Does this film praise Communism?
Topic
shareNo. It's not about Communism.
share
MovieChat Forums > Trumbo (2015) Discussion > Does this film praise Communism?
Why is everyone getting their panties in a bunch over communism? It's like, as soon as you mention the word all rational thought goes out the window.
shareSure, we all know how decent and free Stalinist Russia and Maoist China were
LOL, if Trumbo was advocating pro American views in Stalinist Russia, he'd end up with a show trial then a bullet in his head, at best
What are they doing? Why do they come here?
Some kind of instinct, memory, what they used to do.
Anything hollywood poops out about the subject nowadays should be met with skepticism.
They have been kicking the "poor old black listed writer meme" around for like 30 years. Suffice to say, while Trumbo was a great writer, he was also a true card carrying writer.
What are they doing? Why do they come here?
Some kind of instinct, memory, what they used to do.
Stalin was a wanker, granted, but the USSR isn't representative of all far-left thought. What about libertarian socialism? Anarcho-communism? All I'm saying is that usually when the convo comes up, people fail to have nuanced understandings of anything to go with it.
shareWiki - The primary element of communism which will enable this transformation, according to this analysis, is the social ownership of the means of production.
--Evil, very evil!
Why? What's wrong with the collective ownership of the means of production? Sounds pretty great to me.
shareYou would probably do well in Stalin's Russia - 20 million died of starvation and gulags. Absolute government control at its best. The liberal ideologues heaven.
shareBeing that I have some left-libertarian leanings, I would probably do horribly badly in soviet Russia. Don't strawman people's positions.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Affirming_the_consequent
What most in the Western world fail to realize is that communism was just a utopian idea (almost like afterlife) for the USSR, never a reality, nor even a prospect for the foreseeable future. People were asked to ration, they were expected to suffer the shortcomings of the dysfunctional economy, the lack of civil freedoms, to sacrifice today for the better future for their kids, which was never really going to come, of course. At no point the Soviet Union was even remotely close to communism. Actually, I highly doubt the entire idea is even feasible if one really tried to implement it, not use it as carrot for the masses to gain absolute power.
This is why commie-fighting Americans are so laughable. It's like fighting your local church because they are pro-heaven, just like some evil sect way on the other continent.
Communism means “worker’s paradise”, and USSR wasn’t a worker’s paradise so it wasn’t communism... We’re supposed to ignore that it is the consequence of centralizing authority?
shareYou've utterly missed the point. Russia and China don't have a bill of rights; we do. Americans are free to have whatever political beliefs and personal associations they like and not be persecuted by the government for it. For a time, in the 50s, America became more Stalinist and it wasn't the Communists who were doing it.
"Boy that was really exciting. I bet you're a big Lee Marvin fan aren't ya."
Stalinist, are you retarded? The USA may have been wrong but you clearly don't understand how utterly depraved, totalitarian, sadistic and merciless the USSR, PRC and the DPRK were back then. The DPRK is still just as bad. All of Trumbo's family and friends would have been wiped out or imprisoned along with him if we were that bad
What are they doing? Why do they come here?
Some kind of instinct, memory, what they used to do.
Asks someone:
as soon as you mention communism all rational thought goes out the window.
Gets a reply
Sure, we all know how decent and free Stalinist Russia and Maoist China were
LOL, if Trumbo was advocating pro American views in Stalinist Russia, he'd end up with a show trial then a bullet in his head, at best
Worthy of a SNL sketch
If I don't reply, you're probably on my ignore list for something I forgot already share
I note that you referred to "Stalinist" and "Maoist" rather than "communist".
shareThe Ukrainian Holocaust, The Cultural Revolution, The Killing Fields, North Korea, Hugo Chavez's daughter walking away with 4 billion dollars. Utopian on paper for delusional minds, genocide in practice for those who live in it.
shareWhy would it matter if it did?
shareFact is he should have been allowed to write. What happened to him and everyone else on the blacklist was disgusting.
Ladies and Gentlemen take my advice
Pull down your pants and slide on the ice.
