Why Hollywood Hates Act of Valor

[& Any Other Film That Doesn't 

Do It 'Politically Correctly']

Act of Valor is a pretty unique film. The producers decided to make a full length feature film starring active duty Navy SEALs instead of hiring a bunch of actors to pretend to be SEALs.  

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/act_of_valor/

Note that Act of Valor has one of the BIGGEST differences in rating by top critics & rating by audience: 

It debuted in theaters in late February of this year, and even before it hit screens across the country liberal movie critics were already launching preemptive strikes against it.  It was called 'propaganda' and worse.  

And when you distilled all the criticism of the film down to a single point, here's what emerged: 

The movie went about depicting the US Military in the 'wrong' way. 

Here are several examples of how, according to movie critics, Act of Valor got the US Military 'wrong': 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/17/act-of-valor-military-hollywood_n_1284338.html?ref=entertainment&icid=maing-grid7|aim|dl9|sec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D136995

A crack team of highly skilled warriors, outfitted with the most advanced weapons of the world’s most powerful military force, storms an enemy compound, firing round after round of ammunition through concrete walls and the skulls of their terrorist adversaries. 

The good guys have yet to suffer a single casualty until, suddenly, one of its leaders takes a rocket to the chest. The audience cringes, but the bang never comes -- the rocket clangs to the ground, unexploded, and the battle rages on. 

The upcoming film "Act of Valor" is replete with that kind of action, but there are a few things it doesn't have: There are no corrupt officers, no damaged heroes, no queasy doubts about the value of the mission or the virtue of the cause. 

That's because "Act of Valor" was born not in Hollywood, but in the Pentagon. It was commissioned by the Navy's Special Warfare Command and its success will be measured not in box-office receipts, but in the number of new recruits it attracts to the Navy SEALs.

Actually, having seen the film, I can tell you the HuffPo reviewer is misleading his readers when he says 'the rocket clangs to the ground, unexploded'.  That is a deliberate misrepresentation of what happened, assuming he actually saw the same scene I did. 

That RPG hits the Seal right in the chest and knocks him backwards over 10 feet into a wall, and the rocket gets stuck inside the SEAL's body armor - literally sticking out of his chest.  Another SEAL then helps to oh-so-carefully pull the unexploded missile from the body armor and holds it in his hand.  That rocket never 'hits the floor' with a 'clang' or any other kind of sound. 

There are no corrupt officers left. They didn't survive BUDs.

Note how the reviewer begins complaining almost immediately in his review about what this film DOESN'T have in it: "There are no corrupt officers, no damaged heroes, no queasy doubts about the value of the mission or the virtue of the cause."

Before we take that sentence apart, let's deal with another deliberate misrepresentation: [SPOILER ALERT in case you haven't seen the film yet, I am about to reveal some plot points, so don't read the next sentence if you don't want things spoiled for you]

During the course of the film one SEAL dies, another loses an eye and another is paralyzed.  No damaged heroes my ass. 

But notice what the reviewer is focusing his disdain on: the fact the film doesn't show officers who are corrupt, or soldiers questioning their mission.  

This is because American gov't is supposedly so evil and has been for some time that any good soldier with a brain has got to be wondering if he's being sent out to oppress innocent people or something.  

"I don't know all of a sudden man....I'm starting to doubt the mission....do I really want 

to stop this terrorist attack or not? I'm..........conflicted."

In the context of the film, the HuffPo reviewers complaint is laughable.  Act of Valor intentionally stays away from Iraq and Afghanistan and instead focuses on a plot to launch a new 9-11 style attack on America. Why in the hell would a Navy SEAL stop to ponder if a mission to keep terrorists from killing thousands of Americans in places like Las Vegas has any real value or not?  

http://www.tampabay.com/features/movies/act-of-valori-iwill-play-well-to-a-select-audience/1216445

Act of Valor is a land mine movie for anyone to review who isn't a military veteran, who hasn't bought into the cult of warfare. Like most faith-based movies, it's aimed squarely at an audience that will overlook considerable flaws because of its message. If you're not a true believer, what you think won't matter, anyway.

Act of Valor will likely earn high praise from combat veterans and their families, the way movies like Fireproof and Seven Days in Utopia resonate with Christians. Civilians, movie critics and certainly pacifists won't be nearly as impressed.

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/movies/20120224_SEALs_can_save_the_world__but_they_can_t_act.html

Near the end, the film degenerates into an extended, chaotic firefight. You know who you're supposed to be rooting for because they're the ones wearing uniforms, but it's easy to lose touch with why.

I guess every time Navy SEALs try to stop terrorists from launching a new 9-11 it's 'easy to lose touch' with which side you're supposed to be rooting for.  :facepalm:

"We're the ones trying to keep innocent Americans from being 

blown up, you dimwit."

You may have noticed all these criticisms of the film don't have to do with strategy or tactics; instead all of the strong negativity for the film focuses on the POLITICAL MESSAGE they see the film to be giving them.  

