Navigating the Intersection of Conservative Perspectives and Pop Culture

Pop culture is here to stay.

I have written about this before, but there has been a little bit of a shift concerning the Right and Pop Culture. It is a very interesting one. Conservative commentators have finally realized that pop culture is liked by everyone, except them.

The Left has always known this, which is why they took great strides to infiltrate Star Wars, Star Trek, The Lord Of The Rings, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and even Transformers. Fortunately, they have overplayed their hand, and there has been a backlash. The Right thought leaders and podcast hosts could be using this opportunity to strike, but no, they are either claiming they were always there or are surrendering.

Certainly, not all of the Conservative intelligentsia have taken this stance. Many have a healthy respect for pop culture, even if they do not indulge in certain franchises. Eric July, Amanda Head, Matthew Marsden, and others have been involved.

However, you would have to be blind, deaf, and ignorant not to see the vitriolic way many on the Right deliver commentary on pop culture. I have heard it all. Anime creates transgenders. Video games cause violence. Movies create strife. TV brainwashes you. Rock music gets you demon-possessed. I wish I could say these were all jokes, but I have heard ALL of these arguments, not just from gossiping church ladies, but from mainstream Conservative podcast hosts.

While fans on the Right were begging Right-wing influencers for help, calling out these work changes, the fans were called “childish” among other things for caring about these entertainment franchises.

A perfect example is how National Review attacked the viral song “Rich Men North Of Richmond.” Whatever you think of the singer behind the song now, the lyrics speak of the forgotten man in a resonating way. Not according to the writers at National Review, who attacked the songwriter and fans, concluding with, “don’t be poor.” It was out of touch, elitist, and an affront to their founder, William F. Buckley.

Despite their disdain, many who have made those claims above, or made similar ones, continue to get pushback from their audience members. With the woke infiltration, a few have seen an opportunity to bash the Left while looking good to the plebians who listen to them.

Recently, Conservative podcast hosts who had bemoaned Taylor Swift, Comic books, Anime, and Action movies suddenly have an appreciation for these things. This could be thanks to strides Baste Records, Angel Studios, Rippaverse, and others have made in their respective industries, but if I could give an opinion, it is more of a grift than a sincere olive branch.

Myself and others have been sounding the alarm about the woke takeover of pop culture since 2012. On The Jenna Ellis Show, I discussed the social justice reimagining of Middle Earth known as Rings Of Power, and warned that CS Lewis would next. Following the massive success of Barbie, who did Netflix tap to direct their first Narnia adaptation? Greta Gerwig. I know it is vogue for Conservative hosts to praise her, and I will concede she is a talented director, but a culture warrior she is not. She is a far-left activist like most of Hollywood.

Yet, despite these warnings from myself and people like Eric July, Melonie Mac, Geeks And Gamers, and others, rarely would you see any of us appearing on some mainstream Conservative outlet. Granted, they have all appeared within their own networks, but when have you seen any of us being quoted, much less interviewed, on these topics? It is few and far between. I will not say it never happened, but let’s be real, the Critical Drinkers’ appearances in mainstream news are rare.

To be frank, the gaslighting is the most obnoxious. Now, many Conservative hosts are trying to say they have always been in the fight to combat the woke takeover of pop culture. HA! Where were they when comic book heroes, Star Wars, Star Trek, or He-Man started gender and race-swapping the characters? Calling the audience childish. It was not until “high brow” entertainment like The Lord Of The Rings, Robin Hood, or Sherlock Holmes started being targeted that they started to notice.

Now they are scratching their heads, wondering why we nerd outlets do not want to play nice when they release some lame anti-woke cartoon.

Maybe if you had not been calling fans or fandoms names and acted while the iron was hot, their own favorite forms of entertainment would not have been taken over. Now they want to take credit for a fight they ignored for over a decade? Thanks, but no thanks. Those of us in the video-sharing space or indie commentary websites have been fighting this fight for years and warning the Conservative establishment, but we were ignored, and now we are getting gaslit.

Now, there is room to build bridges, but it should come from the “mainstream” Conservative movement. If they humble themselves, extend a sincere olive branch, and admit they were behind the times, we on the Right who love these fandoms could see them as allies. This is a winning strategy and one that can help save pop culture from the woke SJWs. Pop culture is important to culture and politics at large. We must come together, but this will not happen while the “high-brow” Conservatives continue their ignorance and arrogance.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, movie, anime, or novel you would like me to review.