"The Iron Lady"

[ColonelCossack]

So, they're making a biographical film about Maggie Thatcher. From the advert, it would appear as if it lauds her- though what she did anyone but a nationalist or, of course, a member of the bourgeoisie would think was vaguely good, I have no idea. However, I have heard that it's gonna be "neutral"- though of course even if it trys to be that it won't be, because to be unbiased you'd have to be -or appear to be- critical of her, given her actions, if I managed to word that properly.

They made one about Hoover, they've made one about Maggie Thatcher, next I predict... one about Hitler. I think we should make one about Pol Pot as a rebuttal.

What do you lot think?

Note: I don't support Pol Pot, in case you didn't read the sarcasm.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Can't say I am really interested in movies about members of the bourgeoisie... maybe if I want to brush up real quickly and shift through all the propaganda later, but normally I am not.

[ColonelCossack]

Can't say I am really interested in movies about members of the bourgeoisie... maybe if I want to brush up real quickly and shift through all the propaganda later, but normally I am not.

I'm not interested in it, it's just that there's massive billboard size adverts advertising the film on every other London Bus, so it's kind of unavoidable.

Anyway- know your enemy! :D Though of course I would sooner loose a few fingers than go to see that pile of shit.

[Red Future]

I don't think it will be a commercial success, the issue of Margaret Thatcher is quite simply too partisan to allow it to be seen as a masterpiece, no matter how good the acting.

[brigadista]

who cares about MT? will be avoiding this

[Bronco]

It's received quite a lot of critical acclaim I think. I'll probably end up being dragged to watch it by my Dad, he's a Thatcherite of sorts and also a Meryl Streep fan (a terrible combination I know) :rolleyes:

[Tim Finnegan]

From what I've heard, it's actually quite apolitical, and is more of a "one woman's struggle against the male establishment" sort of story. The reviews I've read found more to criticise in the way her actual politics were brushed over, rather than in any sort of glorification.

Honestly, I'm willing to accept that it might be a good film, as you long as you imagine that it's set in an imaginary country featuring imaginary people. No need to let our politics bias our criticism.

[dodger]

Joy oh joy.....not to be in England. Can't believe the Scots will flock either....far too sensible. What a pointless exercise. I knew she was special, when I was queueing to pay for my paper in a small local shop. The woman serving us said" I hope she dies of cancer!" to all in the shop. Charming, I thought at the time....now, I think it is too good for her.

[kurr]

From what I've heard, it's actually quite apolitical, and is more of a "one woman's struggle against the male establishment" sort of story. The reviews I've read found more to criticise in the way her actual politics were brushed over, rather than in any sort of glorification.

Honestly, I'm willing to accept that it might be a good film, as you long as you imagine that it's set in an imaginary country featuring imaginary people. No need to let our politics bias our criticism.

First off, what in the hell am I reading right now?

You just said that this movie looks at Margaret Thatcher as someone who rose to what was previously a man's position (Prime Minister of England) and you're saying that it might be a good film?

WTF?

Why should we Communists stifle our political bias when it comes to a film showing a reactionary like Thatcher in obviously a sympathetic light?

This reminds me of speech that Amiri Baraka gave on art. He said that people viewed The Birth of a Nation (an old film that was sympathetic to the Klan which was later used as a recruitment tool for the Klan) because of its camera angles and ignored the political content behind it. That's essentially what you're saying right here.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

Well I'm sorry, kurr, but I had a very similar discussion in the thread about The Departed; as objective, intelligent audiences we gain the ability to look beyond the opinions of those who created a piece of art and form our own opinions of the piece devoid of any influences as long as we understand the context and reasons why a film was produced. Although, personally, I thought Birth of a Nation was a boring piece of shite, I recognise it as a historic piece of spectacle cinema that appealed to the masses of that generation and from that I try to understand why.

As for Iron Lady, I'm strangely fascinated by the film, if only because I like ranting about shit films with shit content, except I don't know whether or not I want to purchase a cinema ticket and thus give some of my money to morons who felt the need to make a film about bloody Margaret Thatcher.

[Nox]

advertising the film on every other London Bus

Maggie Thatcher, coming to a theatre in East London 2k12 bled

[brigadista]

ep 2 the state funeral sheeeit

[x359594]

From what I've heard, it's actually quite apolitical, and is more of a "one woman's struggle against the male establishment" sort of story. The reviews I've read found more to criticise in the way her actual politics were brushed over, rather than in any sort of glorification...


