Escape to the Movies: Iron Lady

[Bluecho]

Has anyone seen Britain's welfare state these days? This may just be me, but me thinks we could do with another Margarat Thatcher.

How does one go about the task of making a film about a complex historical figure that doesn't neatly fall into the tired Left/Right political division? By sidestepping the controvesies entirely and making the protagonist sympathetic by default.

Good going, film! Way to push the envelope!

 

[imnot]

So I guess You could say the Iron Lady came off a little...
http://i.imgur.com/lM1XU.png
<color= red>Rusty

Well unlike that Electric Alpaca person, I thought it was very funny and made perfect sence!

OT: I had a feeling this film wouldtn be great, Also I ofund it amusing that she refused to go to the premiere despite being invited.

 

[DoctorM]

Thanks. This review made my day.

While I probably will still skip this film, nothing pleases me more than to see Bob pissed off by having his extreme political views stepped on.

Maybe he will get the idea about how some of his readers feel about his political rants.
Bob, you're a movie critic, not a political pundit.

Edit: It should be pointed out that no one wins an Oscar for a film with a conservative slant. So not really Oscar bait. If it was, it would have been a Thatcher bashing (like much of this thread.)
Maybe Meryl just wanted to give someone else a chance at Best Actress this year.

 

[Scrustle]

I don't really know what to make of this movie having not seen it or been alive in Thatcher's time in power (although from what I have gathered it wasn't exactly a time of bliss), but I'm getting pretty sick of all these films based on the lives of aristocracy from history. There's been way way too many of them recently and they're all so dull and pointless. They seem to be nothing more than just selling people their own rose-tinted ideas of what these people were like. They're trying to make money out of the persona of the character, but not really doing anything to push the medium forward. Or even trying to create an enjoyable story. I wish they would just stop making them.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

Not much to say about the video itself. I agree with pretty much every point you brought up.
I was hoping for more than the movie was prepared to deliver.

On the Tim Burton note.

Some of my favorite films are Tim Burton films.
I love Beetlejuice and Nightmare before Christmas, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Corpse bride and Big Fish.

The problem is that when he does adaptations of other works...his contempt for the source material is frequently palpable.

Planet of the Apes, Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are prime examples of this.
(As are his Batman films and Mars Attacks, but to a slightly less maddening extent)

 

[DEAD34345]

I dunno I'm an Australian and was living funnily enough in Australia during the time of Thatcher I was also pretty much at school for the duration. But I dunno I would hardly call her a British George W. She was more a mix of Ragen and Bush senior in terms of policy and despite the unpopularity of her decisions she was hardly unintelligent. The British in those days were alot more ready to go on strike and fight both politically and physically for their rights than most of us are today. Thats what this world needs more of I think more people not just willing to go along with everything and actually stand up and risk a good old fashioned barney with the rozzers. Then again in America there would be a bunch of idiots in the crowd with guns so maybe not good idea.

You see, that's the problem. One of the many things Thatcher did was introduce legislation to halt the trade unions and stop people from being able to go on strike and fight for their rights. Apparently, the BBC once said that Thatcher "managed to destroy the power of the trade unions for almost a generation".

Of course, this coming from a Northerner, so I can hardly be called unbiased. This movie would piss me off if she was depicted in a more positive light than Emperor Palpatine. (I mean seriously, she's "Margeret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher" to me. You can't get more evil than stealing little kid's milk.)

 

[GunboatDiplomat]

The failure of the assassination atempt on her was just bloody bad luck. It was also the only the British people were pissed off with the IRA for failing to blow somebody up.

 

[Airsoftslayer93]

I really looked forward to this review, and it didn't surprised me at all, the film seems to be exactly as predicted, hopefully it won't trick people into having a different memory of thatcher.

 

[DoctorM]

I have to ask, what is the big deal about "the milk"?

Children shouldn't be drinking it anyway unless you want to make them fat. It's a myth that it has any benefits and as a source of calcium it is poorly absorbed by the body.

I guess it's just a piece of emotional rhetoric for the opposition. Think of the children (sniff sniff).

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Wait, Tim Burton is making a Pinocchio prequel? Ok will somebody go shoot him now? Him and whoever green-lit that thing?

 

[Mantonio]

I found it kind of annoying how positively it apparently presents Thatcher, but then I heard that the present day, Alzheimers Thatcher is the one telling the story, so it makes sense, I suppose.

Honestly Bob, I think I'll still go see it. You said The King's Speech was dreadfully average as well, and I personally found it phenomenal.

 

[AxelxGabriel]

What's Bob talking about when he referred to Tim Burton at the end?

