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The woke culture floods everything, especially series and movies. Netflix or Disney wokeism has practically become a meme, and it’s hard to find a premiere that doesn’t contain each and every one of the clichés favored by the most radical left.
However, 2022 has brought us some exceptions in the form of movies and series with almost no woke content, even some with messages clearly critical of wokeism.
1) Top Gun: Maverick
Top Gun: Maverick is the flagship of unwoke cinema. Not that the film is a frontal opposition to this ideology, but the mere fact that Tom Cruise decided to explicitly dispense with all the politically correct paraphernalia, makes it a reference against wokeism.
Moreover, its colossal box office success is a real slap in the face to woke aspirations, as Top Gun: Maverick is the perfect counterexample to the “Go Woke, Go Broke” motto.
Add to its patriotism and having a strong, non-deconstructed male protagonist the fact that the producers did not bow to the Chinese Communist Party’s demands to remove the Taiwanese flag from Maverick’s jacket, and you have arguably one of the most based films of the year.
2) The Northman
In the midst of Hollywood’s crusade against masculinity, The Northman stands out for its excess of testosterone and virility.
Despite his short filmography –The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman-, Robert Eggers is one of today’s most interesting directors, standing out for his risky but excellent mise-en-scènes, as well as for not holding back when it comes to dealing with subjects that today’s offended professionals consider problematic.
In The Northman, issues such as slavery, rape and mass murder are shown in an unabashed way, and for that reason alone it is one of the unwoke films of the year. But undoubtedly, what must have shocked the woke people the most is that a female protagonist is evil.
Aside from all that will anger the woke, The Northman also features a Conan homage scene, directed by John Milius, one of the least woke, and indeed most based and right-wing, directors in the history of cinema.
3) The Terminal List
Chris Pratt has been in the crosshairs of the left in Hollywood for quite some time, in large part due to openly declaring himself to be a Christian. When he decided to produce and star in The Terminal List, he probably knew what he was getting into, but he showed great courage in not giving a damn.
A series starring a white, heterosexual, happily married, happily married, Christian, father and proud gun-carrying male Marine, who is also used to defend – and avenge – his family, could not be to the woke’s liking. Indeed, progressive critics dismissed it as an “ultra-right-wing fantasy,” but the public received it with great enthusiasm and delight.
The writer of the novel on which the fast-paced series is based came out against the criticism, explaining, aptly, that progressive critics “they see an American flag and they get upset. Or they see someone who is competent with weapons and has a certain mindset and holds those in power accountable for their actions and they just kind of lose it a little bit.”
The Terminal List is, without a doubt, the most unwoke series of the year and, if you haven’t seen it yet, you shouldn’t miss it.
4) My Son Hunter
Breitbart’s first cinematic venture was My Son Hunter, which gives a detailed account of President Joe Biden’s wayward son. Anyone who has not been a victim of the savage censorship by the media and Big Tech about Hunter Biden’s computer can imagine why this film makes it to this list of the least woke.
Those who, on the other hand, have been left in the dark about what happened with the so-called Laptop From Hell, if they see this film, they will think that it is a delirious fiction, when in fact it is practically a documentary.
For the unwoke, it also has the added bonus of having among its cast Gina Carano, who since her dismissal for ideological reasons from The Mandalorian, has become the muse of conservatives and the scourge of progressives.
5) Tár
Tár is the new creation of Todd Field, a director who takes a lot of time between his films, who leaves no one indifferent by addressing controversial and uncomfortable topics. In In the Bedroom he told us about parents trying to avenge the murder of their son and in Little Children he dared to deal with a subject such as pedophilia.
In Tár, with a fantastic Cate Blanchett in the lead, he has the courage to confront issues such as the abuse of power, cancel culture and identity politics. The simple thing to do when it comes to tackling these issues would have been to make a film for the greater glory of the #MeToo movement and apply point by point the woke recipe.
However, Todd Field takes a unwoke approach and pulls a complex story out of his sleeve with a totally different look, framing these issues in a story where the one who abuses her power is a famed composer and director who happens to be a lesbian.
The woke critics have not taken too kindly to this subversion of expectations, which has been a real slap in the face to progressive clichés. As an example, The New Yorker said of Tár that it was a “regressive” film and that it “takes bitter aim at so-called cancel culture and lampoons so-called identity politics”. It also accused it of “conservative button-pushing.”
With these references, it just makes you want to see it.
Ignacio Manuel García Medina, Business Management teacher. Artist and lecturer specialized in Popular Culture for various platforms. Presenter of the program "Pop Libertario" for the Juan de Mariana Institute. Lives in the Canary Islands, Spain // Ignacio M. García Medina es profesor de Gestión de Empresas. Es miembro del Instituto Juan de Mariana y conferenciante especializado en Cultura Popular e ideas de la Libertad.
Social Networks: @ignaciomgm