You've heard correctly. By down playing the politics of Margaret Thatcher the producers hope to reach a wider audience. Acting aside, the movie is of little interest, at least for me, since it avoids coming to grips with Thatcher's politics.

[Tim Finnegan]

First off, what in the hell am I reading right now?

You just said that this movie looks at Margaret Thatcher as someone who rose to what was previously a man's position (Prime Minister of England) and you're saying that it might be a good film?

WTF?

Why should we Communists stifle our political bias when it comes to a film showing a reactionary like Thatcher in obviously a sympathetic light?

This reminds me of speech that Amiri Baraka gave on art. He said that people viewed The Birth of a Nation (an old film that was sympathetic to the Klan which was later used as a recruitment tool for the Klan) because of its camera angles and ignored the political content behind it. That's essentially what you're saying right here.
Ah, see, now, the problem here is that you're a boring ideologue, and I'm not. So it's no surprise that we don't see eye to eye.

[brigadista]

the proceeds of that film should be sent to the communities she and her government destroyed during her reign of terror

[Clarksist]

Why are people being so hostile here?

It isn't any less "communist" to enjoy beautiful works of art that are not from a communist perspective, and it isn't just "boring ideologues" who prefer art that expresses a similar viewpoint as theirs.

I think if you make a biopic, you have to be sympathetic. No matter what people did that you disagree with, they thought it was the right thing to do, and this is a matter of their life experiences. It would be incredibly uninteresting if the new J Edgar or The Iron Lady just tried to push you to think one thing or the other. That is not only unrealistic, it happens to be terrible art.

[Commissar Rykov]

Why are people being so hostile here?

It isn't any less "communist" to enjoy beautiful works of art that are not from a communist perspective, and it isn't just "boring ideologues" who prefer art that expresses a similar viewpoint as theirs.

I think if you make a biopic, you have to be sympathetic. No matter what people did that you disagree with, they thought it was the right thing to do, and this is a matter of their life experiences. It would be incredibly uninteresting if the new J Edgar or The Iron Lady just tried to push you to think one thing or the other. That is not only unrealistic, it happens to be terrible art.

This behavior has become really common suddenly in Lit & Films and I blame it on new members who are here to prove how much Prolier than Thou they are. Boring and Ideologically rigid but I don't know how you can stop it since they seem hell bent on making sure all Art and Media should not approach any kind of touchy subject matter.

[ColonelCossack]

Maggie Thatcher, coming to a theatre in East London 2k12 bled

rofl

da fok?

no I know what you mean really

fam

[Firebrand]

I hope that the utter commercial failure of this film will make a statement about the attitude of the majority of the population to Thatcher, neoliberalism and everything else that ***** stood for. Lets face it, all our options at the ballot box are supporters of thatcherite policies and the media won't cover any anti-thatcher protests. So our best chance of making any kind of point is to make sure they make a bloody commercial loss on their film about that *****. By abstention we can prove that everyone STILL hates thatcher, even people born post-thatcher hate thatcher. she is probably the most hated prime minister in brittish history. And they think they can make money out of a positive film about her?

[ColonelCossack]

Why are people being so hostile here?

It isn't any less "communist" to enjoy beautiful works of art that are not from a communist perspective, and it isn't just "boring ideologues" who prefer art that expresses a similar viewpoint as theirs.

I think if you make a biopic, you have to be sympathetic. No matter what people did that you disagree with, they thought it was the right thing to do, and this is a matter of their life experiences. It would be incredibly uninteresting if the new J Edgar or The Iron Lady just tried to push you to think one thing or the other. That is not only unrealistic, it happens to be terrible art.

Does that include Hitler?

[Bronco]

Does that include Hitler?

Well Downfall sort of did what he described

[ColonelCossack]

Well Downfall sort of did what he described

I suppose that's true

[kurr]

Ah, see, now, the problem here is that you're a boring ideologue, and I'm not. So it's no surprise that we don't see eye to eye.

Actually, you're a charlatan who has sympathies for bourgeois ideology. You must be proud of yourself.

[Tim Finnegan]

Actually, you're a charlatan who has sympathies for bourgeois ideology. You must be proud of yourself.
What aspects of "bourgeois ideology" am I be accused of sympathising with, exactly? I wasn't aware that communism and non-dogmatism were incompatible, but I'm always read to be corrected!

