Posted on 03/12/2017 12:18:23 PM PDT by doug from upland
As an Academy Award-winning producer and a political conservative, Gerald Molen has worked in the entertainment business long enough to remember when being openly Republican in Hollywood was no big deal.
“In the ’90s, it was never really an issue that I had to hide. I was always forthright,” recalled the producer, whose credits include “Schindler’s List” and two “Jurassic Park” movies. “It used to be we could have a conversation with two opposing points of view and it would be amiable. At the end, we still walked away and had lunch together.”
Those days are largely gone, he said. “The acrimony — it’s there. It’s front and center.”
For the vast majority of conservatives who work in entertainment, going to set or the office each day has become a game of avoidance and secrecy. The political closet is now a necessity for many in an industry that is among the most liberal in the country.
Since the presidential election, some conservatives feel that their political beliefs are more of a career liability than ever — even for those traditional Republicans disenchanted by President Trump.
“I feel absolutely it has harmed me professionally,” said Andrew Klavan, the L.A.-based screenwriter and novelist, and a “reluctant” Trump supporter. His credits include the 1990 Michael Caine dark comedy “A Shock to the System” and the novel “True Crime,” which was made into a movie directed by Clint Eastwood.
Klavan said that producers have “called my agent asking, ‘Why would you represent this guy?’ Anything that lowers your odds is going to hurt.
(Excerpt) Read more at vivaliberty.com ...
Time for conservatives to make their own movies.
I don't believe that is true.
Who are they kidding? There was liberal backlash in the age of Obama, in the age of Bush, etc. Liberals can’t stand for anyone to have an opinion different than theirs.
And this is new? They were loved and accepted under Obama?
The way Fox News broke the Liberal monopoly on the news, a conservative movie studio is necessary to break the leftist hold on Hollywood and the popular culture. Google “Spheres,Flight 800” for an example.
I think that libs made an organized, conscious decision to publicly treat republicans like child molesters in order to rob them of employment and make them socially unacceptable. It’s bigotry plain and simple. Since Dems/libs have decided to discriminate against republicans in every way they can, I guess it’s time for anti-discrimination laws to protect diversity. The IRS was used to harm those who are republicans, people call the employers of republicans and demand they be fired, schools won’t hire republicans and then sneer that republicans aren’t interested in education (wink wink) and therefore aren’t applying. This is descrimination - the government disproportionately (OBAMA’S) selected republicans for mistreatment - how does that not fit the lib’s definition of discrimination?
Yeah that’s a joke.
Another example is what Regnery did to book publishing.
The blacklisting done by the actual hut and finding of commies in the film industry is nothing to the decades of blacklisting they have done internally, to conservatives.
Same as in all strata of education and research.
When California secedes and Mexico takes them over as their northernmost province, does that mean the movies coming from Hollywood will now have English subtitles translating from Spanish. In such a scenario perhaps Trump wants to reconsider and instead build the wall on the western border of California
to keep the progressive loons and Hollywood out.
Time to ignore Hollywood for another 10 years.
1. What do you think we’ve been trying to do for 20 years?
In the last 10 years, I have gone to EVERY major conservative think tank to try and get “Patriot’s History of the United States” done in a series format: Heritage, AEI, Dodge Jones, Kaufmann, CATO, YAF. You name it, I spoke to them. Only Citizens United gave me any support at all-—but not enough, alone, to do the series. Every one of these said the same thing: “we don’t do video or movies.” Precisely why Andrew Brietbart said we are losing the culture wars.
Young people are not moved by books or policy papers but by video. Fact of life.
2) Molen and Klavan are indeed conservatives in Hollywood, but they are not really indicative of what is happening with conservatives in Hollywood. I know a bunch. First, A MAJORITY OR NEAR MAJORITY of the non-name “talent” is conservative-—the gaffers, lighting guys, set builders. Go to their vans at lunch time & they have on Rush. It’s the on-camera guys, the directors, and most of all the money people who are very lib. Still, a number of conservatives work, and work all the time: Mel, Gary Sinese, Vince Vaughn, Adam Baldwin, Nick Searcy, Robert Davi (a little less now).
In 2013 I was invited to a “Friends of Abe” barbeque at the ranch of David Murdock. There wer 1300 Hollywood conservatives there. Sinese was emcee, and asked all the producers to stand up (about 100); then he asked all the directors to stand up (about 200); then all the actors/actresses (about 500). It showed me how many conservatives there really are there.
But making conservative PICTURES is different cuz the money money are still largely liberals. This has been the subject of no fewer than five major articles in the last few months discussing what’s wrong with Hollywood, and they always omit one factor: content. Even so, however, a LOT of these people are realizing they are out of step with America, and for their own self-preservation are starting to reconsider content.
As an actor who use to live in Hollywood until a few years ago, I can say you have to keep a low profile as a Conservative. I have several friends who are casting agents, some big and some small, I will tell you they will not call you in for good roles if they know you’re a Conservative. One of my casting agent friends and I go back a long way, and through the years I’ve helped her out and she has helped me out. She’s really they only casting agent who knows my true politics. She has waned me to keep a low profile in Hollywood. I’m not a big enough name like Gary Sinese, John Voight, Bruce Willis or other A list actors.
The other thing Hollywood hates are Jews. Even the Jews hate Jews. It’s unbelievable, I’ve never met a bigger bunch of Anti-Semitic people in my life. Being a Gentile they all thought it was okay to talk about Jews in front of me. I have Jewish actor and comedian friends who have no idea how much they are hated.
Liberals have proven themselves to be thugs. And conservatives must make every effort to avoid patronizing whatever they’re selling.
ping
It is so bad here. The worst I’ve ever seen. I was mailing a package and the man who owns the shop was speaking to the woman in line in front of me, loudly asking about a third person, “Did he VOTE FOR TRUMP???” which stood for, is he a depraved monster? “Trump = evil” around here and I feel like a closeted ghost.
There are new ways to make, market and view movies that bypass most of the existing Hollywood infrastructure. True it will take some money and insight. Hopefully there is a true conservative with the cash who sees the opportunity and the necessity to make movies with a conservative perspective. The market definitely exists. Notice that Amazon ,Google and others are taking advantage of the new technologies and are getting into the movie business. Unfortunately the content from Google and Amazon will be more of the same nonsense.
I have two loved ones in the performance industry... one is an aspiring actor and the other is a professional musician. I can’t imagine either of them getting anywhere if they all of a sudden decided that they were pro-trump. Sad.
Do you remember Larry Elder used to have hours on his old radio show where he asked only Hollywood conservatives to call in, anonymously, of course? The boards would be swamped with calls. So many people working in the industry called in with the same story. They wanted to eat, work, so they had to be closeted. I know at least one felt he had to put a sticker for the liberal candidate onto his truck to keep getting jobs.
How is this any different from gays having to pretend they date girls, to keep their jobs?
I live among the Jews and Jew haters you are talking about. They do not hate each other. They hate a) practicing jews (makes them feel bad) and b) the insult each other so that they themselves don’t appear as “ethnic.” See how coool I am? I mock my people. I’m not OF them. They are singing, “He IS heavy; and he AINT my brother...”
Disgusting. I am lonely here but how could I meet anyone decent in this swamp?
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