I really must take issue with the vilification of Hollywood, and warn against assuming that Mr Blair is just a fool.
The last four films I’ve been to see in the cinema are:
1) Spiderman
2) Bad Company
3) Sur mes levres
4) Minority Report
The idea that any of these movies merely panders to minorities is rubbish.
We all know that Spiderman had to be re-shot because of 9-11 and to be frank, the final confrontation with the Green Goblin is a little weak. However, the storyline of the teenager growing up in an unexpected way was engaging and the effects of the New York streets was simply stunning.
The most philosophically impressive movie on this list was Minority Report (despite being directed by Stephen Spielberg). It would have been very easy to lower the depth of Minority Report: the Christian federal agent has two possible motives – is he sceptical of the Pre-Crime idea, or does he merely wish to rule it himself? The doubts he expresses about Pre-Crime are essentially conservative (in the sense of believing in the fallibility of human schemes). I don’t know what kind of movies Friedrich Hayek enjoyed, but I’m sure he would have nodded approval at the script of Minority Report.
Bad Company had a simple gag of having a black comedian playing two roles, one a suave, cultured, CIA agent using the cover of an antiques dealer, the other a street hustling ticket-tout who had to replace the CIA agent for a fortnight. It had the idea of Trading Places except that instead of impersonating a banker, the street kid had to impersonate James Bond. For those who say this is unoriginal, The Prince and the Pauper was probably the plagiarism of a oriental folk-tale.
Sur mes levres, which was made in France was good, but it was a cross between Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain, both films as exploitative in their own way as anything produced by a Tinseltown accountant.
I enjoyed all of these movies and found them a lot better than most of the television I’ve watched recently.
On the issue of commercialism: Ice Cold in Alex (British – 1958) was “probably the longest lager commercial in the world”. French movies of thirties always plugged Dubonnet or milk. On the other hand United Artists studio, founded by Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and others ensured that they would have editorial control and a greater share of their movies’ profits. No film maker I’ve ever heard of refused to collect…
As for Mr Blair. The recent splurge of public spending in the UK marks the end of New Labour’s attempts to portray itself as the human face of Thatcherism. The reason for this is that the political threat to the government doesn’t come from the Conservative Party (apparently some people think “Alan Duncan Smith” the Tory leader “came out” as gay last week). The pressure comes from the Left, which doesn’t believe the Tories can win the next election and therefore see no reason to restrain their lunacy.
This policy is wrong for two reasons: first we know that the extra money cannot produce effective returns without the dismantling of the state command structure, especially in the National Health Service. Second, the extra spending relies on what seem to be over-optimistic assessments of tax receipts for the next two years.
The policy is wrong for economic reasons, but the assumption by Mr Blair that he his greatest political threat comes from the Left is correct. It would not surprise me if the Conservatives failed to make any significant headway in the opinion polls, not because they are rigged, but because the Opposition parties might as well not exist.
There is method in what Blair does: until this year he was set on destroying the Tory party. Now he is set on winning the hearts of his party’s left wing.
The opposition to Blair now comes from us, the libertarians.
