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Re: Films involving anarchy?

Bert — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:41:46 GMT

Only "anarchist" films I know of are Mad Max: Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome.

Re: Films involving anarchy?

SkepticalMetal — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:34:20 GMT

Haha, yes. I like both movies, but Dark City was just epic.

Re: Films involving anarchy?

TronCat — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:31:53 GMT

I got it. Dark City. Amazing film by Alex Proyas. Definately an anarchist theme there.

Dark City is the shit! It's unfortunate that it didn't get more attention upon its release. Maybe if it had a ton of slo-mo actions sequences, it would have been more popular... (*cough* THE MATRIX *cough*)

Seriously though, The Matrix ripped so much from that film.

Re: Films involving anarchy?

SkepticalMetal — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:23:16 GMT

Well I know probably the most anti-libertarian TV show out there is 24. And it was created by two Rick Santorum supporters. Go figure.

Re: Films involving anarchy?

Anenome — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 02:41:47 GMT

One of my favorite movies is Last of the Mohicans, which, in retrospect, has a strong libertarian bent :)

Re: Films involving anarchy?

Kelvin Silva — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 02:30:35 GMT

This isnt really an anarchical movie but its good satire:

(Please visit the site to view this media)

If you know things around the internet (hitler rant, george bush shoe throw, sarah palins face, etc etc) youll get a good laugh

Re: Films involving anarchy?

SkepticalMetal — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 15:24:53 GMT

I got it. Dark City. Amazing film by Alex Proyas. Definately an anarchist theme there.

Re: Films involving anarchy?

Kakugo — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:05:37 GMT

QuisCustodiet:

Dang it. I just remembered one that specifically criticized the privitization of police. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Gore_Police

Robocop is an even better case. It's cheesy, it's cheap but the message's there.

Also I'd like to aid the French anti-war film Joyeux Noel about the Christmas Truce of 1914. Left to starve and freeze into the trenches by their superior officers (who retreated to confiscated villas miles from the front lines), German and British troops (the French in the film were added as an afterthought because they weren't really involved in the events) simply stop shooting at each other and have a football game, trade cigarettes, sing carrols etc. No compulsion = no war.

Re: Films involving anarchy?

Physiocrat — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 09:05:04 GMT

Dystopias are an obvious choice, the best being Terry Gilliam's Brazil. I suppose the TV series the Wire shows the absurdity of the drugs war.

Re: Films involving anarchy?

Groucho — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 08:41:33 GMT

I remember liking the movie Sneakers and seem to remember it having a vaguely anarc histic bent, but it's been a long, long time since I've seen it (when it was still at the theaters). The original Red Dawn might have been too, but it's been so long since I've seen it I hardly remember anything.

Swiss Family Robinson., the Grizzly Adams tv series, just about any good pirate movie (I recommend Yellowbeard, lol), Goonies, and most zombie movies are pretty anarchistic (by necessity I guess). I'm really dating myself here aren't I? XD

I think anarchism shows up just about everywhere if you look closely. Or used to maybe. Nowadays, the state is usually featured pretty prominently in just about every film and TV show there is and made to look heroic (hence my near-total willful ignorance of modern entertainment).

Re: Films involving anarchy?

TronCat — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 06:59:43 GMT

Yes, but the moment that the government shuts down chaos ensues. One could indeed look at the order which is set up in Gotham after the bridges fall as the most perverted form of anarcho-capitalism.

Chaos ensues because the city is being run by a warlord with means to a nuclear weapon. The circumstances are kind of difficult.

Also, the Joker advocates what he calls "anarchy".

And there aren't violent anarchists in this world? There are crazies in every group.

I'm not saying that the film is advocating for anarchy, I just don't think it has the statist agenda that many assume, it's more complex than that. The entire trilogy deals with the theme of state corruption, which Batman and Lt. Gordon are directly involved with themselves, and they live with that guilt in the third film. Their lie for the state basically established a police state in Gotham (with the 'Dent Act'), and this is paralleled with Bruce being trapped in his home, like Gotham's citizens 'trapped' in their city, because instead of putting their faith in 'Batman'(personal responsibility), they put their faith in the state. Batman isn't needed anymore.

John Blake quitting the force, stating that the "structures have become shackles", and then 'rising' to become the new Batman may not be explicitly calling for anarchy, but it is at least questioning the role of the state.

I think that's pretty ballsy for such a mainstream Hollywood film.

Re: Films involving anarchy?

TronCat — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 06:46:48 GMT

The only problem with DKR is that, in the end, the police end up being the heroes as well as Batman.

I actually interpreted the war between the police (the state) and Bane's militia as an illustration of the chaos that we all experience - we are all in the middle of this war. Batman isn't really fighting on the side of the police, he just wants to stop Bane, as they have a personal connection that goes back to Raz Al Ghul.

I find it odd that you think the film makes out the police as the 'heroes', when John Blake (a Gotham police officer) throws his badge away in disgust, then later states that Gordon was right when he said the "structures become shackles".

I think the final image of the film (blake rising to be the next 'Batman') is really just illusrating the theme of individual and personal responsibility.

Re: Films involving anarchy?

Willy Truth — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 06:20:12 GMT

Anarchy is such a dirty word to most people though. Anarchy and chaos are commonly associated together by popular culture. Most people don't understand spontaneous order.

It's a PR problem--kind of like telling someone they're about to eat tripe before they take a bite of mystery meat in Chinatown. If they have a preconceived negative notion of it, they will be less likely to like it.

That's why it's just easier conversationally to explain to people that you're just an innocuous free marketer, a capitalist, or a libertarian. And then once you've roped them in with awesome principles and economic sensibility, spring it on them that none of it requires a state, and, voila! Anarchy.

Re: Films involving anarchy?

Neodoxy — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 01:57:17 GMT

"During the boat sequence in The Dark Knight, the Joker is relishing in the moment, as the passengers on each boat have the choice of whether or not they will succumb to his wishes of chaos and blow up the other boat. It turns out that they don't, and this puzzles the Joker. Batman then responds "What were you trying to prove? That deep down, everyone's as ugly as you? You're alone! "

Yes, but the moment that the government shuts down chaos ensues. One could indeed look at the order which is set up in Gotham after the bridges fall as the most perverted form of anarcho-capitalism.

Also, the Joker advocates what he calls "anarchy".

Re: Films involving anarchy?

Willy Truth — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 22:35:17 GMT

I interpreted The Dark Knight Rises as not about chaos ensuing when the masses are left to their own devices--because that is not what happens in the film. Instead, Bane, who uses collectivist rhetoric, creates a state within Gotham "for the people". Even the Scarecrow from the other films is seen presiding over the ad hoc courts dealing out mass-pleasing justice a la French Revolution.

The only problem with DKR is that, in the end, the police end up being the heroes as well as Batman. But they aren't acting on specific order or for the state, so it's a little different.