Category: US Politics

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Rope are among the films that Turner Classic Movies has deemed “troubling and problematic,” joining the ranks of Gone with the Wind in a new series called “Reframed: Classic Films in the Rearview Mirror,” which seeks to scrutinize old movies through the lens of today’s identity politics.

The new TCM series, which launched on Thursday, also seeks to pick apart such innocuous movies as Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? and My Fair Lady.

“Many of the beloved classics that we enjoy on TCM have stood the test of time in several ways, nevertheless when viewed by contemporary standards, certain aspects of these films can be troubling and problematic,” the cable network said.

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The series will explore how these movies “can be reframed so that future generations will keep their legacy alive.”

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TCM hosts will put Psycho under the microscope for its alleged portrayal of gender identity and the way it supposedly equates transgenderism with mental illness and violence. The Hitchcock classic, which was first released in 1960, stars Anthony Perkins as a motel manager whose split personality involves dressing up as his deceased mother to carry out a murder.

Rope (1948), inspired by the Leopold and Loeb homicides, tells the story of two roommates who dare to hide the body of their victim in their New York apartment just as they are about to host a dinner party. TCM is expected to explore the  movie’s take on the protagonists’ gay relationship.

TCM will dissect Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) for actor Jerry Lewis’ performance as a Japanese man, and will scrutinize the musical My Fair Lady (1964) for any hints of misogyny in Professor Henry Higgins’ (Rex Harrison) tutelage of Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn).

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? (1967) will be examined for the now-problematic Sidney Poitier. The Oscar-winning Poitier was a huge Hollywood star at the time, but today he is no longer so beloved because his fanbase was mostly white audiences, according to TCM.

“That opens up all kinds of complications for black viewers who felt that he wasn’t a representative of the race as a whole,” TCM host Jacqueline Stewart told the Associated Press.

The Stanley Kramer movie was one of the first major Hollywood releases to portray an interracial romance in a positive way and was considered progressive for its time.

John Ford’s The Searchers (1956), starring John Wayne, will also receive a racial analysis. The seminal Western film follows the Wayne character’s attempt to rescue his niece (Natalie Wood), who was kidnapped by Comanches. The movie is considered one of the greatest films of all time and has influenced many other movies, including Taxi Driver and American Sniper.

“The Wayne character is overtly racist, and many argue that the label also applies to the film itself, as the characterization of Indigenous people is both stereotypical and underdeveloped,” said TCM.

Gone with the Wind will also feature in the new series. The 1939 classic was already blacklisted by TCM’s corporate sibling HBO Max, which temporarily pulled the movie following accusations that the story glorifies the antebellum South.

Other movies in the TCM series include The Jazz Singer, Stagecoach, Tarzan, the Ape Man, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Sinbad, the Sailor, and The Children’s Hour.

Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com

An amendment by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to the proposed coronavirus relief package passed out of the House last week would ensure that stimulus checks are not awarded to illegal aliens living in the United States, Breitbart News has exclusively learned.

Senate Democrats opened debate on the $1.9 trillion relief package without any GOP support, and it will need to go back to the House for approval if the Senate passes the legislation.

Included in the package are $1,400 stimulus checks that currently could go to illegal aliens if not explicitly blocked. Cruz, in an amendment announced on Friday, is seeking to prevent illegal aliens from getting stimulus checks, which his office said would save American taxpayers nearly $8 billion.

“Not only does this COVID bill fail to address the real needs of the American people who are suffering, but it hands out billions in taxpayer dollars to illegal immigrants,” Cruz said in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News.

“Congress should come together to pass my amendment to stop this,” Cruz said. “We need to stand for the American people, get our kids back to school, and reopen our small businesses.”

In the package’s current form, illegal aliens could secure subsidies for COBRA healthcare premiums.

Last month, Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Todd Young (R-IN) helped pass a budget amendment — with support from eight swing state Democrats — to make it more difficult for stimulus checks for illegal aliens to be included in the relief package.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here. 

ORLANDO, Florida — Democrats seek to use language to control the narrative and shape perception — something they have done in pushing their radical proposals, from H.R. 1 to the Equality Act — Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) warned during an exclusive interview with Breitbart News on Saturday.

Appearing at CPAC, Boebert spoke about the Democrats’ radical policy proposals — from the Equality Act, which passed in the House last week, to H.R. 1, which passed in the House Wednesday evening. At the root of these proposals is the Democrats’ grander attempt, she said, to use language to control the narrative and shape perception.

“If they control then language, they control the narrative. And if they control the narrative, they control perception, and right now in America, it seems that perception is reality,” she said, stressing that it is up to the Senate to hold the line as the House continues to advance House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) radical proposals, such as the Equality Act, which she forcefully stood against in a fiery floor speech last week.

“Democrats truly have traded the truth for a lie. The truth is, there are two genders. You can’t just make up how many genders we have. … This Equality Act who is it equal for? Who is it providing equality to? Certainly not women. I’m a woman. I have five nieces, and what about my nieces who now have to look behind their backs to make sure that there isn’t some confused man creeping in the bathroom trying to catch a peek at them?” she asked.

“Is it equal for the parents who are at risk of having their child taken from their custody because they refuse to inject their child with hormone blockers?” she asked, explaining that she is “tired” of Republicans remaining on defense on the issue.

“Is that really what they [Democrats] want? They want our children to mutilate their bodies before they’re even adults and make these harsh life-altering decisions? We need to go on offense about this. There Equality Act is not equal for any American in the United States,” she said.

H.R. 1, which she dubbed the “For the Swamp Act,” is another radical proposal that must be stopped, Boebert insisted.

“We have H.R. 1 and the Democrats, they call this the ‘For the People Act.’ No. It’s the ‘For the Swamp Act.’ This is something that will federalize our elections. It’s a D.C. takeover of our elections,” Boebert explained. “This goes right back to them controlling the language. They act like it’s something that’s great for you.  … They act like all of these things are wonderful for the American people, and they’re not.”

“Pretty much, if the title of a bill sounds wonderful, run. Run, it’s terrible,” she explained. “But the ‘For the People Act,’ ‘For the Swamp Act,’ you know, this actually has tax dollars that will pay for politicians’ campaigns. It’s disgusting. No tax dollar should go to a campaign.”

Pelosi and the Democrats, she said, are making “terrible decisions,” and it is “time the American people take a stand and take our country back.”

“We need the Senate to hold the line, and the Senate is America’s hope right now, so we need people all over contacting their senators, calling them. Those phone calls matter. The letters matter. We have logs of who calls in, and it makes a difference when those numbers start to grow on certain topics. So we need people engaged,” she added.

The Colorado congresswoman also criticized the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief proposal overwhelmingly backed by Democrats, noting that, once again, Democrats are using language to “make Republicans just look like mean, bad people.”

“But we know that there’s still $1 trillion that’s already been passed and approved that’s unspent. Let’s spend that $1 trillion before loading up a brand new bill full of pork,” she said, asking why art institutions are getting “millions of dollars when the Americans people are sitting at home waiting on a $1,400 check.”

“Progressives are incentivizing Americans to vote for Democrats because they think they’re someone going to get some sort of bonus from it. Maybe $2,000 checks,” she said. “Well, no. We’re getting a president who’s bringing us back into endless wars, and just making money out of thin air.”