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At the time, Tropical Storm Debby was moving up the west coast of Florida, so I convinced my wife that it would be the perfect time to see the movie Twisters again. With wind speeds consistently exceeding 40 mph and torrential rain, we figured we’d have the movie theater to ourselves.
Alas, I was wrong. Two full weeks after the film’s release, theaters were sold out.
what?
Cast members attend the premiere of Universal Pictures’ film “Twisters” at the Westwood Regency Village Theatre on July 11, 2024 in Los Angeles. (Laila Seeley/WireImage)
More and more people kept streaming in and we quickly grabbed two seats. While waiting for the preview, I started talking to people around me. I spoke to two families and three couples. My question was, “Why did you come to see this movie in this weather?”
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Five people gave the same answer: “No politics. No lectures from the left. Just great word-of-mouth entertainment.”
All of this is true. Again, my wife and I saw this movie for the first time at its premiere two weeks ago. Like millions of Americans, I’ve become afraid to go to the movies in recent years because so many of them are filled with far-left rhetoric and preaching. Even worse, many movies are openly insulting to those who don’t agree with the left or “woke” narrative.
Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones attend the Twisters premiere in Los Angeles on July 11, 2024. (Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)
Last I checked, preaching to and insulting half of your audience is not the best way to produce a hit movie or make a profit for investors, and as we’ve seen over the past few years, Disney and other film studios, liberal to far-left, have suffered one box office flop after another, collectively losing billions of dollars.
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Since “Twisters” is a movie about severe and dangerous weather, I was at least expecting a boring lecture on “climate change” from the filmmakers, but that never happened.
The film has a racially and ethnically diverse cast, which is wonderful. I saw it as a reflection of not only America, but my own extended family, which is diverse racially, spiritually, sexually, and even in my home country. It’s just a great American melting pot.
But Americans choose to go to the movies for entertainment: Americans who work hard, who struggle constantly, who don’t want to pay their precious money to see a movie that preaches to them or tells them they are intellectually inferior to the far-left directors, actors, producers, and screenwriters behind the movie.
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The film’s extraordinary director Lee Isaac Chung strongly countered far-left criticism that the film doesn’t highlight “climate change” at every opportunity. Chung said: “I wanted to make sure that with this film, we never felt like we were on message. I feel that films shouldn’t be message-driven.”
Amen, brother.
Glen Powell, co-star of the film starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, commented on the counterproductive tendencies he sees in parts of Hollywood in an article for The Telegraph. Powell said:
Glen Powell attends Toast to Texas Films at Troublemaker Studios on May 16, 2024 in Austin. (Nicola Gell/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)
“Having grown up in and around Texas, I know there are many parts of America that are underserved by the films people want to see. New York and Los Angeles seem to dictate what gets produced, but there are so many other audiences to consider.”
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He then very politely got to the point about some people in his industry who preach or speak condescendingly to their audience: “First of all, if you’re telling people what to think, you’re not engaging them in an emotional way. If people are thinking, ‘Hmm, am I for or against this message,’ you’re not getting them to that elevated state.”
His words reach the ears of Disney CEO Bob Iger and the far-left “woke” crowd in Hollywood, who apparently can’t stand half the U.S. Legendary director and producer Steven Spielberg (executive producer on “Twisters”) seems to understand Powell’s subtle warning to the industry.
Director Lee Isaac Chung attends the European premiere of “Twisters” held at Cineworld Leicester Square on July 8, 2024 in London. (Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images)
As for whether Powell and Chung are on to something, they said that as a tropical storm wreaked havoc on the weather, “Twisters” screened at packed theaters, packed out by word of mouth: “No politics, no preaching. Just great entertainment.”
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“Word of mouth.” That’s the concept.
We’ll soon see if far-left Hollywood learns this valuable and profitable lesson. While they’re figuring out the hard truth, go see the movie “Twisters.” It’s made for you.
To read more articles by Douglas MacKinnon click here
