men can be feminists is not helped by film and other media that insist on the depiction of women as being defined by the constant pursuit of them. I'm just saying, I think a bit more collaboration would help. Despite all the references in 'Men', it missed the point I think Garland himself wasn't aware of - he made a much much poorer version of Jennifer Kent's brilliant 'The Babadook'." ps Loves (wink) :(

[@pennplayz]

this is such a well made video with great writing and editing, and some incredibly funny moments that caught me off guard also your clip selection is on fuckin point and is the reason i'll be showing my friend The Hunt this week, forgot how good it was

[@alicethemad1613]

God the image at the end brought me such visceral pain

[@kaamn1829]

omg your set design and shirts for this episode, i'm weak 🤣🤣🤣

[@littlebunse5]

Let's all keep in mind that being comfortable around people you disagree with was never the point of humanity or civilized society until the uber wealthy deemed it so. If you truly want the world to be a better place you will be staunchly, unapologetically progressive in as many ways as possible until genuine progress gets made. If we want to get along with everyone, including white supremacists and misogynists and the uber wealthy that run their workers like slaves, then the answer is indeed to just shut up and smile and nod as the ship continues to sink. I just love wealthy hollywood writers and directors who decide the most important message the masses need to be hearing is to "simply be quiet about the genuine problems you're all feeling the sting of in your day to day lives. Because it does not affect mine as much as your complaining." Anyways...

[@ajiththomas2465]

I agree. Even "being apolitical" is a political stance, even if people don't realize it. It signifies a certain level of privilege that protects them from the consequences of bad policies which disproportionately affect the marginalized. Everything is political, because it _always_ has been political, especially in film. Even films that people would consider "apolitical" like the _Sonic the Hedgehog_ movie do indeed have political messages through how they frame certain subjects, who they frame as the good guys and bad guys, who they criticize or more importantly who they _don't_ criticize, and of course corporate product placement. Usually the people complaining about a movie "being political" is because they don't like or agree with the politics in question. Honestly, my frustration with movies that try to take the "enlightened centrist/both sides are bad" stance is that not only is the American Overton Window so narrow and skewed heavily to the right wing compared to the rest of the world but they also conflate 3 different concepts together: Unbiased, Objective, and Neutrality. There is no such thing as an "unbiased" source. Everything has a bias in it. Anyone who claims that they're immune to ideology is utterly ruled by ideology. Objective deals primarily with stating the facts but people confuse and conflate it with Neutrality, which is not the same. A reporter is not supposed to listen to Person A say it's sunny outside and listen to Person B say it's rainy outside, and then report that it's cloudy. Their job is to look outside and report what they see. Neutrality is sometimes used to try to provide a balanced perspective on things but it can also just as easily be used to obfuscate and aid with the oppressors. For example, what's the "neutral" stance on the Holocaust? Were "both sides bad" in the Holocaust or World War II? Neutrality is not the same as objectivity. Do you see the sharp differences between Unbiased, Objective, and Neutral? So-called "apolitical/centrist" films can't or don't differentiate between the two and that's why I find them to be cowardly.

[@littlebunse5]

@@ajiththomas2465 Love it, that's a great way of putting it. Fuck being neutral. If you want to be objective and moderate and un-extreme, the answer is not the insane Christian "libertarianism" that conservative America has convinced you is "center". If you find the removal of people's basic human rights as "centrist" maybe you should start wondering why the center still keeps slipping further to the right.

[@seventeenseventythirteen7465]

Hahaha, no. I will not get along with someone who thinks other races are inferior and want them gone. Because the tolerance of intolerance always leads to the intolerant getting their way. Because you aren't there to stand in their way of their goals, instead you'll just say "Oh be nice to them, they're allowed to have their opinions." which is what helps the ship sink faster. And no way in hell am I being nice to Jeffery Bezos or anyone like him... especially Musk. What you're saying is the Joe Biden "Lets all get along Jack, cut the malarkey and be kind to one and other, reach across the isle. Sure nothing will ever get done, but can we at least pretend to like each other for a little bit until the Right gets back in power and makes everything worse?"

