Study: Moviegoers Prefer Movies with Conservative Values

Study: Moviegoers Prefer Movies with Conservative Values

An annual box office study shows that in 2015 American moviegoers still preferred movies with strong conservative content or values over movies with strong liberal or leftist values, by more than 12-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 strong conservative values and content in 2015 made more than 12 times as much money last year as movies with strong leftist, socialist or statist values and content, averaging about $94.65 million per movie versus only $7.69 million per movie.

The box office figures don’t include the $348 million that the patriotic movie AMERICAN SNIPER from 2014 made in 2015.

The more conservative movies released in 2015 included THE HUNGER GAMES:  MOCKINGJAY – PART 2, AVENGERS:  AGE OF ULTRON, CINDERELLA, HOME, STAR WARS:  THE FORCE AWAKENS, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION, JOY, THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE, THE PEANUTS MOVIE, THE GOOD DINOSAUR, PAWN SACRIFICE, ASSASSINATION, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., SON OF SAUL, CHILD 44, BRIDGE OF SPIES, BROOKLYN, STEVE JOBS, WOMAN IN GOLD, A LEGO BRICKUMENTARY, SPARE PARTS, COMING HOME (2015), FAITH OF OUR FATHERS, MAX, FURIOUS 7, and STEVE JOBS, among others.

Movies reflecting some strong or very strong Anti-American, left-wing, anti-capitalist, politically correct, socialist, atheist, feminist, pro-homosexual, and/or pro-communist content or values included KINGSMAN:  THE SECRET SERVICE, TRUTH, TRUMBO, WHERE TO INVADE NEXT, POINT BREAK, JIMMY’S HALL, JUPITER ASCENDING, OUR BRAND IS CRISIS, HITMAN:  AGENT 47, BRIDGE OF SPIES, THE BIG SHORT, THE GUNMAN, WHILE WE’RE YOUNG, WHITE GOD, IRRATIONAL MAN, THE DANISH GIRL, CAROL, GRANDMA, AN HONEST LIAR, FREEHELD, SAINT LAURENT, DOPE, THE OVERNIGHT, THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL, THE GREEN INFERNO, HE NAMED ME MALALA, PAPER TOWNS, CHI-RAQ, and I SMILE BACK, 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 Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry at the 24th Annual Faith & Values Awards Gala Feb. 5 at the Universal Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. “They also do better overseas.”

For example, 60% of the Top 10 Movies Overseas in 2015 had at least some strong conservative content or values, but none of them had any strong leftist or politically correct content or values at all!

The percentage difference was equally as good among the Top 10 Home Video Sales of 2015, where 60% had strong conservative values compared to only 10% with strong leftist values.

“The success of movies with at least some conservative values in 2015 was no mistake,” Dr. Baehr said. “It’s been true ever since we began doing our political analysis 14 years ago in 2003.”

Dr. Baehr noted that the “vast majority” of the world’s 7 billion people are religious, not secular, with about 2.42 billion people saying they’re Christian, about 1.70 billion saying they’re Muslim, 984 million saying they’re Hindu, and 520 million saying they’re Buddhist.

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 usually earn four to 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 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, 2010-2015 in U.S. and Canada

Box Office Sources:  The Numbers, IMDB, and BoxOfficeMojo.

** Overall Political Content for 2010 Thru 2015

 

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 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

 

Similar results occurred in 2010 to 2013 as well as in all the previous years we’ve been doing this particular study, which began in 2003 and includes movies going all the way back to 1999:

 

** 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 2015 and its political studies for 1999-2009, please contact Dr. Ted Baehr or Dr. Tom Snyder at (805) 383-2000.

For highlights of Movieguide®’s 2016 Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry, including results of its comprehensive study of what Hollywood movies earned in 2014, please contact us at the above phone number.

You may also email Tom at tom@movieguide.org.

Copies of the full 2016 Annual Report may be purchased from Movieguide®. Please contact Robert Baehr at (805) 383-2000 for more information.

Note:  Our political database includes a few movies containing both liberal and conservative content, which can, of course, cancel one another out. Also, not all the movies listed above were thoroughly conservative, liberal or leftist (some of the political content may be strong or overt but brief).

 

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