Does Hollywood hate the Government/Washington this year?

On 03/31/2013 at 01:58 PM by NSonic79

Here’s something that dawned on me over the weekend. We are starting to see some of the pre-summer movie releases right now and some of them have a mirroring theme. It wasn’t till I re-watched the movie trailer for G.I. Joe: Retaliation that I noticed this. Some of the action movies coming out, or soon to be coming out, just happen to have the White House (or the government in general) under siege. Though G.I. Joe: Retaliation didn’t start this trend, it does share the common theme with a more recent movie release that came out this year with Olympus has Fallen.

Sure you could look back to last year to find movies where the United States under attack being a key plot setting, (the Red Dawn remake anyone?), but it didn’t have the heavy handed symbolism that can be associated with what we are seeing right now. Just looking at the movie trailers alone you can find at least one scene that stands out: The White House.

In G.I. Joe Retaliation it’s the scene where Cobra unfurls their flag on the White House’s rooftop flagpole, complete with Cobra banners in the front ala alternate history Nazi-germany takeover of the White House.

Then we have Olympus has Fallen where we see the US Flag falling down from the White House’s rooftop in front of the said building. That scene is even the picture of choice for the movie poster for this movie.

Normally I don’t speak much when it comes to movies. I usually just take note of any specific movie and move on from there. One can easily overlook the heavy handled visuals used to hammer in the notion of the government/Washington under siege/ being taken over. I myself just thought it odd we’d get two types of movies so soon having this theme in place.

Then I saw the trailer for “White House Down”.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation had a terrorist organization subvert the government by body doubling the president. Olympus has Fallen had North Korean terrorist take over the White House. But in White House Down we get a paramilitary group taking out the White House itself, along with the Capital Building and Air Force One for good measure.

Sure this may make for great action movie set pieces but three movies with the central theme of the government/White House under attack or under siege seems like a bit overkill for me.

You might as well count World War Z later this summer given the trailer of seeing US Troops evacuating historical treasures like the US Constitution.

Does Hollywood hate the Government or Washington? Who did they upset for us to have four (possibly more movies this year) where the theme is to show our nation fall apart under an imaginary threat?

Or did all my angry letters to the government find their way to Hollywood somehow and been made into screenplays. If that’s the case I want my cut! Either way I'm getting a feeling that the people overseas that don't much care for the US will becoming major movie fans this year.

Ta-ta
“N”

angelfaceband42

03/31/2013 at 02:12 PM

Interesting points. My best guess would be Hollywood is trying to Capitalize on the division of the US. I'm not speaking for or against OBama, but the election was very interesting this year. Hollywood is just using that division to cash in.

NSonic79

04/01/2013 at 10:04 PM

given the timing of the creation of these films (and their delayed release) that's not too far off the mark. LIke how hollywood made 2012 to play on the end of the world craze.

Super Step Contributing Writer

03/31/2013 at 03:07 PM

I definitely don't think Olympus has Fallen hates America, is anything it's a love letter to Uncle Sam (saw it last night; corny as hell), and I'd imagine the new GI Joe movie will be as well. Haven't really seen anything about White House Down, and World War Z is based on a zombie book, isn't it? I see your point though, that's a lot of White House raiding for one summer/year! I guess they figure, hey Independence Day had a famous White House obliteration scene and was a huge success, let's pump out more of those kinds of movies! They're also capitalizing on recent tensions between us and other countries, but honestly I don't feel very threatened by the North Koreans that keep being the bad guys in these things. China would have been a much better enemy, which is probably why Hollywood is scared to piss them off.

It's just the Hollywood way with everything. Dark Batman worked? Make ALL our superheroes dark! People like the White House being under siege then a ragtag group or one man army retaliates and kicks a bunch of ass? Of course they do, make fourty!

04/01/2013 at 10:06 PM

their doing all they can to make a buck these days in hollywood. If nothing original, work the SYMBOLISM on well known landmarks to stand out.

It is too bad that hollywood wouldn't go all the way and actualy make a global threat that is plausable. But can't lose those overseas markets!

SanAndreas

03/31/2013 at 08:08 PM

What I'm facepalming over is the number of stories, as noted above, where North Korea is the bad guy. North Korea isn't going to nuke or invade the US. They have no way to get a nuke or troops to the US. Their sole purpose of existence is being a big fortress to keep the United States Forces Korea from invading China by land. China is never the enemy because the Chinese government is notoriously thin-skinned and American companies are afraid of losing their cheap, obedient Chinese labor and iPad and movie ticket sales from the Chinese middle class. :)

We've had Red Dawn, Homefront (a Red Dawn video game remake written by John Milius, the original Red Dawn director), and now Olympus Has Fallen.

04/01/2013 at 10:13 PM

It's too bad they won't go all out and actually name a major threat to the US than use the usual scapegoats in these movies. We can't lose those sales to them "other states" that could pose a threat. Atleast Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will go as far as name some Russians.

Homefront was pretty much a Red Dawn video game, but atleast we have one game that almost makes makes an asian-centric threat believable: Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor

PixlBit