NYT: March of the Conservatives: Penguin Film as Political Fodder

[DeepModem Mom]

March of the Conservatives: Penguin Film as Political Fodder


Warner Independent Films
A scene from the film "March of the Penguins." It is the second highest grossing documentary ever.


By JONATHAN MILLER
Published: September 13, 2005


On the conservative Web site WorldNetDaily.com, an opponent of abortion wrote that the movie "verified the beauty of life and the rightness of protecting it."

At a conference for young Republicans, the editor of National Review urged participants to see the movie because it promoted monogamy. A widely circulated Christian magazine said it made "a strong case for intelligent design."

The movie is "March of the Penguins," and of all the reactions it has evoked, perhaps the most surprising is its appeal to conservatives. They are hardly its only audience; the film is the second highest grossing documentary of all time, behind "Fahrenheit 9/11."

But conservative groups have turned its stirring depiction of the mating ordeals of emperor penguins into an unexpected battle anthem in the culture wars.

"March of the Penguins," the conservative film critic and radio host Michael Medved said in an interview, is "the motion picture this summer that most passionately affirms traditional norms like monogamy, sacrifice and child rearing."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/13/science/13peng.html?8hpib

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

1. ROFLMAO! Promoting monogamy? This person didn't see the same

film as I did! The penguins are only monogamous until the baby is old enough to take care of itself. When the new mating season begins they get to choose a mate again. :)

[Francine Frensky]

12. Perfect! Republicans love the whole trophy wife thing.

republicans love divorce.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

14. laughing here. :) nt

[redqueen]

13. Those people are just idiots...

that's the only explanation I can think of.

[BloodyWilliam]

19. Gay penguins aren't uncommon, either.

Often (well, rarely compared to the majority, but often enough to be observed consistently) some penguin breeds form same-sex life pairs.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

23. I am trying to remember if that was shown in "March" and I cannot recall.

It was a riveting film as I watched it, but there was so much hardship that they faced that I am quickly forgeting other details about it except for their hardships. I do not want to come back as an Emperor Penguin!

[charlie]

2. Um, penguins also practice homosexuality

These conservo-dunderheads oughta be aware of that if they're going to use penguins (sheeesh) to affirm aspects of human culture they like.

[stanwyck]

4. Did you happen to see

Samantha Bee's (The Daiily Show) interviews with dueling "experts" on the homosexuality of penguins? One of the funniest segments ever.

[charlie]

7. No, I missed that

No doubt some ultra hardcore preacher is going to glom onto the fact and rage against this movie, since the other idiots are embracing it for its "conservative" message. Seems no pop film can escape political scrutiny anymore...

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

11. That was hysterical! I had to run to the bathroom!!!! nt

[Inland]

3. Intelligent design?

These birds walk for days and swim rather than fly.

Yeah, that's a sign of intelligent design. God as joker.

[Inland]

5. Someone suggest neocons go way, way south to raise families. nt

[charlie]

6. South of the Florida Keys, preferably n/t

[zbdent]

8. Someone has to explain to conservatives the meaning of the word

"sacrifice" - at least, in the personal way . . .

[Lorien]

9. Oh geez-someone show these people Attenborough's "the life of birds"

if they're looking to nature to affirm human behavior, then "the life of birds" might make them a bit queasy. The Cuckoo, for instance, lays her egg in another birds nest. When the chicks hatch, the cuckoo chick pushes the others out, killing them to ensure that it's "adoptive" mother can keep up with it's ravenous appetite. The Grebe, on the other hand, murders it's own chicks by shaking them violently if it has more than it feels that it can comfortably raise.If that's "intelligent design", then intelligent design is rather brutal.

[TlalocW]

10. There was a storyline in Bloom County years ago

Where the local Moral Majority chapter head was in a snit about a field guide to penguins because it showed pictures of penguins "co-habitating" with each other out on the ice. It was "Penguin Lust at its vilest." Opus was eventually put on trial.

TlalocW

[pepperbear]

15. I SAW THE FILM

....And it turns out that emperor penguins only join for a mating season, not for life. so much for monogamy.

[pepperbear]

16. and just noticed

that someone else brought up this point. :)

[Javaman]

17. "verified the beauty of life and the rightness of protecting it."

So this confirms it, repukes are indeed hatched from eggs.

[DeepModem Mom]

18. Good one!

[barbaraann]

21. Global warming will destroy the penguins' home.

n/t

[barbaraann]

20. I see a lasting COMMUNITY of penguins, with TEMPORARY matings.

Michael Medved has a marriage but he also has a religious community. It's too bad he doesn't want ordinary Americans to have a civic community.

[BloodyWilliam]

22. WOW. Completely and utterly missing any sort of scientific accuracy

Of course, I'm thrilled to see any documentary become popular. Education and entertainment CAN be merged in carefully monitered settings!

Let's review the truth:

Emperor penguins mate for seasons, not life. (Monogamy?)

Many other breeds of penguins have been observed as forming homosexual life partnerships (Heterosexuality?)

Other breeds of birds (Cuckoos, etc.) outright murder other birds in order to raise their young (sanctity of life?)

Penguins are flightless aquatic birds, not the "birds in the sky" or whatever trite the Bible would say. Are penguins even birds in the eyes of God? (Intelligent design?)

Penguins are good eatin' (Kosher?)

Heh, sorry. That last one was all me.

[Walt Starr]

24. This film is FRENCH!!!!!

Penguins 'top' French films in US

A documentary about penguins has become the most successful French film at the US box office, reports have said.
The March of the Penguins has sold $66.8m (£36.6m) in tickets since its June release overtaking Luc Besson thriller The Fifth Element.

The documentary is favourite to be named as France's entry for the best foreign language film at the Oscars, according to Screen International.

<snip>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4244444.stm

When a Reichwingnut trots out the Penguins as an example of intelligent design, throw that in their face and watch their head explode!