[lbo-talk] Great Conservative Films

[Miles Jackson]

Joanna wrote:
> I don't know that I'd call "Third Man" conservative.
> 
> Cynical, even maybe misanthropic, and definitely very critical of post 
> war American notions of right and wrong and history.
> 
> Graham Greene was always skeptical about the Americans, and always felt 
> that they were more dangerous than the Europeans. Third Man is yet one 
> version of this; Quiet American, another.
> But conservative?
> 
> I don't think Harry Lime's speech at the end is meant to be anything 
> more than the self-serving drivel it is. But the beautiful woman walks 
> right by Joseph Cotton because he's a fool and has the virtuous 
> convictions of a man who has been tested by nothing.
> 
> Joanna

You're giving conservatives too much credit for a careful reading of the 
context of the Welles' line.  It's simple: brotherly love is namby-pamby 
bleeding heart liberal ideal that doesn't produce anything of value. 
They don't care what the Greene or Welles "intended" to say, they just 
take the line literally.

Miles