(Social) Satire as Hollywood Moneymaker.
36 Comments | Posted: February 20th, 2009 | Filed under: Reader Participation, Thinking About MoviesI was talking to sometimes-writing-partner Josh the other day about satirical films and how so few of them have seen any massive box office success. Off the top of our heads, we listed Robocop, Dr. Strangelove, and Starship Troopers*. Thank You For Smoking made a nice profit for itself ($24m on a $6.5m budget,) but that’s where my list ended. Discounting our love of movies like Idiocracy, what social** satires can you name that have made significant money for “the suits”? I feel like I have to be missing something here.
(Or am I overestimating people again? I am, aren’t I?)
*(The two Verhoeven-directed films from that trio feature sequels and ancillary material that replaced humor with po-faced, science-fiction cliché, reminding us that nerds ruin everything. I came close to including Total Recall as well, but it seems to be more in the Commando end of big stupid action movies that occasionally wink at the audience.)
**Thanks to MW from The ISS for pointing out that I was discussing social satire more than narrower, more genre-intensive versions.
would Spinal Tap be considered a “significant money maker” by now? it’s been decades, so adding in re-releases, DVD sales…i dunno.
I can’t think of a true satire that’s been boffo box office right out of the starting gate. The only thing that comes close in my mind would be The Truman Show, and that’s satire wrapped up in a Jim Carrey dramedy.
I don’t consider Spinal Tap satire, but that may be because I find so much of heavy metal’s tropes to be hi-larious in the first place.
Boogie Nights, Hot Fuzz, The Big Lebowski, Three Kings.
Boogie Nights has satirical elements, but it strikes me as a slightly-camp drama more than anything else. I’ve not seen the movie in a decade, though, so I could be conflating it with other PTA movies.Hot Fuzz, I’ve not seen, but I’ve been lead to believe it’s more of a “knowing comedy with lots of action.” Sort of a fine line there, that. Yes, I should see it one day. The Big Lebowski., that’s a good call. It’s very straight-faced in its presentation, even if it’s more genre satire than anything else. Three Kings? Nah. I love it to pieces, but a few scenes of things going wrong doesn’t quite push it over.
Sometimes I’m torn by the conundrum of whether the world would be better? or GREATER? had only ‘Putney Swope’ gained mainstream acceptance / release.
I think there’s a good reason why social satire (and by your examples I think that’s the specific genre you’re talking about) just isn’t a big draw — it’s critical of things people like, or at least what they’re used to. And by and large, popular entertainments reinforce norms, they don’t upend them. (Not that that’s a good thing.)
That said, every Marx Brothers movie, especially Duck Soup, at least has some element of social satire, and was wildly popular in its day. MASH was also a big hit.
I don’t know about box office returns, but some significant satires off the top of my head are M*A*S*H, This Is Spinal Tap (I saw your comment, but I kind of agree with Matt that it fits in the category), and The Player. There’s another one at the tip of my brain but I can’t seem to dislodge it.
I have a copy of M*A*S*H* sitting not two feet from where I am typing. Wow, that was stupid of me to forget.
And I think MW is right – I am pointing more towards social satire than anything else. I should modify my post to reflect that.
“The two Verhoeven-directed films from that trio feature sequels and ancillary material that replaced humor with po-faced, science-fiction cliché, reminding us that nerds ruin everything.”
Let’s be totally clear, when we’re talking about RoboCop, FRANK MILLER RUINS EVERYTHING.
And people thought The Spirit was going to be good.
I recently read the Avatar comic based on the screenplay he submitted and it’s much closer to the original film in tone and execution than what ended up on screen. It’s a very interesting look at how the producers misread the original film and its success entirely.
i mean, Spinal Tap is clearly satirizing the tropes of heavy metal, regardless of how funny they are in the first place. but anyway.
would The Office count? A TV show, true, but it’s more popular maybe than any of the film examples so far.
