In the year 1932, Robert Howard, a pulp fiction writer, started to create Conan, a barbarian character set in an ancient era filled with magic. He was able to write and publish 21 stories focused on his brave character until he died at the age of 30 by committing suicide. Following his demise, the trademark for the character moved around among a few different people for various decades, and the original stories were reprinted with new authors expanding the universe. The brand was acquired by Marvel Comics in the late 70s, making Conan reach his most potential worldwide. John Milius, during much of that period, was a big fan of the books, but without a doubt, would lead to Conan being a movie that was produced by people who appreciated the novels in the first place.
Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger) bears the memory of incessantly listening to his father’s words about the Riddle of Steel, which made sense to him when he learned that blades were of utmost importance for their people. But this peaceful time never lasted long as the raiders, spearheaded by Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), slaughtered the village. Children are taken by slavers, and Conan is able to endure until he grows up. Thanks to his massive frame, he is able to pass for a gladiatorial athlete, and so Conan gets plenty of exercise in becoming the most fearsome. As a gladiator Conan fought and killed his conquerors, winning his freedom, and began to wander the land. This resulted in encountering great obstacles and gaining many true friends among his allies. His quest can only end in one location, the temple of Thulsa Doom where Conan seeks for vengeance or dies in trying to.
Conan was poorly received in the 80s alongside the other sword & sorcery movies. Or, at the very least, it was not cringing enough for critics and audiences since it appeared to be quite appealing to them both. It was only John Milius who was fond of Conan and defended its source. The laugh Milius infused into it solely served to deepen the stakes for Milius. He also allegedly believes that feudalism, the Ishida school of Japanese philosophy, Melville, and Kerouac all make fascinating topics.
I have to wonder what other extreme right-wing movements Milius so gleefully downplays; “Christian” identity, in his opinion, is afar federative point of his movement he remembers, “I am anarchist and Maoist, so much so that no one in the Christian country can imagine I would be,” Considering how deeply concerned arthouse cinema is with ultra-national politics I have doubts about Milius’s extremism at its most pessimistic end..
In this blog post, we will talk about Milius and his relationship with the Coen Brothers. We will also dive deep into his work and analyze Stalinist perspectives he presented in his movies.
For Shaw, this was the third work Milius was working on after Red Dawn and In the Valley of Elah. This is the reason, a lot of professionals are fascinated by the birth of Western cinema. There seems to be a fatal misconception that simply not liking Uncle Sam translates to being a fascist or even harsh Milius. America is depicted via her various modes of being, and in all of them, they are a global threat. Here is where the long saga of America’s fight won while bringing sanctions on Iraq ends. But That fails to convey the general theme as to why the entire world and the Soviet Union for that matter, still submits to American rule.
Milius, alongside others, played an integral role in the making of the first two Dirty Harry films, which transformed Clint Eastwood into a leading symbol of white male reactionary ideology in the US. Conan is the movie that made Arnold Schwarzenegger, a notorious figure of hard right masculinity in the 80s, known to the wider public. Schwarzenegger was an action star whose movies are enjoyable, but we must be honest and recognize that he became more than these; in reality, he embodied some of the worst aspects of right-leaning men.
I do not think Milius’s career could have developed without a lucky incident of being caught in a downpour and wandering into a movie theater that was screening Kurosawa films, a story he has narrated as his entry into the film business. While I do adore Kurosawa, and I appreciate much of Kurosawa’s work, I would be lying if I did not recognize that there is a strand of fascism throughout much of it.
Liberals often showcase pieces of work produced by the unskilled and incompetent… say God’s Not Dead, The Daily Wire, or even Ben Shapiro. While these pieces of media do exist, the perspective seems to be narrow. Weren’t those Ben Shapiro and co’s grievances? So what if they’re imbeciles, one thing is engrained; conservative media exists across the board. Oh let’s not even begin discussing the Presidents at the Studios, it is acutely apparent that their perspectives are significantly more conservative. They always go to ensure that their reactionary, regressive, anticommunist views remain the “common sense” of the masses.
Let us transition to the Steven Spielberg production acompained with Norman Lears drama, One Day at a Time. The show One Day at A time has one of the most unbearable plot points ever to be even proposed. Picture this, a girl decides to wear a Che Guevara t-shirt at a reunion and gets met with rants from the Cubam American Characters saying Che is the equivalent to Adolf Hitler. Moving along, the 12 year old girls please go and meet Disney’s Girl Meets World. Yes it hosts a continuation of the sitcom Boy Meets World, boy what a capitalistic ideology it displays, its sheer audacity is staggering.
Consider the fair competition by the people from across the ‘political spectrum’ and their defense of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Even what is deemed to be ‘progressive,’ such as The West Wing, is filled with misogyny, homophobia, and racism all thanks to the ‘Liberalism’.
I would not agree with the notion that Conan the Barbarian does not reflect the essence of the original work, it does. This is Conan coming to life on screen. However, it is a political piece that has been written by one of the best conservatives in Hollywood. Not every right-wing artist is a hack like Hitler was. Milius unironically argued for the appropriate historical action that General Douglas MacArthur should have staged a coup and established himself as the first American emperor. That indeed is a reactionary position, a vertical slice of the limitations of a brain that hasn’t advanced further than the age of many adolescents who remain fantasy bound as many fascists always usually are.
But he is a very skilled artist and a political break for the people. In other words, this is a paradox that every person who has grown up, at least, 8th grade should be able to appreciate.
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