Study: Moviegoers Prefer Movies with Strong Conservative, Patriotic Values
An annual box office study shows that in 2016 American moviegoers still preferred movies with strong conservative, patriotic content or values over movies with strong liberal or leftist values, by about 6-to-one.
The impact was felt overseas and on home video as well.
Every year, Movieguide®, the family guide to movies and entertainment, conducts a comprehensive study of the content of the major movies released by Hollywood and the major independent film studios to see what kind of content moviegoers in the United States and overseas prefer.
Movieguide®’s annual study of the political content in more than 275 movies shows that movies with strong Pro-American, patriotic, capitalist, anti-socialist, anti-communist, and anti-statist content and values make much more money per movie than movies with strong Anti-American, anti-patriotic, welfare statist, Marxist, secular, atheist, leftist, radical feminist, and/or very strong perverse content or values reflecting a radical, anti-human view.
In fact, movies with at least some strong conservative values and content in 2016 made nearly six times more money overall last year as movies with at least some strong leftist, socialist or statist values and content, $71.09 million per movie versus only $12.45 million per movie.
Movies with strong conservative content also totaled $7.85 billion cumulatively at the box office in 2016, compared to only $0.83 billion in 2016 for movies with strong liberal or leftist content.
The box office figures don’t include the $119 million that the patriotic movie HIDDEN FIGURES from 2016 made in 2017.
The more conservative movies released in 2016 included SULLY, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, HACKSAW RIDGE, DENIAL, OPERATION CHROMITE, SING, ZOOTOPIA, ARRIVAL, HAIL, CAESAR!, THE INNOCENTS, THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR, ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, QUEEN OF KATWE, FORSAKEN, HILLARY’S AMERICA, BARBERSHOP: THE NEXT CUT, EQUITY, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (2016), PO, BEN-HUR (2016), FINDING DORY, THE FINEST HOURS, HIDDEN FIGURES, THE JUNGLE BOOK (2016), RISEN, PATRIOTS DAY, TROLLS, EDDIE THE EAGLE, FREE STATE OF JONES, INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE, RACE, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE, LONDON HAS FALLEN, FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM, and OUR KIND OF TRAITOR, among others.
Movies reflecting some strong or very strong Anti-American, left-wing, anti-capitalist, politically correct, socialist, atheist, radical feminist, pro-homosexual, and/or pro-communist content or values included CAPTAIN FANTASTIC, MONEY MONSTER, THE HANDMAIDEN, BIRTH OF A NATION (2016), BILLY LYNN’S LONG HALFTIME WALK, THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR, FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM, MISS SLOANE, NOCTURNAL ANIMALS, VIVA, DOUGH, THE FOUNDER, JACKIE, A MAN CALLED OVE, EMBRACE OF THE SPIRIT, THE MERMAID, GOLD, NERUDA, DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID, DE PALMA, EAT THAT QUESTION, DESIERTO, WIENER DOG, HIGH-RISE, 20TH CENTURY WOMEN, MOONLIGHT (2016), THE NEON DEMON, and SAUSAGE PARTY, among others.
“Movies with more conservative values not only do better in the United States,” said Dr. Ted Baehr, founder of Movieguide®, who presented highlights from Movieguide®’s 2017 Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry at the 25th Annual Faith & Values Awards Gala Feb. 10 at the Universal Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. “They also do better overseas.”
For example, 50% of the Top 10 Movies Overseas in 2016 had at least some strong conservative content or values, but only 20% of them had any strong leftist or politically correct content or values at all.
The percentage difference was even better among the Top 10 Home Video Sales of 2016 as of Nov. 1, 2016, where 80% of the Top 10 Movie Sales on Home Video had at least some strong conservative values compared to 0% for movies with strong leftist values!
“The success of movies with at least some conservative values in 2016 is no fluke,” Dr. Baehr said. “It’s been true ever since we began doing our comprehensive political analysis 13 years ago in 2003.”
He pointed out that the combined conservative versus leftist categories are particularly important because they factor out any anomalies in the database. They also show that, overall, conservative movies with solid or strong traditional, patriotic, or capitalist moral and political values can usually earn at least four to as much as 12 times more money than leftist movies with solid or strong non-traditional, secular humanist, anti-capitalist, statist, or politically correct moral and political values.
“People want good to overcome evil, justice to prevail over injustice, and liberty to conquer tyranny,” Dr. Baehr concluded. “They respond to strong heroes and even strong heroines, but they are turned off by radical anti-capitalist, social engineering schemes, left-wing political correctness and big government programs full of faceless bureaucrats.”
Below is the breakdown of the particular conservative and non-conservative categories analyzed by Movieguide®, with the Average Box Office per movie in the U.S. and Canada.
