And few things are more emblematic of freedom than the right to read what I want, and watch what I want. Freedom of speech is kind of a nontrivial part of the First Amendment, and without it, our Constitutional liberties wouldn't exist.
I also love movies. I love the depth and richness of visual storytelling, love sitting back with family and sharing in a movie night, or going out to see something in theater.
Only now, well, now that's being threatened. A one hundred percent tariff has been decreed on all films made outside of the United States. How's this going to work? Who knows? There are no plans. More thought goes into the average bowel movement than goes into American policy statements these days, and at least bowel movements accomplish something.
If it ever became real, though? It would be a terrible, terrible thing.
First, it attacks some really great storytelling. The other day, I watched an astoundingly excellent sci flick. MARS EXPRESS is a gorgeous, handcrafted tale of a robot uprising on Mars, smart and elegant and grim. It's not the sort of preprocessed dullness that often comes out of corporate Hollywood, because it was freakin' French. So. Very. French. Am I to be charged double for that?
Or what about Studio Ghibli films, magical and charming and deeply traditional? Are we really imposing a punitive tax on Totoro?
And not every American story happens in America. Are you going to penalize the making of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN if they don't film it in the swimming pool at Mar A Lago?
That brings me to the next infringement on our freedom.
It penalizes Americans who want to hear the heritage and stories of their ancestors. I have the right to take pride in and honor my history. As someone with Irish blood, I loved loved loved THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN. It's an IRISH FREAKIN' MOVIE. Where else are they gonna make it besides Ireland? If you want to watch a Korean film made in Korea because you're an American who came from there, or a Bollywood film because you have Indian heritage, are we all now having to pay a penalty?
Why is this misbegotten brainfart diktat even a thing? It seems to have come from one conversation Trump had with John Voight, who noted in passing that the film industry is really struggling in America right now. There's a truth to that, one worth exploring. Why are films being made elsewhere?
Because films here are too danged expensive to make. MARS EXPRESS was brilliant, and it got made on a $9 million dollar budget. GODZILLA MINUS ONE, a nearly-perfect recent Japanese monster flick? That got made for under $15 million. Movies here are often ten times more expensive. Costs are just too danged high, because...why? You know why. Everything in America is more expensive than it needs to be. Health care. Groceries. Cars. Homes. Everything. Our bloated, inefficient, profit-maximizing corporations have created the least efficient, most parasitic economic system in human history.
That's the problem.
Well, that and a president who hasn't got a single advisor who dares suggest that maybe he needs to occasionally think before speaking.
Posts
