My biggest problem with conservative media made by conservatives for conservatives always seems to be super serious and almost documentarian. When I go to movies, I like to be entertained, not lectured. I wish the conservative movement would embrace the "Happy Warrior" ethic, and not be so dark and so prone to giving up.
Totally agree. Something that has the "conservative message" of Sound of Freedom combined with the "fun" of Top Gun or Yellowstone would be amazing, and successful.
I had that exact feeling when watching The Sound of Freedom. I was getting antsy for Jim Caviezel to go full Dirty Harry and enter a shootout with some pedophiles. I think the right could really use another John Milius, someone who has that same sense of romance on the right is sorely needed.
There's been very successful self-published genre fiction writers in the past couple years. I've noticed they tend to be either boomers or gen Xers writing the sort of stories that were still politically correct when they were kids, but would be unacceptable today. While those stories are not fully conservative in their values, they still had room for them. Even if the appetite for conservative art is relatively small, although growing, there's an appetite for exciting and uplifting stories that "aren't woke".
Crime thrillers and historical fiction are perfect for a conservative message and they are, specially crime thrillers, extremely popular. For historical fiction, I imagine something like a coming-of-age adventure about a teenage boy becoming a man defending the New England settlements during King Phillip's war. That would be awesome. There's also romance, both contemporary and historical, which might not be the perfect fit, but it is the most popular of all the mass market fiction and it captures the imagination of millions of women.
Studying genre fiction, how it works, what sells and how to market it would be a great endeavour for conservatives interested in writing and publishing. I know many look down on genre fiction, and would prefer writing literary fiction, but the success of literary fiction is very dependent on the big 5 publishing houses, and at the current moment conservatives have neither the patronage network nor the institutions to offer tutelage to literary writers. Genre fiction is a lot more formulaic, more profitable and extremely popular.
I was out recently, first time in awhile that I had the opportunity, and Sound of Freedom was playing. I didn't watch it. I wanted to have fun. And it didn't look like fun. I'll watch it at home sometime.
I had the same thought about I Want To Go Home, because it's literally about the world being so scary you just want to die. Conservative influencers renamed it for him when they shared it. "Brink of War" they called it.
So much that conservatives boost these days seems to be about how badly they want to go quietly into that good night. The sentiment resonates like nails on a chalkboard with me. For the influencers, I know some of it is lazy depth. Want to look world wise and like you sport a thousand yard stare? Post the "it's gonna get way worse" meme.
There's a reason you keep coming back to Oliver Anthony, and it's not because of Oliver Anthony, he didn't do anything but sing the blues and have basic opinions, it's because of the things he reveals about the conservative movement, and how few of them are good.
I posted this before I actually watched the show and realized it was hicklib propaganda. Ok so it's bad. My point is where are the humanist dramas? We talk a lot about how propaganda has swept the nation, and, I know I'm not really being subversive by saying this but when you really talk to people you'll realize their belief-sets are mostly reasonable. It's really just their priorities that are disordered. My point is this; I fear the right actually sort of *hates* honest reflection of themselves. Liberals love reflections of themselves! They watch HBO and stare in the mirror and take selfies all day long! I know how this is gonna sound, but, I'll just state my feelings, I feel like a lot of conservatives would not really relate to a slice-of-life show about their own lives, because they don't like their own mysteries to be unfurled. They tend not to see the point in it.
!!! ATTENTION PATRIOTS !!! Please treat yourself to the writing of the excellent @quixoticrambler (https://substack.com/@quixoticrambler). 'My Life in 2030 or: How I Learned To Love Moldilocks' is the story of one of Our Guys caught up in a screwball romcom, finding l*ve in a world where everyone is, and sometimes painfully (and hilariously) aware that they are, damaged goods. Thank U O7
My biggest problem with conservative media made by conservatives for conservatives always seems to be super serious and almost documentarian. When I go to movies, I like to be entertained, not lectured. I wish the conservative movement would embrace the "Happy Warrior" ethic, and not be so dark and so prone to giving up.