[MotherCossack]

I hope that the utter commercial failure of this film will make a statement about the attitude of the majority of the population to Thatcher, neoliberalism and everything else that ***** stood for. Lets face it, all our options at the ballot box are supporters of thatcherite policies and the media won't cover any anti-thatcher protests. So our best chance of making any kind of point is to make sure they make a bloody commercial loss on their film about that *****. By abstention we can prove that everyone STILL hates thatcher, even people born post-thatcher hate thatcher. she is probably the most hated prime minister in brittish history. And they think they can make money out of a positive film about her?

hear bloody hear bloody hear!!!!
i am a drama queen, have in the past been involved in acting and the art of the thing and all that crap....BUT......

THERE IS NOT ONE THING IN EXISTENCE THAT COULD INDUCE ME TO GO NEAR THIS FUCKING HEAP OF SHIT FILM
NO That doesnt cover it....
I WOULD RATHER SCRAPE OFF MY SKIN THAN SEE ONE SECOND OF THIS HEAP OF NONSENSE...

i dont care if i come across a bit deranged... about her.... i am proud to be 100% deranged.
i will never, ever forget the intensity of the hate that i felt for her.
i could explain how i went from a vaguely admiring,. well ambivalent anyway 11 year old in 1979 to ... t-o-t-a-l, i mean uncontainable HATE!!!!
but i dont want to cos i still hate thinking about it and her.
in fact i have already given that ***** more than enough attention .
f--k off you hag.

[Pretty Flaco]

You've heard correctly. the movie is of little interest, at least for me, since it avoids coming to grips with Thatcher's politics.

My girl wants to see it because she likes those historical movies, but it's of little interest to me because it probably lacks enough explosions and sex to grip my interest. :rolleyes:

[00000000000]

I could prob watch it and try to let the absense of any focus on her politics and acts as PM taint my point of view, but it would be hard. It would be like making Downfall without any mention of National Socialism or the Holocaust; just a story of an embattled, fading politician that tops himself while shells go off in the background.

Biopics, if they must be made, should be as 'warts and all' as possible, because that's what humanity is.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

Well, my girlfriend needed to watch it for her course so we went to see it yesterday. Merril Streep is pretty good in it; the differences between the in-power Thatcher and the older Thatcher are subtle and well delivered. I noticed some excellent framing of Thatcher's husband in the background in some scenes which brings me to the main point....

Fuck this movie. It attempts to force sympathy from the audience by making Thatcher seem to be someone who fought against patriarchy and now can't let go of the memories of abandoning her husband to delve into the political quagmire. The brief glimpses of her past we are shown gloss over her anti-union policies even in one scene subtly alluding to her bringing a torch to a meeting as her being the one to bring 'light' to British politics in regards to the unions. No mention is made of her racist policies and her relationship with the racist police except a seconds' worth of stock-footage from the Brixton riots. The small period of time spent in her 'past' as she reminisces in her dementia are brief enough to demonise any unionist/socialist policies and gloss over the negatives of her attitude. Me and my girlfriend spent the entire bus-ride home *****ing about the bias in the politics of this film.

Also of note was the people making up the cinema audience. Pretty much everyone except the two of us were old, probably middle/upper class tories (in a sweeping generalisation). I think this film has little to no chance of changing anyone's political beliefs; only reaffirming the love of Thatcher from the tories or making the left/working class hate her all the more.

There. I felt a little ashamed of having spent my money on this film (even with a 241 orange wednesdays deal) but at least you guys don't have to watch it. Now I'm going to go watch A Very British Coup and save my sanity.

[MotherCossack]

god, you must have more b-ll--ks than me, metaphorically speaking, [ and, er..but..sorry, crude words are all that i have where she is concerned]
there is no way i could stomach that film.
SORRY - NO - CAN - DO!!!!!
of course, i regard my response as feeble at best, it only perpetuates her legacy and amplifys the echo of her significance...
why have i expended all of this... a massive volume of energy on the evil old boot?
oops... there i go again with the deranged... , weird (in a bad way?) stuff.
fuck it...
sounds like you , didnt enjoy the thing you saw, at the pictures..which is good..
i hope no-one who sees IT! has a nice time
and i really, really!!! hope the whole world...
sees what she is, and was,
what she did, what she broke and destroyed.
how she did it...
with her ruthless, disgusting, patronising and clearly inhuman:
"THE LADY'S NOT FOR TURNING...."

