The American Spectator

The Spectacle Blog

This Friday a movie on the career of British Parliamentarian William Wilberforce, a driving force in ending the practice of slavery and the slave trade around world. Entitled Amazing Grace, you can see a trailer and read about the ambitious goals of the film here.

We expect that the movie, produced by many of the same people who have helped bring the Narnia Chronicles and the Ray Charles bio-pic to screen, will get quite a bit of exposure from conservatives around the country.

But one point that the mainstream media will certainly miss, and which some conservative bloggers will choose to overlook, is Wilberforce and his ideals are playing out in the Republican presidential races, where one candidate is very much associating himself with the broad ideals Wilberforce enunciated: Sen. Sam Brownback. In speeches and on the road, he has time and again identified himself as a "Wilberforce Republican", which, in part, explains his positioning on immigration reform and his focus over the past few years on Darfur and Sudan.

Regardless of the candidate you may support, we'd encourage you to see the film and promote it. The seeds laid down entrepreneur Philip Anschutz and his people at Walden Media are beginning to blossom and mature, family-friendly, enriching films are finally being made by Hollywood because folks there believe they can make money from them. Fine: profits for them, but the spread of ideas and values for us.

topics:
Trade, Mainstream Media, Hollywood, Immigration