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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 31, 2023

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but Nolan (or James Cameron, Wes Anderson, etc.) do not.

I beg to differ. I'm baffled as to how anyone can interpret The Dark Knight as anything other than an unapologetic defense of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Well, the most sympathetic/moral character in the movie (Lucius Fox) demands that the surveillance apparatus be dismantled. So my interpretation of this was literally the opposite of yours.

Given that The Dark Knight was released at the peak of Democrats pretending to be anti-war classical liberals and definitely not just opposed to whatever Bush wanted, I think my read more likely to be true.

But I do think that the fact this thread has multiple opinions about this movie and the director's intentions for multiple films is precisely why Nolan is great and why I'll watch everything he puts out, even if it all ranges from a bit of a mess (Tenet) to an absolute masterpiece (Inception)

Well, the most sympathetic/moral character in the movie (Lucius Fox) demands that the surveillance apparatus be dismantled.

He demands that it be dismantled - after successfully using it for its intended purpose. In other words, "desperate times call for desperate measures", which is exactly how the USA PATRIOT Act was justified at the time of its implementation.

I don't believe Nolan is great, and Inception sucks.

Inception sucks

Puts up fists

Fight me, idgaf

Granted that I haven't seen it since it came out, but I remember it being better than Oppenheimer. Still not a movie I'd call "good" without reservation though.