NYT: March of the Conservatives: Penguin Film as Political Fodder [View All]

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March of the Conservatives: Penguin Film as Political Fodder


Warner Independent Films
A scene from the film "March of the Penguins." It is the second highest grossing documentary ever.


By JONATHAN MILLER
Published: September 13, 2005


On the conservative Web site WorldNetDaily.com, an opponent of abortion wrote that the movie "verified the beauty of life and the rightness of protecting it."

At a conference for young Republicans, the editor of National Review urged participants to see the movie because it promoted monogamy. A widely circulated Christian magazine said it made "a strong case for intelligent design."

The movie is "March of the Penguins," and of all the reactions it has evoked, perhaps the most surprising is its appeal to conservatives. They are hardly its only audience; the film is the second highest grossing documentary of all time, behind "Fahrenheit 9/11."

But conservative groups have turned its stirring depiction of the mating ordeals of emperor penguins into an unexpected battle anthem in the culture wars.

"March of the Penguins," the conservative film critic and radio host Michael Medved said in an interview, is "the motion picture this summer that most passionately affirms traditional norms like monogamy, sacrifice and child rearing."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/13/science/13peng.html?8hpib