You probably have to distinguish too between comedies with satirical elements and social satires. Robocop to me is an action film, first and foremost, with satirical elements. Strangelove to me is more pure satire. Spinal Tap to me is about as pure as it gets since it’s absolutely straight and in fact completely real about the “band” it “chronicles.”
Yeah, most Altman is satire. A lot of the Coen’s work too.
How about Wag The Dog? I couldn’t find the production budget, but it made $42 million domestic; seems like that would be enough for a profit for that type of movie.
Network, Sunset Blvd (most Wilder movies have satirical elements, actually), American Beauty, Being There, the Romero “Dead” series, Office Space (broke even theatrically and has undoubtedly been more successful on video), MASH (again, lots of satire in Altman generally), Borat. Also worth mentioning: Fight Club, Brazil, and The Manchurian Candidate, which weren’t huge successes initially, but may have turned a profit after their theatrical runs.
And to me it’s a film that wouldn’t exist without the world it’s set in: one where privatized police forces for entire cities are the norm thanks to consumerism and (I’ll say it) Republican values running rampant. Robocop can’t exist without the world the movie’s set in. If that makes sense.
Also – I had no idea Robocop was a satire; but I probably haven’t seen it since I was 12 and the satire was over my head.
Oh my god Phil go see it now it gets better with age right now go leave work go buy it it’s like $10 oh my god.
Getting added to the queue right now…
no, I get what you’re saying, Kevin. from that view it probably is way more of a satire than I give it credit for.
like Phil, it’s been years since I’ve seen it, and my most vivid memory is still of Kurtwood Smith getting splattered on the windshield of a car. I need to buy that motherfucker.
Did somebody say THE PLAYER? It made $21MM off an $8MM budget and it was a critic’s darling. Just worth it for Buck Henry’s THE GRADUATE 2 pitch.
Darn, just noticed Rob mentioned THE PLAYER above. Also, there’s the original DAWN OF THE DEAD, which is a pretty bald-faced satire of American consumerism on top of a great horror movie.
I’m not certain whether you would or could include the following: Wall Street, Monty Python’s The Life of Brian, Barton Fink, Modern Times, War of the Roses, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, or even The Simpsons Movie, but there ya go.
Me, I’m just fascinated that they move.
You know, I should watch Wall Street again sometime soon. I seem to remember picking up on its lefty message buried inside the rah-rah capitalism stuff years ago, but then started to really, really hate Oliver Stone’s movies.
Election.
It was a terrible movie, but American Dreamz was suppose to be a satire.
I’d count The Princess Bride as a satire.
Nah. It’s a comedic fairy tale. Just because it acknowledges genre clichés doesn’t mean it subverts them or plays with the audience’s expectations.
Mm. Good points.
MW- Good call on the Marx Brothers, but Duck Soup was actually one of their least successful films, leading to them switching studios and Irving Thalberg toning down the bite of the satire a lot (by comparison) at MGM.
Bully- Eternal Sunshine is a great movie, but social satire? Of what, exactly? It’s a sci-fi rom-com but I’m hard pressed to see anything like, say Robocop or Starship Troopers in there. On the other hand, Kaufman’s Adaptation is a brilliant social satire, and a successful one. His Human Nature and Synechdoche, NY are also social satires, but not successful.
I’d say Network was a successful satire, and a pretty damn prescient one at that.
No one is talking about Fight Club. I assume you’re all simply following the rules.
The Simpsons in general; it’s made more money than most small countries in the past 20 years.
Natural Born Killers, although I think the satire got overwhelmed by the envelope-pushing.
Tom Jones is probably the most successful Hollywood social satire; it made something like 50X or 60X its budget, and won the best picture Oscar.
Network is indeed a satire and was also successful; I bet it made about 4X or 5X its budget. It might not be a social satire but we’re so media conscious it sort of has to be seen that way now. Less successful was Chayefsky’s other satire, the health-care rip The Hospital, but that’s a fine rental. George C. Scott, baby!
Actually, Tom Jones was probably not made in Hollywood; I mean motion picture industry generally.
Great calls on Network and The Hospital. While not a big money maker I’d place Bob Roberts up there.