What Hollywood Is ‘Whispering’ About … And Why?
The “Awakening” … Breitbart … Voight … ZuckerAnd the Hollywood left
Why Are We Whispering?
By Andrew Klavan - (WaPo)
At a recent writers conference in Southern California, one of my colleagues on a screenwriters panel told the crowd of about 50 people that she hoped Barack Obama would win the presidency. A number of people applauded. When it was my turn to speak, I politely said that I disagreed with her politics and moved on to other topics. There was no applause for me, but several writers approached me afterward. Each dropped his voice to a whisper and, looking around to make sure no one would overhear, said, “Thank you for saying that.”
Which raises a question for all conservatives in the arts: Why are we whispering?
It’s true throughout Hollywood certainly. In filmland business meetings, the executives, producers and talent feel free to wax on about how stupid President Bush is, how evil American foreign policy is, even what awful human beings conservatives are. Hollywood rightists, meanwhile, are reduced to holding secret gatherings to confess their beliefs in sympathetic company.
The results of having a bold artistic left and a cowering artistic right are clear on both the big and small screens. It’s not just the movies attacking the war on terrorism or rehashing Joe McCarthy’s peccadilloes or sanctifying murderous communist thugs such as Che Guevara. Those are mere vanity projects bravely speaking leftism to leftists. Far more pervasive, and damaging to our society, are the off-hand leftist assumptions that underlie a vast majority of mainstream TV shows and films: American might is sinister, soldiers are criminalized by war, Christians are intolerant and hypocritical, housewives are desperate, corporations are evil, the environment is in mortal danger from wicked man and, in general, something is terribly wrong with mainstream society that only the wisdom of radical types can cure.
It’s true that conservative values are sometimes hidden away in the fantasy worlds of films such as “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Chronicles of Narnia” or “Spider-Man 3.” But that only raises the question again: Why are conservatives whispering when the left is shouting?
There are practical answers, to be sure. Personally and professionally, the creative left rejects right-wingers with small-minded savagery. There may not be a blacklist in Hollywood, but there is a graylist that makes it far more difficult for conservatives to get hired and instigate projects. When good films that openly defy the left-wing party line do get made — “The Passion of the Christ,” “Not Without My Daughter,” “Tears of the Sun” — they are often excoriated by powerful lefty critics in reviews that frequently include personal attacks on the filmmakers and stars. (It’s not just movies, either. My latest novel was deemed the work of a “right-wing crackpot” by the Associated Press.) Who can blame artists for not wanting to step out of the foxhole a second time?
But I believe there is a deeper, more troubling reason for conservative reticence. The left has somehow succeeded in convincing the rest of us that there is virtue in a culture of lies, that some truths should not be spoken and that if you speak them you are guilty of racism or sexism or some other kind of bigotry. Right-wingers may disagree philosophically with this sort of political correctness, but I think they may have incorporated some of its twisted values psychologically and walk in fear of seeming “offensive” or “insensitive.”
Thus they sign on to a creative mind-set in which the depiction of reality is considered immoral and distortion becomes an act of political virtue. The threat of Islamo-fascism must never be shown without drawing some moral equivalence with the West (see: “The Kingdom” and “Iron Man”). It must never be suggested that men might be better at some tasks on average or that many women might prefer homemaking to business. Sexual promiscuity and illegitimacy are romantic or funny (à la “Juno”) and not contributing factors to poverty, depression and suicide rates (à la life). And so on.
Whenever I raise these issues in public, someone says, “Well, Hollywood’s all about money. They just make what sells.” That sounds like cynical wisdom, but it’s only half true. Artists want love, praise and respect, which money represents but which can also be found in reviews, awards and good publicity, almost all of which encourage leftist distortions and teach us to respond to plain speaking with outrage.
Conservative artists can’t battle this state of affairs with silence or secrecy. They must create — with courage, openness and honesty. These are the tools of both conservatism and art. With them, we can take the culture back.
Andrew Klavan’s most recent novel is “Empire of Lies.”
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One evening back in the mid nineties my wife was scanning the bands and stopped on a show called (I believe) Second Noah. In the several seconds that she had the TV tuned to this masterpiece two pre-teen boys were talking in a park-like setting about a nasty neighbor. One boy said “he’s really mean…like Newt Gingrich”!
August 9th, 2008 at 8:19 pmThat pretty much ended my television experience for my lifetime.
