Patriotism Is Clowning Nihilism

redstate.com

Nihilism is, after all, a rejection of absolutes, whether that be truth, morality, or even life. You see it a lot in today's pop culture, such as movies and television shows, where the hero is morally gray, often uncaring, and forced into doing something good. Sometimes, the good even comes through doing something evil. It's the message that no matter what you do, you're doing the right thing. 

Patriotism, on the other hand, is a different beast. 

Patriotism requires absolutes. You have to be loyal to the country and consider it better than all the others, worthy of defending it with words and with blood. It requires an acceptance of moral positions that the country represents. Most importantly of all, it requires you to care. 

Nihilism can look cool. It seems rebellious, and in certain scenarios, it can make you look like you see through the window dressing that a lot of people care about blindly. The issue is that it has a shelf life that only lasts so long before basic human preference takes over. Suddenly, the uncaring attitude takes a back seat because you found the thing important enough to fight for. 

And if you want to see how tired the people are of the nihilism constantly being served up by pop culture, check this out. 

According to the box office numbers from the 4th of July weekend, Angel Studios' "Young Washington," the story of how George Washington rose from a zero to a hero, made $21 million domestically. As you know, Angel Studios doesn't have the marketing and distribution power of major studios such as Disney or Warner Bros. 

Still, it managed to outperform Warner Bros latest DCU entry, "Supergirl," by over $10 million. The doomed James Gunn film only brought in a measly $10 million that weekend. To be clear, this is the film's second week in theaters, but its initial release only garnered $38 million, so the additional $10 million is a massive drop-off, meaning the film is dead in the water from here. 

Read: Yes, the 'Chuds' Were Right Again, and Will Keep Being Right

"Young Washington," however, may still have some good life left in it, as Angel Studios movies tend to have something more powerful than corporate marketing, and that's word of mouth from trusted friends and family. This one, in particular, got an endorsement from beloved actor Chris Pratt. 

Celebrate America’s 250th birthday at the box office!!! There’s a lot of great choices this weekend. But considering it’s July 4 weekend I humbly suggest “Young, Washington.” I was actually blown away. The movie is incredible. Like Braveheart for Americans. Jon Erwin crushed it. William Franklin Miller did a great job as young Washington. Remember the name! A star is born! The movie is awesome! Way to go!!

What makes this sting even more is the fact that "Supergirl" cost Warner Bros. around $300 million when you factor in marketing costs. "Young Washington," however, cost $30 million, and will likely regain its money by next weekend. 

What a message to send. "Supergirl" is a modern take on the heroine, a woman whose sense of goodness and responsibility is cast aside. She goes to planets with red suns so she can spend her days drunk. She disrespects the most important character in the DC universe outside of Batman, and claims that while Supes sees the good in people, she sees the "truth." 

It's that tiresome attitude that the good guy in the room is really just the most naive and foolish, and if you want to truly be wise and intelligent, you have to look at everything through the lens of disconnection. Even when goodness is staring you in the face, the only thing you should do is deconstruct this "goodness" to find its flaws. This often requires seeing goodness from the perspective of evil, which isn't often talked about, but once you see it, you can't unsee it. 

And perhaps many people are finally seeing it. They're unplugging from modernity's chief tool of conversion and embracing something far more substantial and morally focused. People don't want to not care. They want to care, and they want to care about goodness and righteousness. They want the good guys to be the good guys and the bad guys to be the bad guys, and they want the good guys to win. 

Will Hollywood listen to the audience and start producing films with that message? 

Probably not. As I covered not long ago, the point of major studios nowadays isn't to create entertainment; it's to redefine Western stories to fit more "modern" sensibilities so that your children won't understand what you do about truth, justice, and the American way. They don't want your children to see the deeper meaning of anything. They especially don't want them to understand how it relates to Christ. 

Movie-making from legacy studios is a form of activism now, but thankfully, not everyone subscribes to that nonsense.