Disney's new family film, Secretariat, opens this weekend supported by a Christian-targeted marketing push inspired by the success of last year's The Blind Side. The strategy make sense, says Salon movie critic Andrew O'Hehir, who slams Secretariat as a "Tea Party–flavored, Christian-friendly ... fantasia of American whiteness and power," a paean to the "Real America" so beloved of Glenn Beck and his conservative fans. Is O'Hehir's review a fair assessment, or is Secretariat just a refreshingly wholesome movie? (Watch the trailer for Secretariat)
Nice idea, but I don't buy it: The idea of Secretariat as a "fantasy fable for Tea Partiers" who yearn for a mythical, "prelapsarian America" is both marvelous, says Dana Stevens in Slate, and dubious. As far as I'm concerned, this is a "by-the-numbers sports-hero picture" for horse lovers. Those like O'Hehir who feel it ignores the "economic, historical, and racial reality" of the time can always "go rent Seabiscuit."
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