Conservative Movies versus Leftist Movies, 2010-2016 in U.S. and Canada
Box Office Sources: The Numbers, IMDB, and BoxOfficeMojo.
** Overall Political Content for 2010 Thru 2016
| Content | 2016 Avg. B.O. |
| All Conservative/Moral Categories | $71,091,862 |
| All Leftist Categories | $12,454,944 |
| Content | 2015 Avg. B.O. |
| All Conservative/Moral Categories | $94,645,797 |
| All Leftist Categories | $7,690,834 |
| Content | 2014 Avg. B.O. |
| All Conservative/Moral Categories | $71,487,641 |
| All Leftist Categories | $17,387,584 |
| Content | 2013 Avg. B.O. |
| All Conservative/Moral Categories | $90,680,383 |
| All Leftist Categories | $23,935,815 |
| Content | 2012 Avg. B.O. |
| All Conservative/Moral Categories | $90,800,991 |
| All Leftist Categories | $18,550,966 |
| Content | Avg. B.O. 2011 |
| All Conservative/Moral Categories | $59,022,331 |
| All Leftist Categories | $10,665,555 |
| Content | Avg. B.O. 2010 |
| All Conservative/Moral Categories | $84,756,932 |
| All Leftist Categories | $17,938,200 |
** Political Content for 2016
| Content | 2016 Avg. B.O. |
| Anti-Communist Content | $95,612,381 |
| Very Strong Biblical Morality* | $67,152,487 |
| Strong Pro-Capitalist Content | $65,495,640 |
| Strong Patriotic/Pro-American Movies | $59,783,785 |
| Very Strong Pro-Homosexual Content | $19,288,378 |
| Strong Politically Correct Content | $18,569,889 |
| Pro-Communist Content | $15,928,461 |
| Very Strong Pro-Atheism | $11,652,655 |
| Pro-Socialist Content | $5,879,736 |
| Strong Anti-Capitalist Content | $5,064,694 |
| Strong Anti-Patriotic/Anti-American Movies | $4,196,874 |
| Very Strong Feminism | $3,709,525 |
| Content | 2016 Avg. B.O. |
| All Conservative/Moral Categories | $71,091,862 |
| All Leftist/Immoral Categories | $12,454,944 |
Similar results occurred in 2010 to 2015 as well as in all the previous years we’ve been doing this particular study, which began in 2003:
** Political Content for 2015
| Content | 2015 Avg. B.O. |
| Anti-Communist Content | $109,607,390 |
| Very Strong Biblical Morality* | $104,554,949 |
| Strong Patriotic/Pro-American Movies | $94,331,461 |
| Strong Pro-Capitalist Content | $66,023,054 |
| Strong Politically Correct Content | $12,688,137 |
| Strong Anti-Capitalist Content | $11,966,704 |
| Strong Anti-Patriotic/Anti-American Movies | $5,047,824 |
| Very Strong Pro-Homosexual Content | $4,654,761 |
| Very Strong Feminism | $4,462,566 |
| Pro-Socialist Content | $4,792,603 |
| Pro-Communist Content | $4,119,711 |
| Very Strong Pro-Atheism | $3,360,195 |
| Content | 2015 Avg. B.O. |
| All Conservative/Moral Categories | $94,645,797 |
| All Leftist/Immoral Categories | $7,690,834 |
** Political Content for 2014
| Content | Avg. B.O. 2014 |
| Very Strong Biblical Morality* | $77,107,443 |
| Strong Patriotic/Pro-American Content | $76,622,406 |
| Anti-Communist Content | $67,080,163 |
| Strong Pro-Capitalist Content | $56,622,406 |
| Strong Politically Correct Content | $40,866,987 |
| Strong Anti-Capitalist Content | $13,563,282 |
| Strong Anti-Patriotic/Anti-American Movies | $11,854,913 |
| Pro-Socialist Content | $15,274,894 |
| Pro-Communist Content | $1,253,378 |
| Very Strong Pro-Homosexual Content | $1,345,341 |
| Very Strong Pro-Atheism | $1,977,181 |
| Very Strong Feminism | $2,948,750 |
| Content | 2014 Avg. B.O. |
| All Conservative/Moral Categories | $71,487,641 |
| All Leftist Categories | $17,387,584 |
** Political Content for 2013
| Content | Avg. B.O. 2013 |
| Strong Patriotic/Pro-American Movies | $91,382,065 |
| Anti-Communist Content | $60,463,806 |
| Very Strong Biblical Morality* | $105,372,618 |
| Strong Pro-Capitalist Content | $80,186,735 |
| Pro-Communist Content | $17,407,892 |
| Strong Anti-Capitalist Content | $45,936,457 |
| Strong Politically Correct Content | $28,366,935 |
| Strong Anti-Patriotic/Anti-American Movies | $34,746,043 |
| Very Strong Pro-Atheism | $3,208,224 |
| Very Strong Pro-Homosexual Content | $4,843,127 |
| Very Strong Feminism | $67,414 |
| Pro-Socialist Content | $20,776,990 |
| Content | 2013 Avg. B.O. |
| All Conservative/Moral Categories | $90,680,383 |
| All Leftist Categories | $23,935,815 |
** Political Content for 2012
| Content | Avg. B.O. 2012 |
