8 Most Powerful CONSERVATIVE Moments In Blockbusters Films

Hollywood and its leading men and women are nearly all progressive liberals with lazy and convenient political viewpoints espoused by primarily the rich and the young. However, they sometimes find themselves in films written, directed or produced by people with a little more substance giving us some of the most important conservative moments in pop culture. 

Here are the top 8 most powerful conservative moments in blockbuster films. Spoilers Ahead: 

1. Captain America resisting world “peace” in The Winter Soldier: 

In Captain America’s sequel The Winter Soldier, Steve Rogers is tasked with aiding the World Security Council and SHEILD with implementing a satellite software which algorithmically determines which human beings are at risk for violent law breakin and eliminates those human beings. He is promised that the world would be made much safer and it is for the greater good of humanity. Steve Rogers disagrees believing that liberty is a human right and you cannot punish people for crimes they haven’t committed yet and for which they have not received a trial. He becomes a fugitive and the plot ensues until the climax of the film where he delivers this speech which reminds us that freedom comes at a high cost.

2. America first in Red Dawn (2012) 

In the underrated remake of Red Dawn starring Chris Hemsworth and Josh Peck, the heroes’ father is taken as a prisoner by invading communist China North Korea and forced to address the boys who are hiding in the woods preparing to launch a rebellion against the invaders. The father, instead of complying with his captors, tells his boys to go to war against the invaders or die trying. Because America first, always. See the scene here.

3. The Government for the people in V for Vendetta 

V for Vendetta features a not so distant future dystopian world where the governments of the world have become totalitarian including in Great Britain where the film takes place. After the heroine’s comedian friend is brutally arrested and likely killed for defying censorship rules on his late night show, she is rescued/kidnapped by a rebel terrorist “V” who explains to her that he’s blowing up the capitol because the capitol is a symbol of a Government for the people which it is no longer. He explains here that the government should be afraid of its people not the other way around. [Disclaimer: blowing up buildings is for movies. In society we have the power to blow up buildings metaphorically and symbolically before we get to totalitarianism which is the whole point of this segment and film.]

4. Liberty is traded for security in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith 

In the Skywalker prequel trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, the politics of the Star Wars universe are explored in a lot of depth. In the first film we see war rising between independent nations and rogue cartels and in the second we see totalitarian power granted on an emergency basis only to the leader of one viewpoint Chancellor Palpetine where he famously states that he IS the Senate (recall a certain President of the United States stating he IS the Democratic party). By the third film, of course predictably, Chancellor Palpetine does not want to give up his emergency powers. So he actually convinces the people of the galaxy and their representatives to GIVE him permanent control in order to keep them super snug and safe from all the bad bad stuff (which he invented in order to manipulate them…sounding familiar?). Senator Padme Amidala laments here that liberty dies with thunderous applause. 

5. Government aids extremism through censorship and regulation in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

In the Harry Potter franchise the titular character finds himself wrapped up in a much more complicated battle between essentially light and dark magic where his greatest foe leads a cultish group of extremists and his greatest allies are intellectual elitists….okay so Harry Potter lacks good guys. However, there is a salient conservative point of view in one of the best installments in the franchise, Order of the Phoenix. The Government of the Wizarding world known as the Ministry of Magic decides that the private school, Hogwarts, is incapable of safely caring for the magic students. So they assign some government watch dogs to the school to act as administrators including a new headmaster, Government Agent, Dolores Umbridge. One of the most reviled villains in the Harry Potter universe, Umbridge is actually not a cult following extremist. She is simply a government bureaucrat with a lot of power and a deeply flawed character. She implements absurdist rules and dictates by violent force pushing the plot forward and the students to the edge all while greatly empowering the violent and dangerous Death Eater cult. She even manages to convince students to turn on each other to stay in her good favor. Its almost as if government agents are capable of being corrupt and working against the best interests of the people. Also side moral: maybe its not a good idea to involve the government in education. See her form of punishment for students who endanger others by not following the rules.

6. Mining is good in Black Panther 

In one of the best installments of the Avengers franchise, Black Panther takes on a multitude of valuable moral principles including an opposition to political violence, a celebration of tradition and an acknowledgement that even good leaders can be very flawed (as seen by the moral failings of King T’Chaka – father of Black Panther King T’Challa). But one of its strongest conservative moments was the reveal of the super technology which allows for the clean and effective mining of crucial high tech materials. Liberals in America want all the clean energy and none of the mining it takes to get there. They penalize mining operations and make it impossible for them to operate but still want the rare minerals it takes to power batteries and fossil fuel alternatives. Instead of encouraging innovation in an important American enterprise, they shut people down and stifle our path to the future. Black Panther celebrates mining and the potential of human ingenuity to make the practice even safer and more efficient. See the high tech lab and mine here.

7. Hillary Clinton did Benghazi in 13 Hours

13 Hours starring John Krazinski is a naturally conservative leaning film following the team of private US security agents (re: mercenaries) and CIA who responded to the attack of the US Embassy in Lybia by radical Islamist forces when United States military didn’t show up to help. After the Ambassador of the United States is killed (an act of war on the United States), these men show up to defend the honor of the US and keep the insurgents out of the embassy. They become overwhelmed and trapped and hold off the fight for 13 hours repeatedly contacting the United States for help. The famous 3 am call which was never answered by then Secretary and now failed Presidential Candidate, Hillary Clinton. The most powerful scene in an action pact film is actually the end when the men are rescued not by an American military plan but by a Lybian transport. No American aid ever arrived. This is a fact undisputed by even Clinton herself in her Congressional trial. See the concluding scene here.

8. The people take control in the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

The Hunger Games series takes place in a future world where a totalitarian elite have control over the former United States. All service in the country is to the Capitol and each region is broken up into “districts” with key assignments to serve the needs of the entire population re: the vaguely West Virginian area of the US is District 12 which is forced to mine coal for energy. Work is assigned. Rations are assigned. Luxuries are only permitted to the political elite. But not to worry because everyone has a base income. But Mockingjay Part 1 in the franchise is by far the most politically exploratory installment. As the heroine, Katniss Everdeen, joins the rebellion she becomes a tool of rebel propaganda and instead of the military forces overthrowing their government, its the people that take control of the resources and fight back against their oppressors. See the powerful scene of people taking what is theirs – not the governments – here.