It makes my blood boil, it does!
You lot... from elsewhere... in space and/or time who dont know about all this...
you dont wanna know....
the 80's was fucking terrible..worse than this....
all those nationalized utilities, services, unions.
council homes given a- fucking - way for ever...
for the price of a month in s****horpe...
and of course...... the bleeding malvinas... lets sink the belgrano
like d-day all over again.

it was, well it was what it was.
thats why i aint goin' to see it.
thats why i dont need any reminding...
i remember it all ...
hark at me...
you know what... i reckon i might leave you to it....

[ColonelCossack]

god, you must have more b-ll--ks than me, metaphorically speaking, [ and, er..but..sorry, crude words are all that i have where she is concerned]
there is no way i could stomach that film.
SORRY - NO - CAN - DO!!!!!
of course, i regard my response as feeble at best, it only perpetuates her legacy and amplifys the echo of her significance...
why have i expended all of this... a massive volume of energy on the evil old boot?
oops... there i go again with the deranged... , weird (in a bad way?) stuff.
fuck it...
sounds like you , didnt enjoy the thing you saw, at the pictures..which is good..
i hope no-one who sees IT! has a nice time
and i really, really!!! hope the whole world...
sees what she is, and was,
what she did, what she broke and destroyed.
how she did it...
with her ruthless, disgusting, patronising and clearly inhuman:
"THE LADY'S NOT FOR TURNING...."

It makes my blood boil, it does!
You lot... from elsewhere... in space and/or time who dont know about all this...
you dont wanna know....
the 80's was fucking terrible..worse than this....
all those nationalized utilities, services, unions.
council homes given a- fucking - way for ever...
for the price of a month in s****horpe...
and of course...... the bleeding malvinas... lets sink the belgrano
like d-day all over again.

it was, well it was what it was.
thats why i aint goin' to see it.
thats why i dont need any reminding...
i remember it all ...
hark at me...
you know what... i reckon i might leave you to it....

All your posts are in verse.

Anyway, didn't you once tell me that when you were 11 or something you said to AbuelitaCossack that you wanted to vote for her.

[Prometeo liberado]

First off, what in the hell am I reading right now?

You just said that this movie looks at Margaret Thatcher as someone who rose to what was previously a man's position (Prime Minister of England) and you're saying that it might be a good film?

WTF?

Why should we Communists stifle our political bias when it comes to a film showing a reactionary like Thatcher in obviously a sympathetic light?

This reminds me of speech that Amiri Baraka gave on art. He said that people viewed The Birth of a Nation (an old film that was sympathetic to the Klan which was later used as a recruitment tool for the Klan) because of its camera angles and ignored the political content behind it. That's essentially what you're saying right here.
I hate, just hate having to try to explain this but here goes. It is possible to argue the integrity of film work while disliking its content. And this is where I get in trouble. If you look at the Nuremburg Rally purely as an example of ground breaking film work then as a fan of the art you can appreciate just that. The use of light, close ups to heighten emotion and so on. Yet the content is nothing less than sickening. Hope I made my point. Let the head kicking begin.

[kurr]

I hate, just hate having to try to explain this but here goes. It is possible to argue the integrity of film work while disliking its content. And this is where I get in trouble. If you look at the Nuremburg Rally purely as an example of ground breaking film work then as a fan of the art you can appreciate just that. The use of light, close ups to heighten emotion and so on. Yet the content is nothing less than sickening. Hope I made my point. Let the head kicking begin.

Content is the most important aspect of art, in my opinion. It doesn't matter what kind of film was being used, how wide the camera angles were, and how "revolutionary" (in the non-Leftist sense) it was for the time. That said, I do indulge in music and film that can be considered "apolitical".

[x359594]

Content is the most important aspect of art, in my opinion. It doesn't matter what kind of film was being used, how wide the camera angles were, and how "revolutionary" (in the non-Leftist sense) it was for the time...

The story/content is realized through the medium, in this case film grammar, and the way that the story is told is just as important as the content;the manner of telling alters content.

For example, the leftish liberal filmmaker Otto Preminger adapted Allen Drury's crack pot right wing novel Advise and Consent (1962) and reversed its ideology by camera placement and long takes (Preminger's forte.) Drury hated the movie even though the characters, the dialog and the plot remained unchanged from his novel; Preminger stood the content on its head by aesthetic means.

Or consider another medium, painting. Picasso's Guernica is powerful and enduring because of the aesthetic decisions the artist made when he took up his subject; a socialist realist treatment of the same episode would render the tragedy maudlin and sentimental.

