Muppets: Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?
Posted by kyleaharrisWed, 12/07/2011 - 04:003
In a relatively empty theater where I watched Disney’s self-deprecating, nostalgic 2011 film The Muppets, I was prepared to watch a gentle film that celebrated the virtues of the rainbow connection, sharing, joy and peace. I had no idea I was about to watch a sly endorsement of violent revolution against the captains of industry. I pleasantly was surprised.
The film tells the story of the familiar Muppets, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzy, Animal and the others, uniting to save the Muppet Theater from oil tycoon Tex Richman (Chris Cooper). This evil baron wants to raze the theater to drill for oil.
As a collective, the Muppets reunite to put on The Muppet Show Telethon to raise funds to save the theater. Coerced by a television executive to find a major star to host the show, the Muppets struggle and fail—until Miss Piggy takes the matter into her own hands. In a stunt that would make the 1970s ultra-left terrorist organization Brigata Rosa proud, the Muppets don black masks and take Jack Black hostage, tie him up and force him to serve as an unwilling host.
In order to win the fight against Tex Richman and to persuade him to give the theater back to the Muppets, on two separate occasions, the creatures use physical force to attack the oil tycoon. The Muppets teach the public the lesson that the current anti-corporate movement ignores: Violent actions get the goods—especially when the violent activists are likable.
And the Muppets are likable. While in the real world the U.S. government would write these loveable creatures off as terrorists, audiences embrace them anyhow.
Why? For the U.S. majority, the Muppets aren’t terrorists; they are freedom fighters. Their violence against Tex Richman is justified by the cause. They fight and win for laughter, joy and the rainbow connection and against big oil and capitalist exploitation.
Yet the Muppets’ fight terrifies Eric Bolling, the host of the Fox News program Follow the Money. His program features an entire segment on liberal brainwashing, ideological class war and The Muppets. Frightened by the film, the host gripes about the unfair representation of rich people. The segment evokes a burgeoning identity politic supporting that most oppressed group—the one percent.
Assuming Bolling and his colleagues at Fox News are dedicated to serving that one percent, their paranoid analysis is not unjustified entirely. After all the film teaches that violence against the capitalist oppressor wins.
--Kyle Harris
Are The Muppets freedom fighters? Is Fox right? What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below.
http://theprecarious.com/content/muppets-terrorists-or-freedom-fighters
Posted by kyleaharrisWed, 12/07/2011 - 04:003
In a relatively empty theater where I watched Disney’s self-deprecating, nostalgic 2011 film The Muppets, I was prepared to watch a gentle film that celebrated the virtues of the rainbow connection, sharing, joy and peace. I had no idea I was about to watch a sly endorsement of violent revolution against the captains of industry. I pleasantly was surprised.
The film tells the story of the familiar Muppets, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzy, Animal and the others, uniting to save the Muppet Theater from oil tycoon Tex Richman (Chris Cooper). This evil baron wants to raze the theater to drill for oil.
As a collective, the Muppets reunite to put on The Muppet Show Telethon to raise funds to save the theater. Coerced by a television executive to find a major star to host the show, the Muppets struggle and fail—until Miss Piggy takes the matter into her own hands. In a stunt that would make the 1970s ultra-left terrorist organization Brigata Rosa proud, the Muppets don black masks and take Jack Black hostage, tie him up and force him to serve as an unwilling host.
In order to win the fight against Tex Richman and to persuade him to give the theater back to the Muppets, on two separate occasions, the creatures use physical force to attack the oil tycoon. The Muppets teach the public the lesson that the current anti-corporate movement ignores: Violent actions get the goods—especially when the violent activists are likable.
And the Muppets are likable. While in the real world the U.S. government would write these loveable creatures off as terrorists, audiences embrace them anyhow.
Why? For the U.S. majority, the Muppets aren’t terrorists; they are freedom fighters. Their violence against Tex Richman is justified by the cause. They fight and win for laughter, joy and the rainbow connection and against big oil and capitalist exploitation.
Yet the Muppets’ fight terrifies Eric Bolling, the host of the Fox News program Follow the Money. His program features an entire segment on liberal brainwashing, ideological class war and The Muppets. Frightened by the film, the host gripes about the unfair representation of rich people. The segment evokes a burgeoning identity politic supporting that most oppressed group—the one percent.
Assuming Bolling and his colleagues at Fox News are dedicated to serving that one percent, their paranoid analysis is not unjustified entirely. After all the film teaches that violence against the capitalist oppressor wins.
--Kyle Harris
Are The Muppets freedom fighters? Is Fox right? What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below.
http://theprecarious.com/content/muppets-terrorists-or-freedom-fighters