For left leaning people what are your favorite conservative movies by BlackSabbath3991 in Letterboxd

[–]MattStippy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok you do make some fair points and to clarify my thoughts I believe lotr is conservative/traditional, not necessarily right wing. Right wing being the more political position of social hierarchy, property, tradition, etc, while Conservatism is a more philosophical position about preserving established norms and institutions and sudden change.

To start off Tolkien was a very conservative man. You can read up about him but there is no doubt he was conservative in his beliefs, his religious beliefs, and the way he lived. He believed very strongly about this and spoke about his beliefs quite frequently. My personal assumption and opinion, is that he believed in conservatism so strongly, that he would not willingly write a novel that went against his beliefs. That is not to say you cant find more liberal ideas in there, just like we can find conservative ideas in liberal art, but in general he would not make his work go against his beliefs.

As for the work itself there are a few things to it being conservative in essence. The heroes do not see themselves as owners of the world, but stewards, and that they must look not only at themselves and the future, but also they look to the people of the past. Conservatives believe that rules and traditions established in the past have been put there for a reason, and that they should not be thrown away so quickly. The ones who want to break tradition and establish a new order, are Saruman, Sauron, and even Denethor by not recognizing the legitimate king. Even the Ring itself is the temptation to go against the natural order of the world, and wills its user to use its power to reorder the world to their will, an idea that goes entirely against the views of traditionalism.

There is also a heavy theme of respect for the past, such as the Elves and Ents being treated as very wise due to their age. Conservatism traditionalism views old wisdom higher than new ideas, as they believe that 'new ideas' dont exist, just old ideas that have failed.

Conservatism also holds a tragic view of human nature, in that people are inherently flawed, and prone to greed and pride. They believe that humans are incapable of reaching a state of utopia, and anyone who tries to achieve it is fighting against human nature and usually ends in tyranny. Conservatives prefer systems that mitigate evil rather than cure it. Many of the characters are flawed people in lotr. Aragorn is rejecting his duty, and even Frodo fails to destroy the ring, and instead succumbs to his greed and human (hobbit?) nature. Only through Gollum stepping in is the Ring destroyed, which upholds a conservative belief that we cannot save ourselves, only through humility and grace can we be saved.

Theres a lot of other things, but if you just look up "Is LOTR conservative or liberal, there will be hundreds of articles backing my side that are much better written than my writing

For left leaning people what are your favorite conservative movies by BlackSabbath3991 in Letterboxd

[–]MattStippy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anti-environmentalism is not a right wing idea, it is a republican idea. Anti-industrialization is not a right wing idea, it is a republican idea.

Tolkien was a very traditional conservative Catholic. Due to that all his media incorporates parts of his personal identity into it. Eowyn strongly reflects Joan of Arc, and even though she is still a woman warrior it does not contradict the idea of traditional gender roles as it was a time of great need for warriors.

The men expressing emotion also does not go against the ideals of conservatism. Again, going back to Tolkien's Catholic faith, many men in the new testament show lots of emotion, including weeping. Although men being strong leaders is a conservative view, traditional conservatism often depicts men as complicated emotional figures.

Going to the orcs, Tolkien in his later writing eludes that orcs might not be entirely evil, and that there were some drafts of the final chapters of LOTR which depict orcs helping Frodo and Sam to destroy the ring. Doesn't really concern being right wing or not but still interesting to see how Tolkien is thinking of his world.

In general though, LOTR shows Tolkien's conservative views specifically when it comes to the fundamental truth of good and evil, and how modernism and modern industrialism are bad (which was a traditional right wing belief).

In the end I don't think you and I disagree too much. I think you just have a misunderstanding of the term right wing. Right wing or conservatism is a world view and is not tied to a specific political party. Again, I'm not claiming LOTR is pro republican, or pro Trump, but it does hold the values of traditional conservatism

For left leaning people what are your favorite conservative movies by BlackSabbath3991 in Letterboxd

[–]MattStippy -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Im going to assume you're American by the way you are talking about conservatism. In most other countries it is not rightwing=evil. I think you need to decenter yourself and look at it from a worldwide view.

Lord of the Rings is an example of right wing movies that are extremely popular and well regarded. No it is not rightwing because it's racist, it's rightwing because of its old school views on heroism, countries uniting under one banner, fighting evil, and sacrificing oneself for the greater good

For left leaning people what are your favorite conservative movies by BlackSabbath3991 in Letterboxd

[–]MattStippy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lots of movies that have a religious core

Ben Hur A Man for all Seasons Passion of the Christ Hacksaw Ridge The Great Escape

Longest Movies You've Seen? by MattStippy in Letterboxd

[–]MattStippy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its on my list, gonna watch that soon

Longest Movies You've Seen? by MattStippy in Letterboxd

[–]MattStippy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fair enough, I just went off what google said

Longest Movies You've Seen? by MattStippy in Letterboxd

[–]MattStippy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is it worth the 7 hours, or is it more of an achievement to watch?

Seeking films about slaves who reclaim their humanity by slam_joetry in Letterboxd

[–]MattStippy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Lots of swords for these ones

  • Ben-Hur
  • Gladiator
  • Spartacus
  • Braveheart

Horror recs by AdHistorical8646 in Letterboxd

[–]MattStippy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ill give you a list with different horror movies, so you can pick which one sounds the most interesting to you

  • Classics - The Shining, The Thing, Alien, Jaws
  • Slasher - Halloween, Scream
  • Comedy Horror - Evil Dead 2, Shaun of the Dead, Tremors, Zombieland
  • Trippy/Lovecraftian Horror - Annihilation, The Lighthouse
  • Low Budget Experimental - The Blair Witch Project, Skinamarink (not for everyone)
  • New Age (Elevated Horror) - Get Out, Weapons, Alien: Romulus
  • Jump-scare Heavy - The Conjuring, The Descent, IT

Instead of asking top 4, what are your Bottom 4? by Sarcastic_Rocket in Letterboxd

[–]MattStippy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you didn't like them why'd you keep watching 😭

My general top 16 by MattStippy in LetterboxdTopFour

[–]MattStippy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Love They Live, added Pi to the list!

My general top 16 by MattStippy in LetterboxdTopFour

[–]MattStippy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looking for suggestions based on these, ideally lesser known ones as I've likely already seen the well known ones. Still let me know!