Wrangler Dani

I loved Up. It was funny, touching, and truthful in ways you don’t expect from a cartoon.  I only cried about twice eight times, but I laughed considerably more.

So go see it. That’s my first point.

My second point is this. We’ve gotten to a place in the good ol’ USA when we can’t even discuss a cartoon without getting ugly politically.  I’m tired of the assumption that all conservatives are brainless shoot-from-the-hip types who needlessly melt polar ice caps and hate homosexuals, and I’m tired of taking this kind of abuse quietly.  This Q&A is only a tiny sliver of the kind of thinking that’s in vogue these days, and I just had to say something.

Stop Smiling is a trendy, fast-and-loose entertainment publication, and this interview is with Pete Docter, Director of Up.  While Docter seems balanced, the SS interviewer seems determined to make a kids’ film into a volatile political commentary.  Feel free to click over and read the whole interview, it’s actually very interesting, but here’s the part that gets me:

SS: You share a co-story credit on WALL-E. I’m wondering, given the right-wing reaction to WALL-E and the conservation message that’s embedded in the Boy Scout ethos in Up, if you’re prepared to be on Bill O’Reilly’s rant list?

PD: No. It’s funny, I’ve never thought of that until you brought it up. It’s not as though I have some message. It’s just that I’m trying to make the Indian Scouts and the Boy Scouts and all those things that the real organizations were doing their own version of that.

SS: You have to be aware that there’s a certain segment of society that’s going to label the film “anti-hunting,” “tree-hugging,” “bird-loving.”

PD: We’ve thought about the hunting part. But you have to play both sides of that because there were a lot of people who were just adamant about not having a gun in the movie. So we thought, “What if he just had a crossbow or something?” And it’s just kind of ineffectual. You want to have real danger that these guys are going to be in, like they’re going to die if they don’t succeed. So you kind of need it, even though I’m no personal fan of guns.

The SS questions are so loaded that journalism is not even involved anymore.  They are aching for PD to admit that right-wingers are crazy, that hate-mail and decapitated birds have been overflowing the Pixar mailboxes.  What makes me angry is how this is accepted as an entertainment industry interview.  Suddenly it’s valid to assume that anyone who’s maybe not sure that Hybrids are the answer is clearly a gun-toting nut who hates sunshine and trees.  It’s the equivelant of asking PD, “So, are you hearing from Gay-rights groups because Carl and Ellie are heterosexual and so much emphasis was put on their relationship? You have to know that there is a certain segment of society who will see this as ‘anti-gay’ and ‘intolerant’.”

But of course, SS can’t and won’t say that. It’s a ridiculous and laughable question, and it appears even more so when its asked about a Liberal value.  Why is that? Why is it unacceptable to attack a Liberal philosphy but fair game to rag on Conservatism?

It’s also mind-boggling to me that we are so blinded to the real issues that it’s deemed acceptable to call Bill O’Rielly (and hence, Conservatives) “anti-Conservation”.  Conservation, in my view, is being a good steward of the land we’ve been given. It includes wise use of farming, ranching, logging and industry, as well as protecting the wild creatures we share this world with.  It doesn’t mean vast government controls over what can happen where, acres of forest burning because we have not thinned it properly, and human lives put second to the needs of fish and birds.  What if, instead of Russel and Carl returning Kevin to his home and then returning to their own, they had stayed at Paradise Falls, fenced it all off and forced hundreds of local villagers to leave their homes and livelihoods to ensure the survival of one bird family?  What if latex balloons were deemed an environmental hazard, and Carl was fined thousands of dollars when he came home, so instead of buying Russell ice cream, he spent his days in court?

The trouble is, Conservatives nowadays aren’t allowed to argue our cause. The real truths we stand for are obscured behind little hints of bias and conventional wisdom that makes any other viewpoint seem foolish, and certainly not sophisticated.

I loved Up. I would see it again, and I would tell my friends to see it. And I’m a gun-owning, wildlife-loving, balanced Conservative. Not a crazy, wild-eyed, anti-tree-hugger and vegan-hater, but a real, emotional human being with intelligence and reasons for my beliefs. Please start treating us like people and not an insane set of ideals – maybe then we can start a discussion and actually get somewhere.