The Netflix movie “Hillbilly Elegy” is a lightning rod for attention as film critics and pundits find a stealth political undertone that irritates them.
The searing family drama starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams is based on a 2016 memoir nonfiction book about growing up poor in economically backward America. The political buzz for the book and now Netflix movie directed by Oscar winner Ron Howard (“Apollo 13” and “A Beautiful Mind”) is that they are too sympathetic to many Trump voters—which get labeled as racist, deplorables and similar negative descriptions.
The Netflix film got a short theatrical release and is R-rated.
“The movie was conceived in a moment when Hollywood was trying to better understand and program for the country that had unexpectedly elected Trump,” says a “Hollywood Reporter” article. “But when ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ finally (arrived) on Netflix on Nov. 24, after a limited theatrical release, the film is dropping into a much less conciliatory political environment, albeit one where 9 million more Americans voted for Trump than did in 2016.”
When personal political views are the yardstick, it’s a no-win situation for the creative product like this drama movie. For example, the “Hollywood Reporter” blasts “Elegy” for “total avoidance of political substance” (again, the political overtones are not projected but interpretation by critics and pundits). But consider that movies tagged as “political” tend to be rejected by audiences, even if good, though most turn out to be inevitably preachy. By the way, the author of the book J. D. Vance says that he didn’t vote for Trump in the 2020 election.
Meanwhile, across the street TheRinger wants more of that cultural (read political) context saying “you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll hurl, etc. But for all that screaming, ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ communicates precious little about the culture it depicts.” That sounds like backhanded praise by acknowledging that the Netflix drama elicits emotions, which is normally a good thing in a review.
Why the outcry? College professor Glenn H. Reynolds writes in an opinion particle published in the New York Post that the “Hillbilly Elegy” story “is devastating for the left’s political narrative” and so his opinion is that the negativity about the movie is designed “to keep people from watching it.”
A little controversy is to be expected, but perhaps the breath of the drumbeat is perhaps a surprise. It’s not all bad for Netflix because the buzz does make “Hillbilly Elegy” must-see-TV. The Netflix mission is simply to satisfy customers and does not require motivating people to spend $10 at a cinema via an out-of-home trip.
Netflix won the right for its movie adaptation by winning a Hollywood bidding war with a $45 million commitment.
- N.Y. Post: ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Critics Show They Still Despise ‘Deplorables’
- Time magazine: What to Know About J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy as the Movie Adaptation Hits Netflix
- The Ringer: Ron Howard’s Oscar-baiting Netflix Adaptation Focuses on the So-called “Forgotten” Citizens of Red State America
- Hollywood Reporter: ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Caught Between Hollywood and a Hard Spot
- MarketingMovies.net: Critic: Political Correctness Topples Movies
Leave a Reply