GOP Mike's Movie Review - The Book of Eli - A Hollywood Conservative Flick???

GOP Mike's Blog ^ | 2/14/10 | GOP Mike

[gopmike.com]

To my Conservative Friends:

I was told by more than one of my conservative brothers to check out the Denzel Washington film, The Book of Eli. They said it is one of those very rare Holly-weird films nowadays that actually doesn't bludgeon conservative ideals with a dull kitchen knife. They mentioned it actually has gotten solid reviews on other conservative blogs...

At first I thought - Denzel Washington portraying a conservative character in a positive light - Naaah... But the recommendation coming from solid sources, I decided to give it a try on a typically...

[Star Traveler]

This article site is not on the excerpt list, so for FReepers, here it is... :-)

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GOP Mike's Movie Review - The Book of Eli - A Hollywood Conservative Flick???

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2010

To my Conservative Friends:

I was told by more than one of my conservative brothers to check out the Denzel Washington film, The Book of Eli. They said it is one of those very rare Holly-weird films nowadays that actually doesn't bludgeon conservative ideals with a dull kitchen knife. They mentioned it actually has gotten solid reviews on other conservative blogs...

At first I thought - Denzel Washington portraying a conservative character in a positive light - Naaah... But the recommendation coming from solid sources, I decided to give it a try on a typically frigid NY winter night (Hey Al, where is the global warming now, schmuck???)...

The plot of the film is extremely simplistic. Washington's character, Eli is a drifter in a post-apocalyptic Earth where nuclear war (they refer to the event as the day of the "flash" - pretty cool...) has ridden the earth of all but a few filthy, wandering soles killing each other for food, water and supplies. Eli is heading west with the only copy of the Bible and is determined to protect it at all costs.

Eli is a master of the sword and kicks some serious ass along the way making Uma T of "Kill Bill" fame proud. Some lost limbs and some serious spilt blood are plentiful as he goes postal on anyone who gets in his way of protecting and transporting the Bible "west"...

Eventually, he stops in a two-bit hole of a town and butts heads with Gary Oldman, who runs the 1-horse town. Oldman sees Eli as a serious enforcer and recruits him to join his henchman. His ulterior motive is, of course, the Bible as he desperately wants the only copy to use to amass more power to control and lead the masses through its "power".

I won't spoil the ending as it is very cool, but the question I asked myself in the beginning is still a little hazy. Is "Book of Eli" a conservative flick??? To answer that question is as simple as understanding the overiding question of the film.

Is the movie mocking or praising the bible???

At first glance, it appears any movie that makes the Bible the centerpiece and a valuable asset would appear to be conservative in nature. I mean, the Bible is a protected, sought after book and regarded as important to many people in the film. So you would think - Yes - they are praising the Bible so it is a conservative film!!!

Not so fast...

The cynical side of me who knows these liberal, bed-wetting Holly-weird jackasses best also feels that by making the Bible such a sought-after symbol that people would kill and desire to have it to lead the "sheep" tells me that the Producers are mocking the Bible as an instrument for us "Jesus-freaks" who live in the heartland must have it to live our lives and would wither away without it...

So their goal is to make a movie to show us Conservatives as mindless robots who follow the Bible's teachings, while the oh so intelligent uber-liberal intellectuals secularists know soooo much better and have no need for the Bible and it's teachings.. Therefore, they are mocking the Bible, no???

In conclusion, I can't figure on which way to go here. However, from my experience, the good money would be on the mocking and not the praising...

Just my thoughts...

What are yours???

GOP Mike

[Star Traveler]

I saw another FReeper thread last night about the movie — The Book of Eli. And so, I decided to review it, and I got a copy, saw it late last night...

I wouldn’t bother going to the theaters to see it... it’s a lousy movie. It’s difficult to even know what it’s really about. I know the very simplistic plot line, and it was very, very slow going in the beginning. You have to wonder, as you are viewing it in the first half-hour if the movie is really “going anywhere.”

And then, it’s a “cartoonish characterization” of the Bible, which is never referred to as the Bible throughout the whole movie, except at the very last few minutes when I think you saw the name “Holy Bible” on the screen.

One of the main characters thinks he is getting the “book” because of some idea he has that it’s “magic” (at least that’s how he’s seemingly reacting to it).

If this is some sort of “sop” to the Evangelicals.... heck, give me dog food, give me cat food, give me worms to eat — this is nothing... I’ve heard better from atheists, as far as any respect for the Bible... LOL...

Sorry, this movie is plain stupid, stupid and more stupid...