There's no question that style alters content and therefore is of equal importance.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

You guys might be interested in this:

http://www.bakewelltoday.co.uk/news/local/thatcher_film_underfire_from_tuc_s_veteran_women_1 _4126323


HOLLYWOOD came under fire in Chesterfield as anti-Thatcherite protesters gathered outside a screening of The Iron Lady.


In a show of anger against the new film’s portrayal of former Conservative Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, retired coal workers, wives of miners and former trades union council (TUC) members were united, chanting and displaying a banner with the words “real iron ladies.”

[Ocean Seal]

No I'm not even sure if we should spend time with this. Most people didn't like the film and I doubt that it will stay in our memories for long.

[hatzel]

I haven't seen it but I assume there's a lot of sex and drug use and swearing because I've heard...eh guys you'd better get ready for this because it's a good'un...it's not suitable for minors! :laugh:

But in all seriousness it's probably not all that good. And didn't the Thatcher family and David Cameron and pretty much just a stream of Maggie-loving Tories all complain about how it didn't make her look like some kind of superwoman? Hmm...I dunno...are we supposed to glean anything from this? Or even care? Probably not...

[brigadista]

cleaner at the house of commons reports that after thatcher used the toilet she went in to clean and the seat was up......[v old joke].....

[RedSonRising]

Here I was hoping Streep could bring to life a story told honestly with a great performance in a film worth remembering. I don't mind oppressive figures being examined through biopic, but if the politics were downplayed and the history ignored for the sake of celebrating some perverted version of the notion of the advancement of women, then I'll skip it.

[Tim Finnegan]

cleaner at the house of commons reports that after thatcher used the toilet she went in to clean and the seat was up......[v old joke].....
Transphobia doesn't become acceptable just because you're using it to beat somebody genuinely despicable. If someone made a Jew joke about a politician who supported austerity measures you'd recognise that as blatantly anti-Semitic, so what exactly do you think makes this kind of shit any different?

[Aspiring Humanist]

It's difficult to think of a living Western leader more irrelevant in todays world than Thatcher

[Metacomet]

So will her state funeral be privatized? I sure hope so.

[NewLeft]

My impression after the movie: Thatcher wasn't that bad, I mean she only privatized a few things here and there..

[MotherCossack]

It's difficult to think of a living Western leader more irrelevant in todays world than Thatcher

in some ways this is true.
but i maintain that the damage she inflicted was orchestrated specifically to do as much permanent harm as was possible.
oh yes ... the ***** has a legacy... one hell of a legacy!
during her watch, the common people were systematically robbed of so much...not just wealth... jobs.... milk... prospects... hope... milk....it was the dismantling of the family silver for short term gain, that i can never forget....
british telecom.. gone, british gas gone, the electric board, gone.... british rail, gone, british airways gone, and then of course the council houses.... sold, and all the non-clinical departments of the nhs... tendered out. the list goes on and that is before you even begin to assess the union bashing that went on..
naaa!!!!! sorry, but we are still feeling the affects of her tyranny in my book!

[MotherCossack]

My impression after the movie: Thatcher wasn't that bad, I mean she only privatized a few things here and there..

what da fok!
yes its me his mother repeating, loudly...
WHAT DA FOK!!!!

[dodger]

in some ways this is true.
but i maintain that the damage she inflicted was orchestrated specifically to do as much permanent harm as was possible.
oh yes ... the ***** has a legacy... one hell of a legacy!
during her watch, the common people were systematically robbed of so much...not just wealth... jobs.... milk... prospects... hope... milk....it was the dismantling of the family silver for short term gain, that i can never forget....
british telecom.. gone, british gas gone, the electric board, gone.... british rail, gone, british airways gone, and then of course the council houses.... sold, and all the non-clinical departments of the nhs... tendered out. the list goes on and that is before you even begin to assess the union bashing that went on..
naaa!!!!! sorry, but we are still feeling the affects of her tyranny in my book!

Further afield too , Mother Cossack, she has managed to spread her contagion to the EU. So yes, a legacy and yes we must learn from that. What made us weak to the task. Draw lessons so we might prevail. T.I.N.A., There is no alternative must be taken up by us, it is a message that naturally resides with workers, not failed dying capitalism.

[MotherCossack]

as for her funeral....
erm...let me think...
ahhh! yes.. i've got it!!
let's leave her to rot in the scummiest land fill site on the planet.

i was gonna say ...what about sending her in to space,
without a space suit.
tomorrow.. ha ha....
while she is still alive!! ha!

but that is a bit cruel...
i dont want to be in danger of losing my humanity,
do i?
that would be far too margaret thatcher,
and we dont want that do we?