| Strong Patriotic/Pro-American Movies | $104,035,334 |
| Anti-Communist Content | $98,187,022 |
| Very Strong Biblical Morality* | $84,237,598 |
| Strong Pro-Capitalist Content | $76,320,574 |
| Pro-Communist Content | $54,903,420 |
| Strong Anti-Capitalist Content | $29,876,360 |
| Strong Politically Correct Content | $23,883,472 |
| Strong Anti-Patriotic/Anti-American Movies | $22,599,692 |
| Very Strong Pro-Atheism | $5,666,774 |
| Very Strong Pro-Homosexual Content | $3,487,124 |
| Very Strong Feminism | $1,804,139 |
| Pro-Socialist Content | $957,275 |
| Content | 2012 Avg. B.O. |
| All Conservative/Moral Categories | $90,800,991 |
| All Leftist Categories | $18,550,966 |
** Political Content for 2011
| Content | Avg. B.O. 2011 |
| Anti-Communist Content | $57,436,438 |
| Strong Pro-Capitalist Content | $60,300,281 |
| Very Strong Biblical Morality* | $54,488,404 |
| Strong Patriotic/Pro-American Movies | $68,064,258 |
| Strong Anti-Capitalist Content | $8,295,805 |
| Strong Anti-Patriotic/Anti-American Movies | $28,983,322 |
| Pro-Communist Content | $23,760,625 |
| Strong Politically Correct Content | $10,247,747 |
| Pro-Socialist Content | $2,565,606 |
| Very Strong Pro-Atheism | $7,523,606 |
| Very Strong Pro-Homosexual Content | $4,671,694 |
| Very Strong Feminism | $621,172 |
| Content | 2011 Avg. B.O. |
| All Conservative/Moral Categories | $59,022,331 |
| All Leftist Categories | $10,665,555 |
** Political Content for 2010
| Content | Avg. B.O. 2010 |
| Anti-Communist Content | $138,874,274 |
| Strong Pro-Capitalist Content | $86,165,368 |
| Very Strong Biblical Morality* | $77,981,393 |
| Strong Patriotic/Pro-American Movies | $66,169,777 |
| Strong Anti-Capitalist Content | $13,764,104 |
| Strong Anti-Patriotic/Anti-American Movies | $7,950,815 |
| Pro-Communist Content | $36,662,189 |
| Strong Politically Correct Content | $22,655,583 |
| Any Pro-Socialist Content | $30,479,077 |
| Very Strong Pro-Atheism | $6,608,902 |
| Very Strong Pro-Homosexual Content | $15,092,680 |
| Very Strong Feminism | $19,594,537 |
| Content | 2010 Avg. B.O. |
| All Conservative/Moral Categories | $84,756,932 |
| All Leftist Categories | $17,938,200 |
* Movieguide® believes that the basic moral principles in both the New Testament and the Hebrew Scriptures are the same, though individual Bible-believing, monotheistic Jews and Christians, or individual churches, synagogues, and denominations, may differ greatly (often depending on external non-biblical influences) on the issue of what moral values the Bible teaches, not only in the past, but also in the present time and in the future. The term Biblical Morality (or Traditional Biblical Values) refers to MOVIEGUIDE®’s traditional, grammatical, literary, and historical understanding of what the Bible teaches, morally speaking. The anti-communist content includes movies that attacked totalitarian systems of big government resembling the socialist ideology of Marxism.
For more details concerning Movieguide®’s political study for 2016 and its political studies for 2003-2009, please contact Dr. Ted Baehr or Dr. Tom Snyder at (805) 383-2000.
For highlights of Movieguide®’s 2017 Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry, including results of its comprehensive study of what Hollywood movies earned in 2016, please contact us at the above phone number.
You may also email us at tom@movieguide.org.
Copies of the full 2017 Annual Report may be purchased from Movieguide®. Please contact Robert Baehr at (805) 383-2000 for more information.
Dr. Baehr is chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission® (CFTVC) ministry and its family guide to movies, Movieguide® (www.movieguide.org). CFTVC and Movieguide® are an international non-profit ministry dedicated to “redeeming the values of the entertainment industry by influencing industry executives and by informing and equipping the public about the influence of the entertainment media.”
Both CFTVC and Movieguide® have entered their 32nd year of service. Their parent organization, Good News Communications, Inc., has been operating since 1978.
For more information, visit www.movieguide.org or call (805) 383-2000.
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