[@ajiththomas2465]

@@seventeenseventythirteen7465 Ah, you must be referring to Karl Popper's "The Tolerance Paradox". That a tolerant society that is too tolerant of intolerance will inevitably find the intolerant gaining power and causing the breaking down of said tolerant society.

[@seventeenseventythirteen7465]

@@ajiththomas2465 Yeah, something like that. I hate the "lets all be political friends and be nice even if we disagree with other people's opinions.", as if I'm supposed to sit there and say "I disagree but respect the idea that you want me dead or 'converted'. I certainly hope you never gain any form of political power, because I'd be forced to simply disagree when you try to strip my rights away. Oh well, at least I was kind and respectful to my political opponents in the end when I'm going to the camps."

[@Wraiven22]

Nathan, read Dark Money by Jane Mayer! Best book on our current political corruption problem I’ve ever read. Jane is a writer for the New Yorker and she nails the oligarchy problem and its origins, even before Citizens United.

[@AcolytesOfHorror]

own it! I actually chatted with her on the phone once about potentially interviewing her for an article, didn't wind up working out but she was super professional

[@WASTEOIDx]

I think don't look up did a good job of just being over everything. There is a clear defined threat, staring everyone in the face and one party clearly doesn't care about anything other than profit. I felt it perfectly mirrored my own exhaustion as someone who has worked through the entire covid pandemic as a WM employee. I was inundated with opinions and arguing and genuine fear that made me feel so exhausted and wanting people to just pay attention and see what's going on.

[@Dogyphil]

I think the biggest compliment a movie can receive is being included in an Acolytes of Horror video essay

[@JHjh88]

Great video as always. From Australia (where our ex 'leader' took a tax payer funded family holiday to Hawaii while the entire country was on fire). Yep. Can't make it up. 😉

[@ukchanak]

Ted Cruise went to Cancun during a terrible winter storm in his state, so we in America understand lol

[@xx_3m0j1n_xx]

reminds me of when the senator of texas took a trip to cancun while his state was (quite literally) freezing to death. guess politicians are the same everywhere 😅

[@jackblackfan4202]

This video is so interesting and different. I love your style, it translates well into whatever you talk about. You’ve got great instincts. stay confident in that.

[@homieseatbread]

wasn't notified of this but glad I caught it!

[@RSStarfire]

The only media with a “both sides” narrative that does it for me is those AI videos where the presidents play Minecraft.

[@thaumatomane]

This was brilliant as ever! This is sooo good. I hope to see more of you, I’ll sign up to your patreon :)

[@nope5657]

The weird-ass politics of the new TCM are what make so genuinely fascinating. It's such an odd film. It's got crossed-eyed social commentary but it's also really well shot and the kills RULE. What bothers me most about current discourse around film are the people who praise or bury a film for having GOOD POLITICS or BAD POLITICS. And these readings are often incredibly shallow and simplistic. "Movie good and right cuz GOOD POLITICS. Movie bad and evil cuz BAD POLITICS! Now allow me to judge anybody who has anything different to say with extreme predjudice!"

[@ananananabop]

Just wanted to comment before I watched, that I’m so excited to see there’s a video from you!

[@shaky5754]

Possibly my favorite KZbinr but your vids never show up in my feed?? Always have to look u up to check for updates. Great vid!!

[@michaelelijah6044]

Always a good day when you upload!!

[@deohere7647]

I really hate the centers desire to compromise or remain neutral on everything. Some things are binary and some things are wrong in that binary. There can't be compromise on everything.

[@ZarHakkar]

41:00 I personally hope it will be remembered as a comedy.

[@ikeekieeki]

the main character of Cult asking what will happen with Merrick Garland hits different in 2022

[@kjr4946]

Watching your channel grow has been amazing, you really deserve it. Phenomenal content man!

