The Grifters (1990) | How Woke Is It?

Our VerdictNot Woke

The Grifters1990

In a free society the right to critique art is essential and protected speech. These reviews reflect personal opinions and not statements of fact.

What We Think

The Grifters is about as non-woke as you can get by Hollywood standards. It’s a gritty, amoral crime film with no forced diversity, no cultural revisionism, and no ideological lecturing. Instead, it’s just a bleak, stylish noir with nasty people doing nasty things, old school through and through.

Score Breakdown

Compromised:Narrative Integrity

Not Woke

What is this?

The Grifters focuses on complex character studies and gritty crime drama. Casting and character arcs are driven by story and performance, not any agenda or identity politics. There’s no forced representation or tokenism, characters are flawed products of their environment, not social engineering.

Compromised:Cultural Foundations

Not Woke

What is this?

While the film features dysfunctional families and questionable morals, it’s in service of a dark noir narrative, not a critique of tradition or masculinity. It doesn’t revise culture to fit modern sensibilities; it’s actually pretty bleak about everyone, showing vices across the board rather than undermining any one foundation.

Compromised:Ideological Monoculture

Not Woke

What is this?

There’s no agenda-pushing or caricaturing of any particular worldview. All characters are morally compromised, and the film is more interested in gritty ambiguity than promoting a singular ideology. It avoids making traditional values or dissenting views into villains or jokes, there’s no ideological sermonizing here.

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Disclaimer: In a free society the right to critique art is essential and protected as a form of free speech and freedom of expression. The reviews and commentary on this site represent personal opinions and interpretations. They are not statements of fact and should not be taken as factual claims about any individual, company, or creative work.