It’s the same shit in the music business. I can’t tell you how much work I’ve lost for expressing my evil right-wing views. It’s hard for me to shut up sometimes, and I have to restrain myself because I’m working for other people. They can’t believe I’m not a liberal, and most will not overlook it. Musicians who can agree to disagree are a rare breed and I am thankful for it when it happens. But mostly I shut up. Tomorrow I play a show for someone who is an Obama supporter. If they indorse him during the show I will protest, because like all of us, I fear for my country.
August 9th, 2008 at 8:31 pmI’m not a writer or entertainer, but I think all of us have fallen under the same spell as Andrew writes about in his column. Conservatives have been labeled in the MSM as Timothy Veih(sic)like. We all need to stop being afraid of being labeled in this way and stand up for our right to free speech. Our right to be heard.
For my part, I’ve taken to wearing my “Footprint of the American Chicken” t-shirt in public in hopes that someone would say something.(here’s the shirt-http://www.lifelibertyetc.com/product.aspx?pid=38 )
To date not ONE person has had the guts to say ANYTHING to me.
Come on people, stand up and be heard.
I understand the folks who have to be silent in order to put food on the table. That is unfortunately the world we live in. But in or private lives we all can make even passive gestures such as wearing un-PC t-shirts to the mall or supermarket. (it’s so cool to see the faces of the lefties when they get the message of my shirt)
If the leftis going to drag us down, at least let’s all go kicking and screaming.
August 9th, 2008 at 9:44 pmI would echo other poster’s sentiments thus far. I also can’t help but ask why there can’t be an alternative to H’weird. There’s nothing in any rule book that I’m aware of that grants leftards sole monopoly in the creative arts, movie production and entertainment industries. It’s unfortunate it’s come to this as H’woods leftist influence and agendas permeate beyond Cali’s borders. In my opinion there is easily room for an alternative to H’wood, and I don’t see why it couldn’t be successful going by the endless uninspired remakes and mindless trash that H’wood churns out frequently. The Fox channel’s strength was that it entered a market entirely driven and saturated by a leftard/socialist slant on the world, and it’s gone on to not only compete but surpass their rivals in viewers and $$. I get the feeling the same is going to happen with H’wood and the movie industry, they’ve created themselves a void by towing the populist leftist line and as such are vulnerable - they are their own achilles heel.
I say build it and they will come, and if spicoli doesn’t want to play the part of a GI helping restore, liberate and protect communities then he can go do pantomimes for Chavez and other dictators. Give the part to an aspiring up and coming actor who will not only appreciate the opportunity but will shine far more than any of those hateful jet-setting tinseltown hypocrites.
August 10th, 2008 at 12:26 amI’m wondering if anyone has seen Kevin Costner’s new flick, “Swing Vote.” I recommend it. Yeah, at first the incumbent Republican president is portrayed as a retard, but, in actuality, he proves to be more intelligent and aboveboard than his Democratic running mate.
It’s a movie I’d see again. The pervading theme surprisingly seems to advocate Independent voters.
August 10th, 2008 at 1:59 amTop Ward:
I checked out the Footprint of the American Chicken t-shirt and love it! I live in an area where peaceniks regularly trash the U.S. military in local publications and sometimes hold placards on the side of a particular road. Recently, I saw a peacenik in his late 50s holding court at a Starbucks; he was wearing a t-shirt with a large peace sign and he really thought he was something. I would have loved to have seen his face if someone wearing the American Chicken t-shirt had walked in.
August 10th, 2008 at 2:14 amIt’s true. The liberals have won so far. Not because they hold any value in political society, or that they’re intellectually superior, but rather because they shout and bitch all the time. The First Amendment extends to idiots, which means the whole Democratic Party has that right.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:36 amI usually have that as my desktop background, but right now I’m using the nObama one.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:37 amWhy?
Because the recent spate of anti Iraq, US Military films have died on opening weekend. Follow the money.
Also Pelosi’s book is rotting.
It’s the ‘economy stupid’ and these recent ‘votes’ from the pocketbook of Americans bodes well for this fall.
There truly is a generation of the children of Reagan who are coming of age and influencing this country. My oldest son is one of them, born in 85 and asked me to sign off for him when he was 17 to join the Army.
The old dusty marxists are still in power in hollyweird and they have not been defeated, but they are facing a growing opposition.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:50 amThe left is dying, literally. The conservative birthrate is higher than that of the pro-abortion, pro-faggot self absorbed cellar dwelling asshats.
We are replacing ourselves. They are not.
Next: Let’s fix the schools!
