When stories become sermons

A screenwriter emails Jonah Goldberg at NRO to make an important point about what makes good [and appealing] art, and the difference between art and propaganda.

I’m a conservative screenwriter working toward my master’s degree at the University of Southern California. I enjoyed your article today on the current spate of anti-war movies. I certainly agree with your central point – that Americans are every bit as anti-anti-war as they are anti-war – but your piece fails to address the most salient factor in the failure of these movies: they’re terrible. Such is always the case when stories become sermons. This is the exact same reason evangelical Christians (of which I’m one) haven’t been able to crack Hollywood. When you just can’t contain your righteousness, your art suffers miserably.

The Corner on National Review Online