[@VelocitrapLords]

Just watched “Werewolves Within” and adored its “Behind the Mask: Rise of Leslie Vernon”-esque Indy tonality. I took the #MeToo reference more as SPOILER playing with their food. The comedy attempts definitely added some clunkiness in the same way that “Scare Me” from the same director suffered.

[@thehumanity3324]

An absolutely excellent video! Shame it doesnt seem to have the reach as your other vids about popular movies, but I guess that evidences the subject matter nicely :)

[@kardoxfabricanus7590]

A reminder that the first horror film to be screened at the white house... Was Birth of a Nation... And can you guess what the horror monsters in that film was??? Now guess who the heroes in that film were.

[@hannahs5643]

Holy crap this was such a great video. So many fantastic points.

[@ropesquid2085]

The way my head swivelled when I heard Peggy's producer tag at 25:58

[@sunsooora]

this channel is everything I've been looking for, seriously amazing video

[@Elvira-jb1qj]

nathan when are you going to do a video on suspiria

[@mewmedic]

Thank you for saying what I have been thinking about these movies for years. 👏 You really worded it all so well.

[@AVspectre]

Actually loved the intro (not just the spoiler warning but the brief thumbs up/down). That’s always a tricky element… deciding if something you hadn’t seen yet was worth seeing before the video/spoiler. :)

[@KECK1D]

Ooooh how I’ve missed your videos ❤️

[@Elvira-jb1qj]

i think trashy horror-comedies that are too political make light of things that are very dark but they don't really change or challenge your thinking at all. i think it's interesting to think about how people can fall into political rabbit holes. i mean, i personally think the American political system is broken and corrupt and no amount of protesting or voting is going to suddenly change how it is. and it's kind of sad to think about how many people get so invested in a system that's never going to change or at least not going to change any time soon. i wish believing in human rights and not being racist or homophobic or sexist wasn't a political thing--it should just be a regular normal thing to not be prejudiced or discriminate against people. but honestly, humanity is just really, really, really messed up and we're all self-obsessed and prideful and i think politics exacerbate our selfishness.

[@Demomancer]

As an outsider looking at American politics, one of the most hilarious things in the whole fight between the Left and the Right is that both sides agree that the political system is corrupt and broken.

[@CrowTR0bot]

@@Demomancer The difference is, the Left wants to fix that brokenness, while the Right want to exploit it to their own ends. The Right's idea of "corruption" is a society that says "maybe gay, trans and people of color should be treated like human beings."

[@seventeenseventythirteen7465]

Yeah, when you have things like the Don't Say Gay bill being made a selling point for the Republican party and calling any teacher who's even slightly non-conforming to the gender and sexual norms a "groomer", it's pretty fucked up. Shit they're defs coming after gay marriage next after they're done fucking over trans people. Women can't even get the right to their own bodily autonomy now, and that's a selling point that a LOT of women thought was worth buying. They're literally hamstringing their own lives and the lives of their children.

[@nickrustyson8124]

And getting back to those trashy horror comedies, not only they say nothing, they're not really that scary outside of shock value gore, nor are they funny, so they are like you said, Trash

[@illcomeupwithacreativename4096]

just found this channel, banger video but the way the audio keeps hard panning to the right channel is driving me insane lmao

[@illcomeupwithacreativename4096]

i imagine it's probably just a mistake though, no hate

[@tyler4692]

Yay another essay!

[@michaelhegwood9977]

The Texas Chainsaw sequel apolitical stance while wanting to be seen as political is really funny to me, like it says less than nothing. It's stance is "Hey don't buy up poor rural towns but also the people in rural towns are backwards and need to get with the times and guns are bad but can also be used to defend yourself and if you survive a massacre be strong or else you will be crazy"

[@bloodsuckingfreak]

love your analyses, always goes way back, you dig it.