Totally agree. Something that has the "conservative message" of Sound of Freedom combined with the "fun" of Top Gun or Yellowstone would be amazing, and successful.
I had that exact feeling when watching The Sound of Freedom. I was getting antsy for Jim Caviezel to go full Dirty Harry and enter a shootout with some pedophiles. I think the right could really use another John Milius, someone who has that same sense of romance on the right is sorely needed.
Self-publishing is today's pulp.
There's been very successful self-published genre fiction writers in the past couple years. I've noticed they tend to be either boomers or gen Xers writing the sort of stories that were still politically correct when they were kids, but would be unacceptable today. While those stories are not fully conservative in their values, they still had room for them. Even if the appetite for conservative art is relatively small, although growing, there's an appetite for exciting and uplifting stories that "aren't woke".
Crime thrillers and historical fiction are perfect for a conservative message and they are, specially crime thrillers, extremely popular. For historical fiction, I imagine something like a coming-of-age adventure about a teenage boy becoming a man defending the New England settlements during King Phillip's war. That would be awesome. There's also romance, both contemporary and historical, which might not be the perfect fit, but it is the most popular of all the mass market fiction and it captures the imagination of millions of women.
Studying genre fiction, how it works, what sells and how to market it would be a great endeavour for conservatives interested in writing and publishing. I know many look down on genre fiction, and would prefer writing literary fiction, but the success of literary fiction is very dependent on the big 5 publishing houses, and at the current moment conservatives have neither the patronage network nor the institutions to offer tutelage to literary writers. Genre fiction is a lot more formulaic, more profitable and extremely popular.
I was out recently, first time in awhile that I had the opportunity, and Sound of Freedom was playing. I didn't watch it. I wanted to have fun. And it didn't look like fun. I'll watch it at home sometime.
I had the same thought about I Want To Go Home, because it's literally about the world being so scary you just want to die. Conservative influencers renamed it for him when they shared it. "Brink of War" they called it.
So much that conservatives boost these days seems to be about how badly they want to go quietly into that good night. The sentiment resonates like nails on a chalkboard with me. For the influencers, I know some of it is lazy depth. Want to look world wise and like you sport a thousand yard stare? Post the "it's gonna get way worse" meme.
There's a reason you keep coming back to Oliver Anthony, and it's not because of Oliver Anthony, he didn't do anything but sing the blues and have basic opinions, it's because of the things he reveals about the conservative movement, and how few of them are good.
I feel like what the right might benefit from is something like HBO's "Everyone Somewhere"
I posted this before I actually watched the show and realized it was hicklib propaganda. Ok so it's bad. My point is where are the humanist dramas? We talk a lot about how propaganda has swept the nation, and, I know I'm not really being subversive by saying this but when you really talk to people you'll realize their belief-sets are mostly reasonable. It's really just their priorities that are disordered. My point is this; I fear the right actually sort of *hates* honest reflection of themselves. Liberals love reflections of themselves! They watch HBO and stare in the mirror and take selfies all day long! I know how this is gonna sound, but, I'll just state my feelings, I feel like a lot of conservatives would not really relate to a slice-of-life show about their own lives, because they don't like their own mysteries to be unfurled. They tend not to see the point in it.
I am sorry, I'm not trying to imply anything sinister, and I know your post was more about pulp fiction.
!!! ATTENTION PATRIOTS !!! Please treat yourself to the writing of the excellent @quixoticrambler (https://substack.com/@quixoticrambler). 'My Life in 2030 or: How I Learned To Love Moldilocks' is the story of one of Our Guys caught up in a screwball romcom, finding l*ve in a world where everyone is, and sometimes painfully (and hilariously) aware that they are, damaged goods. Thank U O7
https://substack.com/@quixoticrambler/p-154590919 <-- Chapter 1
Thank you CC for letting me use this space to promote my friend's pulp.