Last Friday, Fox Nation gave all True Believers the correct right-wing party line on the weekend's big new movie:
But Elysium didn't sink at the box office -- it's not a massive hit, but it was the top-grossing movie in America over the weekend, and its distributor, Sony, sees signs that it's going to make pretty good money overseas.
So a new message went out to the wingnut comrades: this is conservative Correct Thinking on the subject of Elysium:
Almost the exact opposite of the original message!
The source for this is a piece at the Washington Free Beacon:
... please allow me to explain why Elysium -- which has been criticized by some on the right as a not-so-subtle plea for universal healthcare -- is secretly an anti-Obamacare film.Suppliers of medical care would make their services too expensive for the vast majority of people? Oh yeah, that's such a far-fetched notion. Nothing like that would ever happen in the real world!
Consider, for instance, that residents of Earth appear to have made absolutely no progress when it comes to healthcare in almost a century and a half. Broken bones are set with casts and childhood diseases like Leukemia are still deadly. Is this not a tacit admission that government interference in health care stifles innovation, just as libertarians and conservatives warned it would?
Meanwhile, as the quality of care has stagnated so has the quantity of care. Hospitals are overcrowded, wait times are long, and care is now rationed.... Every doctor is a death panel in this dystopian future.
... The Magical Medpods are stand-ins for a fleet of pricey, private doctors who make house calls for the rich and famous -- a situation that already exists, it should be noted, and will only grow more common as Obamacare is implemented and those who can afford it opt to pay for care with cash.
Speaking of the Magical Medpods, it’s worth pointing out that their economics make no sense whatsoever. The wealthy seem to withhold the advances from the poor for no reason other than spite -- a remarkably odd idea, given the fact that the space station is replete with rapacious Randians.... You’re telling me these disciples of the almighty dollar wouldn't be willing to make a buck or a billion selling these Magical Medpods to the desperate plebes below? ...
In any case, the movie's sort of a hit now. So of course it's right-wing.
I have no idea how they think that this is "a tacit admission that government interference in health care stifles innovation". There's nothing in the film even remotely close to this idea.
ReplyDeleteIt did feel like it was remarkably pointlessly spiteful for the riches in Elysium to have a fucking massive surplus of magical medpods lying around unused, but it's the kind of pointless poor-stomping spite that isn't actually implausible.
"We have always been at war with Eastasia!"
ReplyDeleteIn the future, bones would have been indestructible, but not now, thanks to Obamacare.
ReplyDeleteBWAHAHAHAHAHahahahahaha... good one flip!
DeleteHeeheehee hoohoohoo hawhawhaw.
As the R & D stands many of us may very well be the first generation to grow a third set of teeth. It's happening now, under the Afforable Care Act. Good crack none-the-less (don't quit your job down at the tire plant, though).
No fear.
Pov.er.ty. How do these guys not have the slightest idea how capitalism really works? For decades (and for all I know even now) Pharma was not interested in a cure for malaria because it makes poor people sick and they couldn't figure out what the market would be. My father was involved in some of these early discussions qua venture capitalist and he couldn't get anyone to grasp
ReplyDeletea) Its the right thing to do and
b) governments and WHO will pay for it
Why couldn't that grasp that and why wouldn't they invest in R and D to produce a malaria vaccine (with no side effects etc..)
Because capitalists are short term thinkers, they prefer not to risk any investment money without huge profits being secured in advance.
When most of your audience suffers from senior dementia and/or Alzheimers, you can change the narrative every hour, and they'd never notice.
ReplyDeleteThey need this kind of self-affirmation, or they can't survive. How truly petty and needy these rightwingers are.
ReplyDeleteThe wealthy seem to withhold the advances from the poor for no reason other than spite -- a remarkably odd idea...
ReplyDeleteNot so odd to those of us who don't have our head up the Gingrinchian anus. I've long said that for neo-cons and their political offspring it's no longer about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but seeking pleasure in denying those things to others. They're like playground bullies: they have no interest in the slide or the swings, but they'll be damned if they'll let you enjoy them.
So the writer in Variety is too young even to have heard of Reds?
ReplyDelete" The wealthy seem to withhold the advances from the poor for no reason other than spite -- a remarkably commonplace realworld idea,"
ReplyDeleteFixed to better reflect reality.
I remember when the Righties tried to take credit for The Hunger Games.
ReplyDeleteI mean, really?