(This post may contain disputed claims. We make no assertions as to the validity of the information presented by our Opinion Columnist. We are an opinion blog, not a traditional news outlet, and this post should be treated as such. Enjoy.)Critics and viewers were shocked to learn that a major film depicting Neil Armstrong’s journey to the moon did not feature his iconic planting of the American flag. The studio and filmmakers refused to provide a reasonable answer for this omission. After much debate, the movie debuted this weekend. Here’s how it did.
The story of Neil Armstrong is perhaps one of the greatest events in American history. With his NASA crew, he was the first man to travel and walk on the surface of the moon. No feat has been matched since.
His iconic statement, “That’s one small step for man…” has been quoted and requoted countless times since. Americans were glued to their TV sets when he stepped onto the surface of the moon. Millions more have watched the footage in decades since.
It was a stunning human achievement and a major win for the United States during the Cold War. The film First Man was poised to be a box office and critical hit, depicting the drama and intensity of this historic event.
But potential fans were turned off when they learned the filmmakers omitted one of the most important moments of Armstrong’s journey.
Directed by Oscar-winner Damien Chazelle, First Man roared out of elite film festivals with a ton of buzz and rave reviews. The movie took a big tumble, though, when moviegoers learned that one of the most iconic moments of the last century was arrogantly removed for touchy-feely and oh-so woke globalist purposes. [Source: Breitbart]
They did not film a scene where Armstrong plants the American Flag on the moon — the flag that is still there to this day. It would have been a moment that encapsulated this American achievement. Democracy, capitalism, and American ingenuity won over the cold oppression of Soviet Russian.
Why wouldn’t American filmmakers put that in?
[T]he clueless explanations surrounding the omission of this moment are not only tone deaf, but reflect a shocking ignorance of what Armstrong’s mission, a mission he volunteered for, was all about.
Ryan Gosling, who plays Armstrong said, “I think this was widely regarded in the end as a human achievement [and] that’s how we chose to view it.”
Chazelle tried to dig his way out with this rubbish, “I wanted the primary focus in that scene to be on Neil’s solitary moments on the moon — his point of view as he first exited the LEM, his time spent at Little West Crater, the memories that may have crossed his mind during his lunar EVA.” [Source: Breitbart]
Nonsense. And it seems like American viewers weren’t buying those excuses, either. Turns out, First Man flopped at the box office.
Universal is calling their astronaut drama First Man in third with $16.5M. There was hope at Uni that First Man would do better (like $20M) and hindsight being 20/20 there’s no regrets about not launching this during the holiday season when multiples are huge versus now…
Some rivals though think First Man will run out of gas getting to the $60M range with audience scores which aren’t exactly over the moon with a B+ CinemaScore and 79% overall positive on PostTrak. [Source: Deadline]
The studio was predicting a $20 million opening, which was their low estimate. In reality, they were shooting for much more. But the fact that it came in well below their low expectations is a testament to viewers’ disgust over the movie.
We know why Hollywood didn’t put the American flag scene in the film. Being ardent liberals and socialists, they look down on anything overtly patriotic. They are almost ashamed of being American, despite the fact it was this country which allowed them to become hugely, overpaid celebrities.
Another reason is they were hoping for this movie to be a big hit overseas. The foreign markets are more important to Hollywood today than American viewers. That’s why so many of our films have been edited or changed to appeal to Asian and European audiences.
Showing Neil Armstrong proudly plant a U.S. flag on the moon might have offended Chinese viewers! We can’t have that, eh Hollywood? (Even though it’s a part of the story.)
But that reckless and pathetic gamble to put foreign viewers over Americans (once again) did not pay off. Americans did not want to sit through a 2-hour-long film that ultimately ignores the core goal of the moon landing: celebrating American excellence.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say this will teach Universal a lesson. But I know better. Hollywood won’t learn from this flop and start making genuine films.
Do you agree? Do you think First Man was hurt by the lack of the American flag? Do you want Hollywood to make more patriotic films? Be sure to share this story with everyone you know. Let’s send a message to Hollywood that Americans love their country.
