The art of subverting expectations, in 2021, is nearly non-existent, so consider it a shock that something politically different came out of a major movie studio last year.
The Hunt was released on March 13, 2020, and if you can remember what was going on at that time, there were some other things people were worried about. Movie theaters weren't exactly crowded that weekend. Although they were packed compared to the tumbleweed days that followed.
As such, the Hunt saw exactly one weekend at the box office, then disappeared. Leading up to its release, it got a bit of fanfare because Trump tweeted about it indirectly: "The movie coming out is made in order...to inflame and cause chaos. They create their own violence, and then try to blame others." All well and good, but it's apparent that Trump hadn't seen the movie. If he had, he would have endorsed it.
It's about a bunch of leftist elitists who are both obnoxiously snobby and ruthlessly violent, all while pouring out platitudes about saving the planet and white privilege. They are the bad guys in the film, while the "deplorables" they're hunting for sport are the ones you root for. The whole thing is a mirror on people in power saying one thing and doing the exact opposite, and this was before COVID.
The "redneck righties" in the movie are their own kind of obnoxious, grunting about guns and conspiracy theories, but they are the protagonists and ultimately they end up being right, pretty much 100% of the time.
The movie is on HBO Max and is noteworthy because it does not follow any of the typical Hollywood standards, which you already know:
1. You can't let a Trump supporter be a protagonist.
2. Christians are always greasy backwater hypocrites.
3. Progressive ideology is always morally superior.
The Hunt purposefully flaunts those, and it's not some low-budget indie flick. It's made by Damon Lindelof, among others, who also made LOST, The Leftovers, World War Z, and some of the new Star Trek movies.
If you decide to watch it, be prepared that it's rather gruesome at times. But you won't end up caring too much, because as soon as you think you know who the main character is going to be- splat. You're almost into the second act before you can latch on to a consistent protagonist.
And all of this- ALL of this- is great. If Hollywood wants to get people interested in their languishing products again, they need to become rebels at all levels. Subverting politics, typical monomyth arcs, and stereotypes. Modern American audiences are 50% conservative whether they like it or not, so it's time to stop pretending "those people" out in the rest of the country are some mystical unicorn that can't be understood or tamed. We'll settle for "not pushing progressive ideology," like Cry Macho (which is boring), but we'll really become fans if you keep putting out content with backbone, like this.
The amazing thing is, for something to be conservative, it doesn't even have to mention politics, just have a semblance of traditional core principles. But that's a conversation for another article.
Ryan Wiggins is the author of the extremely serious and not funny robot novel, The Life of Human, and is a writer and producer of television shows. He is the host of Wiggins America on 97.1 FM Talk in St. Louis.
