MovieChat Forums > An American Carol (2008) Discussion > Do any actual "liberals" recognize thems...

Do any actual "liberals" recognize themselves in this film?

posted 9 years ago by GrafZeppelin127
4 replies | jump to latest

I ask because it seems to me that "liberals" are a lot better at imitating or parodying "conservatives" than vice-versa. When most people try this it becomes obvious immediately that they're either imitating or describing a made-up caricature, one that doesn't actually resemble any real person in any meaningful or recognizable way. I've seen "liberals" successfully masquerade as "conservatives" but not vice-versa.

It's been well-documented that some "conservatives" didn't realize that Stephen Colbert's character was a parody; they thought he was an actual "conservative" talk show host, which means they recognized themselves (or something of themselves) in his words and behavior. I'm not even necessarily talking about parody; it's possible to play the part without it being a parody, so long as you don't exaggerate and distort things beyond the recognition of those being imitated. For an imitation or parody to be successful the person or cohort being imitated or parodied has to recognize themselves in the imitation/parody.

Does this movie succeed in doing that?

[–] Mhjm6 9 years ago

Could you repeat that in plain English?

[–] GrafZeppelin127 9 years ago

Which part did you not understand?

Parody or satire doesn't work unless the people being parodied or satirized recognize or identify in some way with the characters that are supposedly parodying or satirizing them.

The question is, do any actual "liberals" recognize themselves, or anything about themselves, in any of the "liberal" characters in this movie?

Does this movie successfully parody or satirize "liberals" by portraying them in a way that they actually recognize or identify with?

[–] HarveyManfredSinJohn 8 years ago

It's a good question, and perhaps I'd have to watch the film again to consider its answer. Unfortunately, the comedy and production values in this film were so poor I couldn't stand to watch more than about ten minutes of it.

For a good right-of-centre comedy that does successfully mock liberals, of which I'd include myself, I'd recommend Team America: Wold Police. I think some of the celebrity-bashing goes too far (mainly because I don't personally believe Hollywood is as unanimously liberal as the film seems to claim, and the number of right-wing celebrities appearing in An American Carol testifies to my hunch), but it's still a much funnier film than this piece of trash.

I'm sure there are other right-of-centre films that are funny and accurately eviscerate liberals, like myself, and not just celebrity liberals, but I must admit, I don't know of any, and it's a shame because good comedy should not just be the sole preserve of the political left.

[–] therefdotcom 9 years ago

unfortunately it does not.

you make a good point with colbert, but in my eyes he does not even mocks what "clasically" wereconservative qualities, but what a bunch of loonies has made out of it. i don't think it would be even possible to make fun of living in a steady, monogam relationship, demanding good business opportunities, jobs for all, that everybody does his/her part, the right to defend one's self ..etc, but it is possible and needed to parody what many people have made out of it and it is actually easy to make fun of that. it is already a parody in itself.

with the "liberal" mindset, it is much harder. first of all, it is hard to mock someone being "too liberal", because of the meaning of the term. by definition it is demanding rather a lack of restrictions, so how do you wanna make a hold of that? on the other hand, liberals usually are not as loud and prominent as their neo-con equivalents and most importlanty, there are very few fanatic examples that you could use as a basis to start. maybe alex jones. he would be a much better example than michael moore.

for the neo-cons you just have to watch 2 random hours of fox news and you have enough material for 3 full movies and 2 evening filling comedy shows.

about this film: it basically bashes michael moore for 90 minutes and explains that everybody that is even slightly to the "left" of fox news is basically an america hating terrorist.