Movies that MAGA’s Right-Wing Populists Hope you Didn’t See…
As if Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Stalin, and Hirohito were not enough of a warning for the dangers of Right-Wing Nationalist/Fascist/ Totalitarianism, the American movie-making machinery has provided additional warnings over the years, involving populist demagogues, Military Industrial Complexes, and media disinformation. Did we listen? Not really, most of these movies are actually hard to find these days, little discussed, and known only to a few eager film buffs. American Fascists have been saying since the 30s that “Hollywood is dangerous”. From where I’m sitting, Hollywood is Democracy’s saving grace!
All the King’s Men: This movie was based upon the novel by Robert Penn Warren, and won Best Picture at the 1949 Academy Awards. It starred Broderick Crawford, as Willie Stark, a thinly-veiled version of Louisiana’s Populist Huey Long, and John Ireland as reporter Jack Burden, covering Stark’s rise to power. Stark has humble beginnings, gets a law degree, and begins as a third-party dupe meant to split the vote, helping a more popular machine-candidate. But in his concession speech he gets drunk and tells his audience how he and the rest are “fooled hicks”, thereby gaining a grassroots following. Reporter Ireland/Burden initially admires Stark’s simple honesty and courage, but later watches in horror as Stark becomes as corrupt as those he…
