That's a superb piece! I find it very intriguing. Though I disagree with the political analysis paragraph. Any heroic drama looks 'reactionary' if it's clothed in American colours. The thesis of most action movies is—and often has to be—that violence is justified when it's enacted by the protagonist.
(Some) progressive voices in criticism tend to find this implicit value very troubling indeed when the protagonist is not the underdog—or in other words, when the protagonist is the West. The celebration of western military technology is often singled out as an egregious part of the politics of action movies. I'm politically progressive myself, but I think the equation of underdog with the moral high-ground is dangerous. The fact that the Ukrainian army has an enormous Western budget behind it does not make it evil; the fact that the Russian army is running out of ammunition does not make it the good guy.
Then there's the notion of politics "behind the guise of entertainment"—well, I need to write something long-form about the idea of subliminal politics in art...
Andrew Key (@rolandbarfs) wrote a good piece on Cruise: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/tom-cruises-late-style/
That's a superb piece! I find it very intriguing. Though I disagree with the political analysis paragraph. Any heroic drama looks 'reactionary' if it's clothed in American colours. The thesis of most action movies is—and often has to be—that violence is justified when it's enacted by the protagonist.
(Some) progressive voices in criticism tend to find this implicit value very troubling indeed when the protagonist is not the underdog—or in other words, when the protagonist is the West. The celebration of western military technology is often singled out as an egregious part of the politics of action movies. I'm politically progressive myself, but I think the equation of underdog with the moral high-ground is dangerous. The fact that the Ukrainian army has an enormous Western budget behind it does not make it evil; the fact that the Russian army is running out of ammunition does not make it the good guy.
Then there's the notion of politics "behind the guise of entertainment"—well, I need to write something long-form about the idea of subliminal politics in art...