[MotherCossack]

if i am half as thrillingly crytic as you, dodger,thats enough for me.. knowing that at least another has even a fraction of shared reaction... out out.total isolation.. we march together.. worker and worker. against them! the few who have taken every-dam-thing.
and against, also, the ones who say 'we must compromise and co-operate. we must work with them.'... and become them. and thus become worse than them, by extinguishing any vestages of hope

[Oswy]

From what I've heard, it's actually quite apolitical, and is more of a "one woman's struggle against the male establishment" sort of story. The reviews I've read found more to criticise in the way her actual politics were brushed over, rather than in any sort of glorification.

Honestly, I'm willing to accept that it might be a good film, as you long as you imagine that it's set in an imaginary country featuring imaginary people. No need to let our politics bias our criticism.

I'm always sceptical about things being understood as 'apolitical' as the absence of reference to things that are more obviously political in a story where the full context is highly political is, if you'll pardon my clunky sentence, a very political thing to do. I'd be equally suspicious of, say, a film which examined Hitler's relationship with Eva Braun and conscientiously avoided any reference to extermination camps and so on, it's maybe not a denial as such but cerntainly something uncomfortably close.

[MotherCossack]

i concur.
they might as well have tried to make the movie into a ballet, if you ask me! would not have been any more or less accurate or contain any more or less substance.
i speak as one who has not , of course, been to see the thing.

[dodger]

i concur.
they might as well have tried to make the movie into a ballet, if you ask me! would not have been any more or less accurate or contain any more or less substance.
i speak as one who has not , of course, been to see the thing.

........or ever likely to. You'll be in good company. Can anyone imagine a Scottish cinema foolish enough to present that for public viewing. They stopped selling pop in glass bottle in my local fleapit when " The Green Berets" played for one night. That was one skirmish John Wayne barely escaped alive from.

[Tim Finnegan]

It's difficult to think of a living Western leader more irrelevant in todays world than Thatcher
The fact that you actually know who she is makes this a little self-defeating.


I'm always sceptical about things being understood as 'apolitical' as the absence of reference to things that are more obviously political in a story where the full context is highly political is, if you'll pardon my clunky sentence, a very political thing to do. I'd be equally suspicious of, say, a film which examined Hitler's relationship with Eva Braun and conscientiously avoided any reference to extermination camps and so on, it's maybe not a denial as such but cerntainly something uncomfortably close.
Fair point, but that's politics on a different level than what I was talking about. Yes, Hitler sans Nazism would be a definitely politically depiction, to take your example, but it would be political in a rather different sense than "Hitler vs The Jew-Fiends" would be, and it's the latter that some posters here seemed to presume would be the format for this.

[GallowsBird]

........or ever likely to. You'll be in good company. Can anyone imagine a Scottish cinema foolish enough to present that for public viewing.

It would be ironic as one in Northumbrian or Welsh Pit-Town... to name but a few places.


They stopped selling pop in glass bottle in my local fleapit when " The Green Berets" played for one night. That was one skirmish John Wayne barely escaped alive from.

That is a great film! One of the best pro-Vietnamese propaganda films; I mean a nation where they disguise their spies as little kids who go around measuring bases and floating secret notes out as little paper boats are worth supporting! :lol: :lol: ;)

[RedAnarchist]

I think one thing that helps her image both in the Tory media and elsewhere outside the country is that she was the leader of the UK towards the end of "Communism", so to many people it looks like she helped bring about its end. I'm hoping she lasts until after the next election - because it's likely that the current coalition won't survive the next election -, or else the current bunch of Etonians with no idea of reality will be giving her a state funeral (and if they do, I hope the working class makes them regret it.)

As for the film, I haven't seen it and have no desire to do so.

[Bronco]

It's difficult to think of a living Western leader more irrelevant in todays world than Thatcher

That's not true at all, we have a Thatcherite PM in power right now, and we've just had 13 years of New Labour who Blair also took down a Thatcherite path. There's also still a lot of dispute surrounding the Falklands and the trade unions have never been able to exercise the same strength as they did before pre-Thatcher, and she also started the move towards privatisation which is still ongoing today. However much we might not like it, it's hard to deny Thatcher's legacy still lives on in British politics.

[RevSpetsnaz]

I still need to see this film, Streeps performance looked spectacular.