I have a large article over at Geekweek about the past decade in cinema. Here’s the lede:
(Cue Don LaFontaine voice)
“In a decade…when the world seemed led by self-righteous bullies…”
Okay, pause there for a second. I know some of you are instinctively jerking the knee, and assuming I’m going for a cheap Bush bash in a column about movies. It is true that Bush was something of a self-righteous bully, but I am by no means narrowing my focus to him. I’m talking every major world leader of the past 10 years you can think of: Putin, Ahmadenijad, Blair, Berlusconi, Kim…all convinced of their own righteousness, yet all quite transparently acting primarily in their own self-interest.
So yes, in a decade when the real world was dominated by self-righteous bullies, it is perhaps not so surprising that the reel world featured them most prominently throughout the aughts. Self-righteous heroes aren’t new, of course, nor are the bullying kind – but what was a noticeable recent development is that the movies they appeared in started tipping their hand, letting you know that the filmmakers know these heroes are often on the wrong track with their moral crusade.
Go read the whole thing. It’s good. Leave comments there too, so they know I have readers.