[B.O. Plenty]

There is an e-mail going around that paints Mr. Washington in a really good light. Some of the text follows:

Subject: Denzel Washington, and Brooks Army Medical Center Don't know whether you heard about this but Denzel Washington and his family visited the troops at Brook Army Medical Center , in San Antonio , Texas (BAMC) the other day.. This is where soldiers who have been evacuated from Germany come to be hospitalized in the United States, especially burn victims There are some buildings there called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House is a Hotel where soldiers' families can stay, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the Hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base, but as you can imagine, they are almost filled most of the time.

While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them would cost to build. He took his check book out and wrote a check for the full amount right there on the spot. The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it.

[tlb]

So I gather the nuclear war was fought with barrages of 50 kilton warheads precisely targeted on every Motel 6 and Red Roof Inn, thereby allowing only one Bible to escape. Take THAT Gideons!

Interesting tactical strategery.

[Vinnie]

I dragged my wife to see it a few weeks ago. She hates ‘Mad Max’ type movies.

It’s a depressing and inspiring film.
Depressing in the era of the setting. Simply surviving.

It’s portrayal of the Bible as the book/ideas that will transform the world from anarchy to a civil society is uplifting.

And the ending...
We both liked it.

A ‘should see’, IMHO.

[Quix]

Goodness! Quite different views hereon.

Will likely see it . . . not sure if now or on DVD.

Thx.

[DocRock]

Bibles were specifically sought out and destroyed after the “flash” as many said it was the cause of the war. Factor that into the original question of “is this a conservative film?”

[cripplecreek]

Looks like a good flick to me.

[libertarian27]

‘Mad Max’ meets ‘The Postman’ meets ‘Blind Fury’

But boring

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

Looks like a good flick to me.

It would be a good flick to someone who is mindless, brainless, doesn't care about plots, developing characters and having something to think about. It's simply gratuitous violence, to fill in the space from the beginning minute of the movie to the last minute of the movie... LOL...

And given the one "key line" by Denzel (i.e., his character Eli) -- it's also shown to be definitely anti-Christian, as Eli sums up what the Bible is about. His summarization is exactly what sends millions upon millions of people straight to hell, if this is their understanding of the Bible (which, as I said, Eli gives to us in the movie).

[Outlaw Woman]

The ‘trailer’ was very misleading and when I saw it on the internet, I ‘dragged’ my brother to the theatre to see it. Extremely disappointed and it had so much potential. I started to get irritated (really irritated) when they wouldn’t call it the ‘Bible’ but only refer to it as the ‘book’. With that said though, the last 4 minutes were the best. When Eli arrived on Alcatraz and was asked if he had ‘it’, the KING JAMES VERSION of the Bible he told the guy yes;then recited it to the man trying to restore all books (I’m supposing) and when it was completed and printed, it was put on the shelf along with other books; the one next to it? the holy quaran which was Dwarfed in size by the Bible. To me that was a strong statement but very was subtle. That was the only good part (imo).

[PeteB570]

In the movie the lack of Bibles is explained.

I saw it and thought it was a good popcorn muncher of a movie.

I loved the last few scenes.

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

So I gather the nuclear war was fought with barrages of 50 kilton warheads precisely targeted on every Motel 6 and Red Roof Inn, thereby allowing only one Bible to escape. Take THAT Gideons!

Okay, giving away another little bit of the "story line" here...

The thing that came out about the Bible (called the "book" throughout the entire movie) and why all the previous copies of them were apparently missing (in the movie at that "timeline" in the future) was that after the "flash" (apparently the nuclear war) -- everyone gathered them all up and burned them, because it was believed that the Bible was the source of the problem that caused the war, in the first place.

[myrabach]

In the movie the catastrophe was blamed on Christians and so all Bibles were to be destroyed.

[PeteB570]

Cats

Cat Grease? Who’da thunk it?

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

the KING JAMES VERSION of the Bible he told the guy yes;then recited it to the man trying to restore all books (I’m supposing) and when it was completed and printed, it was put on the shelf along with other books; the one next to it? the holy quaran which was Dwarfed in size by the Bible.

AND.., if you looked closely at the title on the Bible, you could see that it was the "New King James Version"... which, by the way, is the one I currently use... LOL...

And the "New King James Version" is not the "King James Version"... :-)

[BelegStrongbow]

This has been tried before and the thing that happened before the persecutors got to the Bibles was they had to kill all the Christians. Anything like that here?

[philman_36]

He's blind! Who knew?
The Bible is in braille and nobody else can read braille.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA

[cripplecreek]

Fortunately I don’t make my decisions based on what people on the internet tell me is good or evil. If I wanted to do that I would wait for the official white house review corps.