Every film about our US military and a whole host of other issues must have the 'right' kind of political message, at least according to these guys. 

Could THIS explain declining ticket sales and interest in Hollywood's product as the town grows more and more overtly Left in  it's public pronouncements and it's work? 

Hollywood has been trying to hide the fact it's losing it's audience for years by pumping up ticket prices to insane levels and then crowing about 'record box office' numbers.  They never talk about the actual NUMBER of tickets sold, only what the gross box office take is.  

http://www.whitehutchinson.com/news/lenews/2008_may_june/article102.shtml

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/30/business/la-fi-ct-cinemacon-20110330

The decline in admissions is troubling Hollywood. The number of tickets sold per person annually in the U.S. and Canada has steadily fallen for most of the last decade to 4.1 last year, the lowest since 1993.

Movies for general audiences have to be made inside a set of 'safe' themes to ensure as broad an appeal and therefore as big a box office take as possible.  

That certainly is ONE reason so many of Hollywood's recent 'blockbusters' are lifeless, have no real creativity [beyond new CGI effects], and after awhile all blend together and are totally forgettable and interchangeable.  

John Carter or Clash of the Titans or Transformer XIII? Does it really matter? Mix 'n match!

But there is ANOTHER reason the audience is declining. Even when Hollywood DOES try to make an 'important' message movie with supposedly creative themes, it WON'T make such a film outside the PC Liberal Agenda Box.  They simply won't do it.  

And remember what we already know: Less than 22% of the American population describes itself as Liberal. So around 78% of the population doesn't necessarily live inside the PC Liberal Agenda Box the way many in Hollywood do.  

And that 78% of the audience figured out long ago that when Hollywood tries to make a movie about strong subjects and controversial themes and issues, such films, no matter how many times the marketing screams the words 'edgy', 'trendy', 'sophisticated', etc. that film will sell only one point of view: the politically correct view.  The Liberal Agenda view.  Any envelopes pushed or edgy take on things explored always explores further to the LEFT, never to the right. 

This is what counts for 'milestone' entertainment in Hollywood now: when a film goes even FURTHER Left on a subject than those that came before it.  Left, never Right.  

People are tired of paying to see films that not only go out of their way to try to strongly sell points of view they don't agree with, but also go out of their way to attack what they do believe.  

Nope. No propaganda here!

This is Hollywood's broken business model: they deliberately won't make the kind of movies that the 40%  of the country that is Conservative wants to see.  Especially if they are making a movie about the military or current events and social issues.  

40% are Conservative, 20% are Liberal, and 40% are moderate.  What sense does it make to write off 40%-60% of your potential audience because your movies HAVE to be made inside the Liberal Agenda Box? 

Yet this is exactly what Hollywood does. AND NOTHING POINTS THIS OUT BETTER THAN FILMS LIKE ACT OF VALOR.  Because Act of Valor was manifestly made OUTSIDE of the PC Liberal Agenda Box.  That's why liberal critics were hoping to see it fail.  

Yeah, this'll NEVER make any money, right Hollywood?

[$612 mil worldwide on a $30 mil budget]

ANY movie made outside the PC Liberal Agenda Box immediately must be attacked for not being the 'right' kind of movie for some reason.  Passion of the Christ, October Baby, Act of Valor, Fireproof, whatever it's subject is, if it doesn't come at the issue from the 'right' kind of PC political viewpoint, then it's 'propaganda' and they'll encourage people to stay away from it.  

By doing this they are tacitly admitting they will only give their coveted stamp of approval to films that do approach issues from the 'correct' point of view - their point of view, the PC Liberal Agenda Box view.  So aren't they admitting they approve or reject movies based on their own political views?  Why aren't movies they approve of also propaganda then?  

"It's not propaganda if I agree with it's viewpoint."

If a movie agrees with their PC Liberal Agenda, they will praise it. If it doesn't then they call it 'propaganda' and a whole other slew of PC attack words in an attempt to marginalize it.  

Despite the attempts of Liberal critics to drive people away from this film, Act of Valor was a box office smash.  On a production budget of only $12 million, it's pulled in $68.5 million worldwide thus far, and will draw in even more when it hits PPV streaming and DVD/Blu-Ray.  

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=actofvalor.htm

People like Mel Gibson, Bandito Brothers, and Daniel Knauf are exploring ways to use the internet and video streaming VOD to bypass the whole Hollywood system with it's PC Gatekeepers and media sycophants.   Check out 'Haunted', and the trailer for Gibson's latest film, coming straight to VOD soon: 'Get The Gringo':

http://bxxweb.com/haunted/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGKfF6d8TH8

As more Conservative, independent films with real creativity get made and marketed that explore issues and themes outside of Hollywood's cherished PC Liberal Agenda Box and have success, expect to see Hollywood and their pet critics get more and more nasty about it.