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Good review Bob, but I'm pretty sure the Casper the Ghost scenes you were talking about are in fact references to her battle with <a href=http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/femail/article-1048540/Carol-Thatcher-I-thought-Mum-100-cast-iron-damage-proof.html> dementia. It is after all an unusual plot device for a biopic, and that's the most logical reason for it being there.

 

[Stabby Joe]

I think most people who will see this film are actually going to see Meryl Streep do "a bit of acting" rather than any political or social context.

I'll see it, although on one level I'll also have to describe how it was to my dad who one of those people who will only pay for a state funeral if she's buried alive...

...a common joke haha.

 

[orangeban]

so I guess what I have to say is, fuck mining.

Um, what she did to the village had only a little to do with mining. So... um, okay.

But what is sure, there is a real appetite to extend the powers of devolved government. The "Devo Max" option. Scotland in charge of *everything* bar Defence and Foreign Policy. Recent polling suggests that over 70% of voters would like to see that, and the SNP would be mad not to let the public vote for it.

If "Devo Max" passes, Scotland is just in the UK for foreign relations and defence. You can see what happens next.

It will take just one Iraq war type of situation for full independence.
And we all know how much Prime Ministers like to pretend we are still world military power....

Matter of time.

Hm I still think that the fear of becomming like Icland and other small european countrys is to great for the vote to pass and I doubt the gov will let a Devo Max option in the ballot but you have a point... Oh well I'll hope for the best.

They definetly won't have a Devo Max option in the ballot, they literally can't. A referendum can only have "agree" and "disagree" on the ballot. However, they may send a second referendum at the same time, they did that when they set up the Scottish Parliament. One referendum was "Scotland should have a parliament" and the other was "Scotland's parliament should have tax powers".

Anyway, I won't claim to be a fan of Maggie, but I was interested in this movie. However, the only reason I was interested was because I thought they might have some good political commentary on the whole affair, I'm not really interested in a biography of the lady. I'll let it pass.

 

[orangeban]

I have to ask, what is the big deal about "the milk"?

Children shouldn't be drinking it anyway unless you want to make them fat. It's a myth that it has any benefits and as a source of calcium it is poorly absorbed by the body.

I guess it's just a piece of emotional rhetoric for the opposition. Think of the children (sniff sniff).

But it tastes so nice! Anyway, the issue over is that the affair really defined Thatcher. Cold hard economic cuts, she didn't give a shit.

And milk is good for you: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=130
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090722083720.htm

There are a bunch more studies, but to TL;DR them, basically milk has a unique and very good balance of nutrients, and if you drink fat-free or semi-skimmed you don't even get that much fat either. In fact, some studies I've read suggest that kids who drink milk tended to be thinner.

 

[FamoFunk]

I still haven't forgiven her for selling pretty much all of Britian's gold reserves for around 79p.

Also, the milk.

Never mess with a kid's milk.

Not to mention: The de-regulation of the banks, the tender process that public services have to use in order to get the *cheapest* deal (not great when it comes to hospital and school meals).

The broken communties that still effect and probably will continue to effect future generations.

Selling off all the council houses without building any new ones.

Denounced Nelson Mandela as a terrorist, defended the Chilean fascist dictator Augusto Pinochet, ratcheted up the cold war, and unleashed militarised police on trade unionists and black communities.

And the milk... I never got to have milk in school because of her ;_;

EDIT: And Poll Tax. And using Scotland as a Guinea Pig test. And the poor Miners of Britain.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I still haven't forgiven her for selling pretty much all of Britian's gold reserves for around 79p.

Also, the milk.

Never mess with a kid's milk.

Not to mention: The de-regulation of the banks, the tender process that public services have to use in order to get the *cheapest* deal (not great when it comes to hospital and school meals).

The broken communties that still effect and probably will continue to effect future generations.

Selling off all the council houses without building any new ones.

Denounced Nelson Mandela as a terrorist, defended the Chilean fascist dictator Augusto Pinochet, ratcheted up the cold war, and unleashed militarised police on trade unionists and black communities.

And the milk... I never got to have milk in school because of her ;_;

EDIT: And Poll Tax. And using Scotland as a Guinea Pig test. And the poor Miners of Britain.

The other stuff I could deal with.

But the milk...

Damn, that was a low blow.

 

[dalek sec]

The other stuff I could deal with.

But the milk...

Dman, that was a low blow.

I'm sorry but as a Yank what exactly did she do with the milk? I've read the little chant of her snatching milk but what exactly did she do? I'm not judging, just asking cause well... I'm a Yank and when it came to politics I kinda rolled my eye's cause it usally makes me rage. Sorry if I sound so lacking about her time as PM.