ANTZ: MORE THAN MEET THE EYE

I just watched the Disney animated feature “Antz.” It seems that if political statements can be cloaked in a cartoon garb, USAmerican filmmakers are able to reveal themselves far more than if they adhered to “capitalist realism.”

You see, not only was “Antz” a thoroughly antifascist concept: it attacked fascism from a Marxist rather than liberal point-of-view, since it was by organising that the worker ants triumphed over the fascists. True, the Queen had royal pretentions…but the Princess, or Queen-in-waiting, revealed that, in reality, an ant queen (as is opposed to her human counterpart) is in perpetual labour herself, hence part of the working class after all.

You also have two contrasting soldiers: the heartless fascist leader, (Gene Hackman’s character) vs. the soldier won over to the cause of the workers (Sly Stallone’s character): this mirrors the Marxist understanding exactly, as the breakup, or breakdown, of the state into pro- and anti-worker camps signals the revolution.

Notice also that the revolution sweeps away an order that is wearing ostensibly socialist garb: a tragically common occurrance (is there a not-so-subtle dig at Fidel when the Antz trudge, on schedule, through “Guantanamera?” One wonders…) What triumphs isn’t ants reverting to the individualistic wasps (although Woody Allen’s and Sharon Stone’s characters are almost seduced-to-death by an “Insectopia” which appeals to individualism) but the worker ants reclaiming their society for themselves…and for one-another: when Woody Allen voices over how the society of Antz is forever changed by the revolution, he echoes Marx’ remarks on how the most advanced ants are light-years behind the most primitive humans, precisely because we humans can imagine what we build, make conscious decisions about it, and consciously carry out those decisions: in short, the revolution humanises the Antz.

I don’t know how conscious the actors were of the message they were conveying: but all of them…Woody Allen, Gene Hackman, Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Lopez, the lot…seemed to have a deep understanding of what they were doing, and played their parts accordingly. Moreover, besides Allen, I also saw another name from the artistic sometimes left, who lent one of her late husband’s songs to the mix: Yoko Ono, who gave her permission to use a (slightly rewritten) “Give Peace A Chance.”

In my script for “Operation Kama,” the film’s protagonist, the submarine’s political officer, is enthusing about the Communist Party’s selection of USAmerican films in translation: on the one hand, while the coupling of “Birth of a Nation” with “Gone With The Wind” clearly shows a continuity of racism unto the point of apologetics for slavery, “The Wizard of Oz” is held up of an example of how progressive, even socialist filmmakers can use fantasy to bypass the dogmas of “Capitalist Realism” (I had the hidden symbolism of “Wizard of Oz” pointed out to me by an English teacher many years ago, and make use of that in my script for “Operation Kama”…) I strongly suspect that “Antz” is a similar such triumph…and, as such, can be put to use, in translation, by the PSUV as an antifascist teaching tool which shows clearly how to distinguish authentic socialism from its fascist evil twin (hopefully, “Antz” has long since been translated into Spanish, since, if not, the PSUV might have to go through front companies to purchase the rights, etc.)

I strongly believe that we socialists need teaching tools like this, both to falsify capitalist claims equating socialism with fascism, and to steel ourselves for the coming antifascist struggles, both within and outside of the socialist movement: outside, as capitalist political contradictions are rapidly resolved against liberty, justice, democracy, etc. and in favour of fascism; within, as fascists try to appropriate our organisation, propaganda, etc. for their own, antisocialist purposes: it happened before, in Russia, Germany, and many other places; it could well happen in Venezuela. If we don’t teaching tools like “Antz” to falsify those who would equate or equivocate fascism with socialism, the switcheroo which hoodwinked the Russian, German, etc. workers could well triumph over authentic socialism once again: how many chances does the working class have to break through to socialism before capitalism, especially in its terminal, fascist variant, puts us all in our graves? Dare we risk finding out? I think not! We must struggle as never before, like this was the working class’ last shot at victory: it may well be, and we must approach it accordingly, using all our smarts, all our efforts, everything we’ve got, everything we are or could ever be. Anything less risks annihilation.

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