“Let’s do this once:
I don’t know what S. Craig Zahler’s politics are, but I honestly don’t care a lick.
This is basically all I could find about him, politically, outside of the movies themselves:
Of the people who want to see a movie called Bone Tomahawk, 60% will like it, 20% will think it’s disgusting and offensive, and 20% will think it’s boring, and those stats hold with all of my movies. I take my time, there’s stuff that will trigger certain people and that’s fine, these are the pieces I want to make.
I think there’s a difference between making art that’s meant to be politically upsetting and making art where offense isn’t the goal, but being gentle with anyone’s feelings is not the goal, either.
Zahler seems aware of where his movies fall, aware of the way people will see them, and his quote seems about accurate.
What he didn’t account for is the number of people who LOVE his movies but when reviewing them, always have to trip over themselves to say that they don’t agree with Zahler’s politics.
I have a dislike of applying a political lens, as a viewer, and using that to assume Zahler’s intent with his movies. For example, his movies make it tough to see the main character as “hero” all the time, and I’m not sure we’re meant to see his characters as people to emulate.
Which is fine. These are movies for adults, and adults don’t need to be limited to being entertained by fictional characters that are aspirational. I think we all have a growing understanding of this thanks to prestige TV, shows like The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, etc., where the main characters we follow are sometimes sympathetic, but they also are responsible for bad things, and they usually get some form of comeuppance as a result of the world they’ve built for themselves.
Which is interesting because, if you see these stories through, they tend to reinforce more traditional values by showing that being a “bad” person has messy results.
Cell Block 99 is probably the best example. Some people will watch Bradley as a hero, but I don’t necessarily think that’s the “right” way to watch the movie. At the same time, having no real “right” way to watch the movie, no singular message to walk away with, is part of what makes these movies good. And, if you did want to explore Bradley as hero, that movie will show you there are consequences for taking that road.
Zahler might not be a goodhearted person, but if the primary, really only, expression of his “bad” politics is through filmmaking, I think that’s fine. I think that can be encouraged. Art is the appropriate way to express bad ideas, bad politics, and silly shit. Making a movie with a problematic colonization aspect is just not the same as participating in that colonization.
Put down the gun, pick up a pen, write a novel with your terrible thoughts and ideas. If everyone went down that road, we’d all be better off.”