August 10th, 2008 at 12:01 pmIn certain situations, i stay off of the topic of politics myself, but as soon as someone opens their mouth and says the wrong thing, i’ll jump right in and help them stick their foot in it.
There is no reason for whispering. None. The Left has been screaming like spoiled brats for way too long now, it’s time to spank their ass.
August 10th, 2008 at 4:08 pmThe idea that Hollywood makes what sells is blatantly false, considering the long string of eye-popping flops it has produced about OIF. The leftier, the message, the lousier the gate.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:50 pmCorr;
August 10th, 2008 at 5:51 pms/b just “the leftier the lousier the gate.”
Word-Drum,
August 10th, 2008 at 9:12 pmI too am a musician, working here in L.A.
I’m surrounded , man.
For the most part I keep my mouth shut. But when it gets ridiculous I have to say something.
Usually I question the person or person’s knowledge of a given issue. I end up hearing MoveOn talking points or some variation.
That’s when I give the facts, which is followed by blank stare or a changing of the subject.
I applaud the people who have been stepping out of the shadows and speaking out. It’s freeking invigorating.
Now when’s the next Sons of Abe meeting? I wanna join.
Personally as a Tenessean I just think more conservatives on the west coast need to grow a pair!
Grey List? That doesn’t sound life threatening.
If it doesn’t kill you how bad can it be.
August 11th, 2008 at 5:31 amQuote:It’s the same shit in the music business. I can’t tell you how much work I’ve lost for expressing my evil right-wing views.
It’s a bit easier for me being in Nashville, far more conservatives in the music biz here. I have a produciton business, and basically just stick to my job, but if some client decides to bring politics into the discussion during a project, I don’t hide what I believe. If they decide at that point to move the project elsewhere, I express my disapointment in their small mindedness.
August 11th, 2008 at 5:51 amLots of you guys think all it takes is guts in order to express a conservative POV. So here’s real: if you are an actor and are at a party with Class III and below Guild members it is relatively safe, but if you are with stars, their agents, and a few “A” list producers and express “Reagan” type views you will be disliked, regarded as uncooperative or hostile while on the set, and not a “collegial” person. Not a person you’d want to have in your house or at parties. In other words it’s “who you disagree with” that counts, and trust me from long experience, you will not work at all for those people or around those people with whom you have dared to challenge in any way. Actors can’t get you a job BUT they sure can prevent you from working; it doesn’t take too many bad words put out by the “right” people to seriously threaten your career. I remember an incident several years while on a casting call. There were about fifty of us there and we were being called in one at a time. I absolutely saw one of the actors go up to the casting director (who he obviously knew) right after she ushered one of us into the reading and mumble that the guy was a “fucking fascist.” The casting director looked at him carefully and whispered back, “Thanks.”
Ain’t all that easy to stand up and be heard around here.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:47 amThe McCain sticker just went on my car.
August 11th, 2008 at 10:16 am…Not to mention mortality. The F’er’s are starting to die off. The line on the curve will only increase as time goes by.
August 11th, 2008 at 10:40 ami had to put the mccain sticker on my truck, i see too many obama stickers out there, other people need to know not everyone is an idiot. i also wear my jihadi killer shirt everywhere… If you cant get up and say right wing things, then your in the wrong business or you need to be so good they can’t turn you down. If i am around no left wing thought goes unchallenged!
August 11th, 2008 at 3:22 pmRob:
Top Ward:
Check out this Obama t-shirt: “Snob: It’s an Elitest Thing You Wouldn’t Understand” at authenticgop.com.
August 11th, 2008 at 7:01 pmDollard Dudes, I am a jazz musician and work mostly with Black people. As we all know, there is an association made by most Blacks between conservative politics and racism. The libs have done a number on ‘The Brothers’ and Sisters. Except for veterans, this is nearly always the case. Liberals of all races can’t debate and don’t want to try. When I say something like: “I can’t vote for a Democrat for president because I don’t love terrorist.” They want to kill me, and as hard as I swing as a player, they won’t hire me again. That’s all I’m saying. If I could get some of you badass military dudes in my posee, maybe I could roll like that.
My comments only had to do with working for others as a sideman. And playing to mostly Black audiences. Outside of that I will say and write whatever I feel and know to be true. On my blog, me and my partners remain anonymous since we spend a lot of time making fun of Muslim shitheads and leftist pukes. The pukes don’t worry me because they are faggots.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:15 pmThe mujis read us and we shake them up and they can’t get to our necks and ‘make a comment.’ We have many readers and I am able to do some damage.