Blowing Away Propaganda
Hollywood, and the lesson of 'Twisters'
In the over 200 posts I have made on The Stone Age I have done exactly one review of a motion picture, the AI thriller M3GAN. As anyone who has been around here for a more than a minute already knows, I tired of Hollywood’s repeated servings of Globalist propaganda many years ago, and have refused to give them any of my money under those conditions.
The reasons I was able to discuss M3GAN at all - and guilt-free - are discussed in the previously-posted piece, but let me assure you I gave them no cash. In fact, I have been so firm in my commitment to not give money to those who hate me just because I have few political opinions different from their own? I have not been back to a movie theater in 10 years.
Well, had not been back; this last Saturday I broke my self-imposed boycott… and I have no regrets for so doing. In fact, I am glad I did.
Before I get into the ‘why,’ let us cover the ‘what:’ The film I chose to see was Twisters, the standalone sequel to the 1996 tornado-fest featuring Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, and the indelible Phillip Seymour Hoffman (may he RIP). As a person who loves weather, and grew up on the northern edge of Tornado Alley, it remains one of my favorite films to this day.
However, with starring roles by Daisy Edgar-Jones (Kate), Glen Powell (Tyler), and Anthony Ramos (Javi)… I think I liked the 2024 edition even better. The story was tighter (and - honestly - more believable), the dialogue smoother, and the special effects transcended the original by several degrees. While the last of those was inevitable - there have been a few improvements in SFX over the last 28 years, after all - I was not expecting the other two to play into my review.
Simply put? It is a superior movie.
And a big part of that is the characters. Aside from Hoffman’s ‘Dusty’ in the original (a legendary performance, in my opinion) every single one of those in the 2024 incarnation were more ‘relatable.’ The ‘good guys’ are genuinely likable without being syrupy, the bad guys (while pretty vile) are not over-the-top ‘evil,’ and the heroic moments feel unforced - dare I say, “real.” I really enjoyed the scenes with Tyler’s eclectic crew, especially Boone (Brandon Perea) and Lily (Sasha Lane).
However, none of this (the movie or this review) would have been possible without director Lee Isaac Chung. Aside from the obvious talent he has with his craft, at the beginning Lee chose to invest in - prepare to be shocked - actual storytelling, along with entertaining everyone who chose to purchase a ticket… and it shows.
Which brings us to the ‘why’ I chose to see this one at the theater.
In the first reviews after Twisters release, the usual menagerie of the-sky-is-falling, doomsday propagandists in the mainstream media used up a lot of cyber-ink complaining that the movie does not directly mention ‘climate change’ by name. Sure, it was alluded to (and at least one pretty strong allusion), but instead of force-feeding us a narrative? The viewer is allowed to apply their own interpretations.
When asked about this, Lee made a simple (yet, in today’s Hollywood, revolutionary) statement…
“I just wanted to make sure that with the movie, we don’t ever feel like (it) is putting forward any message… I just don’t feel like films are meant to be message-oriented. I wanted to make sure that we are never creating a feeling that we’re preaching a message, because that’s certainly not what I think cinema should be about… I think it should be a reflection of the world.”
And with that, I was willing to take a chance and buy a ticket.
See how simple it is, Hollywood? Don’t preach at us, don’t gaslight us, don’t try to manipulate us; just tell a good story, and tell it well… and we might just show up.
To be fair, there was one underlying message… one of which we know the Davos Cabal would not embrace: Rural, small-town folks were portrayed as decent and caring and resourceful… human beings. The small-town vibe was genuinely on display, both with the day-to-day-life scenes and in those moments after a tornado strikes; they were just people, living the lives they wished to live.
No suggestions of racism… no attempts to make them appear backward or ignorant… no meth-labs… not a banjo in sight. Just hard-working folks, valuing their way of life, pulling together when tragedy strikes.
You know - real. And it felt good seeing it.
Add this with everything I mentioned above, and I really enjoyed Twisters - and many others have as well, as it has raked in over $310 million in global ticket sales ($220 million in domestic receipts alone). Of course, the question then becomes, “Will Hollywood figure out why THIS movie has made merry bushels of scratch when so many other properties are missing the mark?
Will they listen to people like Lee, and focus on propaganda-free storytelling without checking off a variety of virtue-signaling boxes? Will they start telling positive tales of average folks doing extraordinary things without demeaning, negative stereotypes, or will they doggedly rely upon spandex-clad superheroes which… well, are not really all that ‘super’ anymore?
Will they treat ‘the rest of us’ like potential customers… or be more concerned with their ESG scores?
I’m not holding my breath, to be honest; after all, there were very well-known Globalists behind-the-scenes of Twisters, and I cannot image them switching gears overnight because of one director’s earnest efforts.
Still, at least for one moment in time - in this time - ‘propaganda Hollywood’ was blown away… by tornadoes, in an exciting, character-driven film. As I have said many times here, I’ll take a ‘W’ where I can get one.
Oh, and in case I was not clear? I recommend Twisters - it’s good fun…
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Notes…
-- Unless otherwise credited, all images were generated by the author, using Grok 2 (on X).
Twister was a superior film in every way. I caught it last night and thought finally someone reimagined then surpassed a classic from my early adult years. Great article Stone.
wait hold up. im moreso trippin off the fact that you purchased a movie ticket in 2024 for $5.75 WHAT!? in all fairness i haven't been to a movie since 2019, but i remember tickets being 3x that price 😆 ok back to your reading your article cuz i had to immediately comment once i saw that