Marxists at the Movies

🎬 Marxists at the Movies – June Pride Month Premiere 🌈 This week, we're stepping into the ruins of glamour and class illusion with Grey Gardens . Host Edward Michael Francis (they/them) reads their featured article “House of Contradictions” , unpacking how this cult documentary reveals the tragic, theatrical collapse of bourgeois performance — and why it holds such a powerful place in queer cano...

🎭 The Birdcage (1996) | Marxists at the Movies To close out International Workers' Month, we're going full feather boa with a Marxist lens on Mike Nichols' The Birdcage . What happens when queerness is sanitized for respectability? What does it mean when the working class in drag is asked to behave for the sake of the ruling class? And how does this compare to the original La Cage aux Folles , wh...

For International Workers Month, we travel to the rugged coast of Maine to uncover the revolutionary fury buried in Dolores Claiborne (1995). In this Marxist analysis of Taylor Hackford’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel, we examine class struggle, domestic labor, and generational trauma through the eyes of one of cinema’s most complex working-class heroines. Kathy Bates gives a towering perfo...

In this bonus episode of Marxists at the Music , we dive deep into TLC’s groundbreaking album CrazySexyCool — not just the hits, but the history. We unpack the group’s fight for fair pay, their infamous bankruptcy filing, and how they challenged the exploitative machine of the 1990s music industry while selling millions. This isn't just a story about pop icons — it's a story about labor, image, an...

This week’s TV Spotlight turns the lens on the fiery, foul-mouthed proletarian queen of Hollywood herself—Kathy Griffin. In My Life on the D-List , Griffin doesn’t just pull back the curtain on fame—she shreds it, sets it on fire, and sells the ashes for charity. What looks like a reality comedy show is, on closer inspection, a pointed critique of class, labor, and gender within the fame economy....

International Workers' Day (Part 2) Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. Yes, even this. In our second International Workers’ Day special, we dive headfirst into the accidental communist masterpiece that is Baby’s Day Out — a slapstick odyssey where the baby is the revolutionary vanguard, the kidnappers are the capitalist class, and every pratfall is a blow against the bourgeoisie. We explore how...

This week on Marxists at the Movies, we kick off International Workers Month with a working-class hero who shouted union and shook the system. Sally Field’s Oscar-winning turn as Norma Rae is more than a performance—it’s a rallying cry. We unpack the film’s roots in labor history, its radical legacy, and the way it still resonates with anyone who’s ever dared to stand up and fight back. Spoiler al...

Mae West didn’t come to play nice—she came to play boss. In this episode of Marxists at the Movies, we dive into her 1933 pre-Code classic I’m No Angel, a film that smuggled radical gender politics, class defiance, and unapologetic sexuality past the censors. We explore how Mae West’s screen persona wasn’t just bold—it was revolutionary. From her real-life arrests to her cinematic takedown of patr...

In the first-ever bonus episode of Marxists at the Movies’ monthly spinoff Marxists at the Music, we dive headfirst into Jolin Tsai’s bold, bizarre, and subversively pop 2018 album Ugly Beauty. What does it mean to call something “ugly” in a beauty-obsessed system? How do we decode glamor when the spectacle is the prison? From the ironic bubblegum of “Hubby” to the gothic rage of “Lady in Red,” th...

What happens when you mix every celebrity who wandered within five feet of a camera in 1990, throw them into a sitcom house with a talking planet, Muppets, cartoon cameos, and a whole lot of forced environmental guilt? You get The Earth Day Special—a chaotic, star-studded fever dream brought to you by the same media conglomerate that probably printed the scripts on rainforest pulp: Time Warner. In...

The machines are rising—but not in the way you think. In this episode of Marxists at the Movies, we dive into the first three Terminator films, exposing how they reflect Cold War paranoia, capitalist fear of automation, and the contradictions of labor in a techno-dystopia. We unpack Skynet as a metaphor for the military-industrial complex, Sarah Connor’s evolution as revolutionary labor, and the h...

It’s not just Jets vs. Sharks—it’s poor vs. poorer in a rigged capitalist system. West Side Story sells us a love story but buries a brutal tale of racism, poverty, and displacement. Let’s break down the class struggle and colonial undertones in both versions. This is Marxists at the Movies.#MarxistsAtTheMovies #WestSideStory #Spielberg #Bernstein #Sondheim #LeftistTikTok #MovieAnalysis #ClassStru...

Is the Wizarding World just whimsical fascism in disguise? In this episode, we dig into the Harry Potter film franchise and uncover the unsettling eugenicist and hierarchical themes baked right into the magic. From blood purity to authoritarian institutions, we explore how the films reinforce systems of power, inheritance, and exclusion—and why even the “good guys” uphold the status quo. It's not...

Is E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial actually a trans allegory hiding in plain sight? In this episode, we explore Spielberg’s 1982 classic through a queer, autistic, and Marxist lens—unpacking themes of found family, visibility, and the alienation of childhood. We connect E.T.’s glowing finger to moments of trans joy, analyze the government's role as an oppressive surveillance state, and even bring in Mi...

In this episode of Marxists at the Movies, we examine Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt through a Marxist-feminist lens. What looks like a murder mystery is really a story about perception, alienation, and a young woman waking up to the darkness around her. We focus on Charlie Newton’s transformation, explore the symbolic use of shadows, trains, and telegrams, and look closely at the roles of t...

From Cold War propaganda to Reagan-era action heroes, Hollywood has long been a battleground for political ideology. In this episode, we explore the history of conservatism in film—how movies have shaped, reinforced, and challenged right-wing narratives. What other movies can you think of that reinforce thread ideologies? Comment below and don't forget to like and subscribe!

Join us Comrades on this very special deep dive outlining the history of Indigenous portrayals in film. Using historical sources we will examine films that portray Indigenous people's in both positive and negative ways, and how those portrayals reflect their true stories. A truly enlightening discussion! Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe!

Join us as we enter the tragically violent and desperate world of Menace II Society (1993) starring Tyrin Turner Caine, Larenz Tate, and Jada Pinkett-Smith. Bringing together sources on police violence, gang activity, and racial discrimination we will attempt to show how much of this fictional movie is based in reality and why it changed movies forever.

On this edition of Marxists at the Movies Podcast, we drive off into the sunset with our first road picture. 1995's Boys on the Side starring Whoopi Goldberg, Mary Louise Parker, and Drew Berrymore. Join us on a cross country journey as the film explores many feminist themes and the power of chosen family. Please don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe!

In our inaugural episode we tackle the AIDS crisis through the lens of the Dallas Buyers Club [2013) starring Matthew McConaughey. Join us as we discuss how the film depicts the early AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s. Does it align with its lofty ideals? That's what we are here to find out on the Marxists at the Movies Podcast. Please don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe