Jim was very interested in the environment and bringing people together. His work rarely outright vilified anyone except for maybe Doc Hopper. J.P. Grosse, Nicky Holiday, the Skeksis and Jereth the Goblin King are all flawed characters. They choose less than ideal or unkind paths, but they are all still important to the world around them. None of these guys are outright evil. That's what makes Jim's work interesting. I also think that spirit is celebrated in Tex Richman. There would probably be less outcry if they'd made him a strip-mall developer instead of an oilman. Environmental issues really had no role int he film. Neither did corporate greed. Tex had a chip on his shoulder about the Muppets and his full song really would have helped illustrate that.
Like I said, a minute of film that, according to the DVD commentary according to the ToughPigs review, even the film makers were unhappy to find was missing, could have changed the film and given it some depth. I don't see how a minute would blow a running time out of proportion, leaving Lowes/AMC having to have a theater filled for another minute (if there's 10 showings a day, that's only 10 minutes... you couldn't possibly squeeze another showing in a day). But that's the shady relationship movie theaters have with the entertainment industry... maximizing profits by shortening movie times to fit in multiple screenings a day, screwing around with movies to fit a ratings guideline (making every R-rated movie PG-13 so 13 year olds who sneak into R rated films anyway can see them). But that's my last rant about that.
But the Fox commentators wouldn't care if they had those scenes in the movies, they clearly go in with the plot synopsis of a movie scribbled on a napkin by an intern and use it for the outrage of the day. Like I said, their comments on Arrietty were so bogus, they could have came out with a more libertarian message than a liberal one. It's all part of the "Don't question our wealthy masters!" Red Scare tactics that we have in this country when it comes to treating a completely spoiled upper class. Think about it this way... how many rich people were good guys in fiction? Daddy Warbucks (written by a Conservative, BTW), Richie Rich, Batman, and late 50's era- today Scrooge McDuck (he was quite a nasty fellow in the 40's-early 50's). Of course, I should be able to sell you just on Batman.
Why is the rich guy usually the bad guy then? Because they use them to talk about shady business practices. Ebeneezer Scrooge... commentary on 1800's England, where the Industrial Revolution brought low paying, dangerous jobs, creating orphans. Lex Luther... among other things, sold weapons to terrorists and spends a chunk of his fortune trying to kill Superman. And of course, the old cliche of the big rich real estate developer/oil man/general profiteer coming down to a small city and trying to put everyone out of a job/out on the street unless someone raises money or does that tedious thing where they record them saying something (which, I'm glad didn't happen in this movie).
None of those movies promote communism. The only movie I know that does is the crappy Godzilla ripoff Kim Jung Il kidnapped directors and forced them to make.
Still... how come there wasn't an outcry about Rachel Bitterman, the banker/real estate agent that wanted to kick the Muppets out of their theater to build a kitschy club that would last for about 3 months anyway? Like I said... if she wanted to get the Muppets out of the theater, just sell some retail space to Starbucks and Kinkos and gentrify the neighborhood so there's no way the Muppets could afford the rent?
It's really a shame VMX did the evil banker thing already. I don't think Richman would have ANY sympathy if his plans were to tear down the Muppet Studio to put up luxury condos that would lose funding half way through, leaving Richman to embezzle the rest of the money and pretend to go bankrupt.
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