The Angry Birds movie

[Anakin McFly]

that was unexpected.

https://www.quora.com/Is-the-new-Angry- ... mmigration

https://www.counter-currents.com/2016/0 ... rds-movie/

[maz89]

I think it's impressive how the film's makers were able to make a grotesque political statement out of a fairly innocent game. Less impressive is how so many seem to suppress the signs by dismissing them as coincidences.

[Anakin McFly]

At first I was giving them the benefit of the doubt, but the 'Coexist' sticker sealed it as intentional. But at the same time, the cast is full of people I wouldn't expect supporting such a message, and it's possible that they might not have known just what this was really about, given that the script itself might have seemed harmless. But the animators went all out.

[Derived Absurdity]

Just... wut. Wut. This is insanity. People actually think the Angry Birds movie is a nationalist anti-refugee piece of propaganda? Because of... the colors? And the eagle? And pigs? And... what?

I haven't seen the movie, but a good chunk of the "evidence" people are proffering are part of the game (everything from the invaders being pigs to the colors of the birds to the eagle to the explosives), most of the rest is just stupid (how does the island look like the EU flag? It's just a island. A Jewish doctor? White birds? How does that bird look anything like Angela Merkel? Just... wtf?) and the rest is just silly nonsense in all kids movies nowadays. "Hamnesty International"? It's called a stupid joke. Coexist? Is it not possible that that's supposed to be ironic? Sort of like those horror movies where a bunch of people are fleeing a town and pass a sign saying "You Are Now Leaving [X], Home of the Nicest People Anywhere"? Do people even watch kids movies? How they try to have stuff that grown-ups would laugh at? They have that kind of stuff all. the. time.

I mean, wow. This is a prime example of people seeing what they really, really, really want to see.

[Anakin McFly]

People actually think the Angry Birds movie is a nationalist anti-refugee piece of propaganda? Because of... the colors? And the eagle? And pigs? And... what?

It's more than that. The film's message was of standing up for what you believe in even if it's not politically correct to do so. All the other characters were trying to be inclusive and talk about diversity and being welcoming to strangers and their culture, but the protagonist's anger and xenophobia (which they were initially offended by) turned out to be right in the end, and everyone realised that they should have listened to him all along. It really wasn't that subtle.

[Derived Absurdity]

Have you seen the movie?

I'm just saying you can read regressive reactionary messages into any movie if you look hard enough. Especially kids movies. The Lion King supports hereditary monarchy and the right to oppress and discriminate against those deemed outsiders. A monarchist could look at Lion King and analyze it point-by-point and find a lot of support for his views. The Little Mermaid basically takes place in a fascist kingdom and it teaches girls to abandon their family and self-respect for an attractive guy they just met. I mean, Honest Trailers does a whole thing where they take movies and make fun of the regressive messages you can tease out of them.

But just because one could plausibly read a pro-monarchy message in The Lion King, does that mean the point of the movie was about how cool monarchy is, or that it was intended to be pro-monarchy propaganda? No. It's just one way to read the movie.

I'm all for pointing out reactionary propaganda in movies. But... I don't know. Saying The Angry Birds is nationalist propaganda based on all the evidence I've seen proffered is really a stretch.

[Raxivace]

A monarchist could look at Lion King and analyze it point-by-point and find a lot of support for his views.

I don't think a monarchist could actually do this fwiw, or not convincingly at any rate. The movie may depict a monarchy but that isn't the same thing as an endorsement- the actual story is concerned about whether Simba values escapism or not. Everything else is just fairy tail trappings to make that story more exciting to watch.

[Derived Absurdity]

That was literally the point I just made.

[Raxivace]

Then I may be misunderstanding you. I thought you were saying a pro-monarchy message could be plausibly read from The Lion King. I'm saying this cannot actually be done.

[Anakin McFly]

Yep, I've seen the movie. At first I assumed that I was reading too much into it, but it made me increasingly uncomfortable to the point it got harder to convince myself it wasn't saying all that. After so many children's movies that preach a message of being inclusive and accepting those who are different, this stood out in how it took a completely opposite direction, even if it may not have been intentionally about nationalism.

[maz89]

I'm just saying you can read regressive reactionary messages into any movie if you look hard enough.

Sure, you can, but those readings wouldn't fit as neatly as they do for this movie.

The Lion King supports hereditary monarchy and the right to oppress and discriminate against those deemed outsiders. A monarchist could look at Lion King and analyze it point-by-point and find a lot of support for his views. The Little Mermaid basically takes place in a fascist kingdom and it teaches girls to abandon their family and self-respect for an attractive guy they just met.

A movie's setting shouldn't be confused for being its message/theme. And parents need to do a better job of raising their teenage girls if they walk away from The Little Mermaid inspired by Ariel's decision to sell her soul to the devil.

[Raxivace]

OTOH if Atlantica actually is some fascist dictatorship then yeah ditching that nonsense to get a cute boyfriend might actually be the correct thing to do.

[maz89]

OTOH if Atlantica actually is some fascist dictatorship then yeah ditching that nonsense to get a cute boyfriend might actually be the correct thing to do.

[Anakin McFly]

https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/c ... s/d3b72sm/

...when Red is suspicious of the pigs' motives, the Leader Bird accuses Red of making their guests feel unwelcome, to which Red responds that the birds are not asking "basic questions" about these new immigrants

^That was one of the parts that convinced me there was definitely something going on.

[Derived Absurdity]

Well I'm not going to argue with someone who's actually seen the movie lol.

But all the evidence I've seen for this reading so far is ridiculous.

[Anakin McFly]

I agree that most of the evidence is ridiculous, at least when it comes to analysing the meaning of colours and things. But for a movie that came out last year, dealing directly with the subject of immigrants who seemed friendly at first, but then whole hordes started coming in by the boatful and taking over their country with destructive intent, it would also be strange if none of the filmmakers saw the parallels with IRL politics and put some of that into the movie.

[Derived Absurdity]

A monarchist could look at Lion King and analyze it point-by-point and find a lot of support for his views.

I don't think a monarchist could actually do this fwiw, or not convincingly at any rate. The movie may depict a monarchy but that isn't the same thing as an endorsement- the actual story is concerned about whether Simba values escapism or not. Everything else is just fairy tail trappings to make that story more exciting to watch.

Sorry I responded so late. But I misunderstood your misunderstanding. I think one could plausibly read a pro-monarchy message in Lion King. It's more than just depicting a monarchy, the narrative choices it makes sometimes suggest that it's endorsing it as well. I'm not saying it is, I'm saying it could be read that way. The hyenas were unfairly cast aside to starve, the lions maintain an unjust hierarchy based on superstitions like "the circle of life" which is sort of comparable to the divine right of kings, a revolutionary leads an uprising after promising hyenas "they'll never be hungry again", and so on. I mean, a reactionary pro-monarchy message could be read here.