Fantastical Truth Podcast Discusses The Daily Wire's Involvement in Culture War
Are conservatives "allowed" to engage in the culture war? Imagine telling people they can't. But no this is not what is implied here. What is implied is to respond to the idea that politics and entertainment ought not mix too much.
Well, the guys at Fantastical Truth have been discussing some great topics for years now. They tend to come at these topics from a Christian literature background, being that they are writers and critics from Lorehaven.com, an online Christian sci-fi/fantasy literature and mythopoeia community. Of course, sometimes they discuss pop culture as well, including film and tv. But can they? Are they allowed? Yes, of course they can.
Obviously it's a ridiculous concept that Hollywood has built-into the entertainment community that we must "gatekeep" and prevent bad actors from engaging in culture, so this discussion about the Daily Wire is important. As artists often come from a variety of careers, backgrounds, and ethnicities, the only thing that judges them worthy of being able to engage in the marketplace is whether they can build a fanbase for their work. If people are willing to pay them to make entertainment, film, and media, then they can do it. And it looks like they are... in spades.
That's what living in a free country is about.
What I'm intimately aware of as an artist and filmmaker is that I currently don't make film work because I haven't built a good enough fanbase (big enough to support my work). I went to Hollywood and people didn't support my movie ideas because they were too unconventional (and also I'm a Christian). This was too controversial and risky for many of the people working in my genre, so they didn't sit through meetings with me very long. Hollywood is, after all, only a respecter of certain persons. My work was too risky for them, and just a reminder... they have zero obligation to sit through a meeting with me.
It's a free country.
Likewise, if the Daily Wire can get people to support their work, due to the political nature of it, or other nature of their work, they can and will continue to make it.
So the discussion here is necessary. The kind of work DW is doing is also very relevant. Kid's entertainment, action, comedy, and documentary, are all the kinds of work that DW does. But as you listen to these guys you get to find a charming familiarity with storytelling, and with the knowledge they share about the Christian publishing and storytelling world.
They discuss how not everyone is called to be a culture warrior. How we ought not "universalize an ethic" (if I'm not doing it, then you're not allowed to do it either), and how we are all called differently. But the truth is, mostly conservatives are engaging in this space currently. So, do not feel like you cannot engage both in politics or in culture.
This is also similar to my own philosophy. I feel that I can be a conservative and engage as one, but mostly I engage where I feel called, which is mostly in conservative cultural entertainment, community, and discussion and not on the daily political grind.
There is much more than they discuss here, such as who is allowed to engage in culture (ie city vs country and liberal vs conservative) and progressive Christian culture creators such as Christianity Today (who claims to defer to liberal Hollywood to make their culture). Then in chapters two and three they delve even further into how conservatives can do better, why liberal Hollywood is failing, and how both sides interact with politics. And lastly they discuss how things may improve in the future, including how the Daily Wire, in particular, is engaging in more long-term authentic storytelling (which we need more of).
Give Fantastical Truth a try and go to their site Lorehaven.com to see if there's anything for you. You may be pleasantly surprised.
You can go to their site, as well as to the other podcast episodes they reference in this podcast episode as well. Listening to these can give you an even better picture of this subject.
Lorehaven.com
Ep. 178 - Should We Weaponize Fantastical Stories to "Own the Libs"?
Ep. 107 - Why is the DW Spending Millions to Create Fantastic Shows for Kids? with Frank J. Fleming
And you can go here to hear the entire podcast on Spotify.
We hope you will enjoy them more in the future, and we hope to connect with this platform (Lorehaven) more in the future.
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