Is the 'Trolls' movie liberal propaganda?
- Critic's rating: 2 out of 5 stars
“Trolls,” the latest computer-animated confection from DreamWorks, may look like just another cynical exercise in selling overpriced tie-in merchandise to 9-year-olds. Indeed, DreamWorks’ 2013 acquisition of the “good-luck troll” doll brand seems to make that an open-and-shut case.
Yet underneath the cloying cutesiness and “Glee” Jr. musical numbers, is there is more to “Trolls” than meets the eye? “Some people” say yes!
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In the movie, Trolls are tiny smiling woodland creatures with towering crowns of wispy hair. Basically, they’re Smurfs with mohawks, except they come in the colors of the rainbow instead of just blue. Obviously, that makes them yet another liberal symbol for multiculturalism and the gay agenda, but we’ve all come to expect that from Hollywood, right?
But it’s even worse. The Trolls are so happy and adorable that they literally poop cupcakes and pass glitter instead of gas. This despite the fact that, when we meet them, the Trolls are prisoners of an ugly race of ogre-like creatures — a case of the “Shrek” studio plagiarizing itself — called the Bergens, who have an annual holiday called Trollstice, when they eat the little cuties to ingest their positive vibes and experience happiness just one time every year.
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A slap against a certain holiday on which liberals conduct a war every December? Probably.
In the opening scenes, the Trolls’ King Peppy (voiced by Jeffrey Tambor) leads them to freedom and a safe refuge, where his daughter, Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick), reigns over a nonstop party fueled by electronic dance music and hourly hug fests. Which makes it all too clear what the true source of their happiness is: Ecstasy, aka MDMA or Methylenedioxymethamphetamine.
Yes, “Trolls” turns out to be a 90-minute ad for the illegal “rave drug” — and it’s being marketed to kids!
This explains why the Bergens get high from eating the Trolls. But the villains of the story also are employed as propaganda for veganism, since we are meant to sympathize with their helpless prey. This despite the fact that the Bergens are environmentally conscious. After all, they confine their Troll eating to one day out of every 365, so as not to endanger the species.
As with most liberal propaganda, however, “Trolls” also reveals its own hidden prejudices. Sizeism, for one, since the Bergens are suffering from an epidemic of childhood obesity. And their snaggle-toothed grins are an ugly stereotype targeting the British (tellingly, the ogres’ King Gristle is played by John Cleese).
Purely from a moviegoing standpoint, though, this muddled attempt at ideological brainwashing is a good thing. Because if it weren’t for the thorny subtext, “Trolls” wouldn’t be worth writing about at all — with the possible exception of Christine Baranski’s hilariously evil performance as the Bergens’ chef.
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Otherwise, the characters are clichés and the plot is assembly-line predictable. The film is basically an even-less-original variation on “The Angry Birds Movie,” right down to the cynical, antisocial Troll (Branch, voiced by Justin Timberlake) who ends up saving the day. And that annoying talking cloud? Absolutely insufferable.
This is all carefully designed to make parents’ eyes glaze over, presumably so they won’t be alert enough to detect the subliminal messaging. It’s insidiously clever, but don’t be fooled. Keep your kids safe and boycott “Trolls.”
Reach the reviewer at kerry.lengel@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4896.
‘Trolls,’ 2 stars
Directors: Walt Dohrn, Mike Mitchell.
Cast: Voices of Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel and Christine Baranski.
Rating: PG for some mild rude humor.