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).
