James Cameron caught little heat for a shocking admission. He hearts eco-terrorism.
It’s one thing for the “Avatar” director to be so green he makes his cast and crew eat vegan. That seems quaint compared to a quote that got ignored by most press outlets.
Now, we have an entire film dedicated to eco-activists willing to employ violence to suit their needs. And it’s clear where the story’s empathy lies.
“How to Blow Up a Pipeline” deserves some sort of Truth in Advertising award. The story follows a gang of eco-thugs plotting to deliver on the title’s promise.
HiT guest critic Joshua Sharf called it “really good agitprop” along with this warning.
In other exchanges, we hear the familiar refrain, “you can’t make omelets without breaking a few eggs,” unaware that violent revolution generally produces a lot of broken eggs and few omelets.
The film enjoyed a limited release April 7 but expanded to north of 500 theaters last weekend. The results?
The company behind the project told Variety “Pipeline” had more than just box office appeal. It could lure a coveted demographic back to theaters.
Yohan Comte, co-founder of Charades, said the company wanted to “convey the important ecological message” of the film and also believed it had the potential to “draw back the young audiences into theaters.”
Not so fast.
Glowing reviews didn’t help. The film boasts a 95 percent “fresh” rating at Rotten Tomatoes.com, a site that showcases the critical community’s overwhelmingly liberal tilt.
The Hollywood Reporter noted how easily the film’s message could translate into real-world violence.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline might not offer a blueprint for explosive solutions, but it could spark some ideas.
That didn’t dissuade critics from wrapping their arms around the movie. The far-Left, free-speech wary Rolling Stone called it a “hot date movie.”
The Libertarian Reason argued the film does the opposite of its intentions.
it’s also a subtle—if entirely unintended—indictment of the climate movement’s violent fringe activists.
The film’s festival debut also generated copious press, another boon to an indie film’s possible success.
Ironically, social critics savaged 2019’s “Joker” for supposedly promoting violence via its storytelling. The film’s incel-heavy themes, they cried, could spark real-world destruction. The newly woke U.S. Military echoed those concerns.
NYPD covering 'Joker' screenings over fears of incel violence https://t.co/DTlOXsmhUc pic.twitter.com/miEHozj9MX
— New York Post (@nypost) September 30, 2019
No actual violence occurred, and “Joker” crushed the box office competition and star Joaquin Phoenix won a Best Actor Oscar for his troubles.
Will “Pipeline” push people to violence? It’s a thorny First Amendment issue, but if so few people actually see the film the chances for mayhem diminish greatly.