The conservative studios blacklisted writers, this was before McCarthy was a senator. They had good reason, commies had infiltrated the unions and led long strikes. Not exactly how lefties portray things.
shareAccording to idiots like you, only Modern Hollywood would be in favor of revisionist history.
shareOh no! Labor unions. What will we ever do?
share[deleted]
And which, overall, would you say is the freer society (i.e., the society where the State leaves you alone the most, Martin--Italy or the US?
If you grudgingly say the US, don't worry--we're on the Road to Serfdom, full speed ahead!
Is America all that free though? I mean, police brutality, extremely restrictive drugs laws, high rates of incarceration?
To Martin: I agree, American politics are far too one sided and not open to different ideas. Most non mainstream political ideas are stigmatized in a way that isn't helpful. I'm of the might that even fascists, which is a group of people that is about are far away from me ideologically as is possible, ought to have the right to hold their views.
I get a sense that Spain is sort of similar as well, having had correspondences with anarchists (particularly) from over there, which is pretty cool.
The studios were not conservative. They were Trotskyite communists, pro war Zionists, and they created the HUAC and the blacklist in order to clamp down on competing factions, anyone who was anti-war. What Lenin called “war communism”, Trotsky called regular communism. This was the dominant faction among the monied class in America, New York Times, etc...
share[deleted]
Do you enjoy watching movies that praise pedophilia, racism, etc?
http://TheMovieGoer.com
No, the film doesn't praise Communism or have a pro-Communist theme in any way. It's not really about whether Communism is good or bad, but about suppression of free speech by the U.S. government. At the time, they just happened to be suppressing the rights of American Communists and suspected Communists.
However, it does allow the character of Trumbo to praise it. He briefly talks about his feelings on the subject, and explains (for example, to his young daughter) why he is a Communist. Other characters talk about why they despise Communism. Still others talk about why they couldn't care less about the whole business. Sets a nice example of every viewpoint being permitted expression.
Tell me the truth. Are we still in the game?
Could you give me an example of how the free speech of the Hollywood Communists were violated?
I'm writing a screenplay, ZASU!, about Nazi sympathizer ZaSu Pitts and other Nazi sympathizers were persecuted by the ruling class during WWII.
Could you give me an example of how the free speech of the Hollywood Communists were violated?
Well, for one, Trumbo was put in jail for a year. Watch the film. share
Simply for advocating Communism? Nothing else? I mean that was the charge? "You, Dalton Trumbo, once advocated Communism, which is against the law, so you go to jail"?
shareHe was sentenced to jail for exercising his constitutional right by refusing to answer inquiries into his political beliefs. You need to watch this film, Bilwick.
shareProgressive Woodrow Wilson put Socialist Eugene Debs in jail on the charge of sedition, for speaking out against “The Great War”. Even after the war was over, Wilson refused to pardon him. Wilson’s successor, the “extreme right wing” Warren G Harding pardoned him immediately. Then Harding was ensnared by the fake teapot dome scandal. History repeats when Hillary Clinton says “Can’t we just drone Assange?”
How come Hollywood doesn’t make a movie about that? Instead we get yet another love letter to warmongers with Spielberg’s Pentagon Papers fluff piece.
It's not about Communism, it's about a witch hunt that destroyed the lives of many people for no real benefit... except to those who sought power by inspiring fear in the general populace (sound familiar?).
The main character was an admitted Communist... which was not illegal. He was NOT an agent or spy for the Soviet Union, he was NOT working against the United States in any way.
No. It praises freedom of thought and speech. I can't stand communism but I enjoyed the performances in this film.
www.selmablairstyle.com For All Things Selma Blair
No. It's about how the anti-communism fervor in the U.S. post-World War II resulted in the U.S. government (along with the private sector, including but not limited to the motion picture industry) adopting repressive techniques that, at times, rivaled those of the Soviets. I'm sure Stalin was delighted with the blacklist.
shareit just criticizes usa's fascism/bigotry.
shareNo.
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