Posted on 10/04/2009 3:09:25 PM PDT by Sockdologer
I was tempted to write some scathing remarks about those who support Roman Polanski because they believe he is a great artist. But then I realized two things. One was that Dr. Blanchard had beaten me to the punch. The other was that those of us who are moviegoers or moviestayers (I am a huge fan of Netflix), are guilty of the same kind of support.
Consider the case of Nicole Kidman. In 2004, she starred in the movie Birth, where she plays a widow who believes that a ten-year-old boy is her husband reincarnate. The movie features a bathtub scene with Kidman and ten-year-old actor Cameron Bright. At one point, Kidman asks Bright, "How can you take care of my needs? Have you ever made love to a woman?" This is, to say the least, highly inappropriate. Nevertheless, in 2006, Kidman was the highest paid actress in the industry and fans still attend her movies.
Now, of course, filming a bathtub scene with a child is not as bad as child rape, but there is something on par with child-rape that the majority of Hollywood actors and actresses seem to support. That is abortion. Americans love actresses like Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow. I am as guilty of that as anyone else. I particularly liked Judd in her appearances on Star Trek and I think Paltrow shines as Jane Austen's Emma.
It is easy to say to yourself, "Well, I don't really support their politics, but I love their acting." But by supporting these actresses and their movies, we sponsor their support of abortion.
Both Judd and Paltrow are strong "pro-choice" activists. If you understand abortion to be the termination of a baby's life, then this is worse than supporting a child-rapist. It is supporting those who opt to kill children before they are born. Is this any better than supporting Roman Polanski?
I also think that the attitude of pro-choicers extends past the abortion issue. In order to justify abortion, We have to believe that a woman's choice is more important than her child's life. That attitude, I think, has led us to devalue children. Some now even think of children as punishment. Obama, for instance, once remarked that he would never punish anyone with a baby. Meanwhile, Margaret Cho voiced her concerns that Sarah Palin, if elected might "take away that right not to be a mom."
Children have often been painted in a negative light. We have forgotten the value of innocence. In 1994, Chala Willig Levy of Parents Magazine criticized Barney for its "refusal to recognize the existence of unpleasant realities." Indeed, said Levy, "Along with his steady diet of giggles and unconditional love, Barney offers our children a one-dimensional world where everyone must be happy and everything must be resolved right away.”
I think that we have now gone the other way. We have refused to recognize the existence of pleasant realities. We have become so convinced that life must be miserable, dark and adult that we cannot abide joy or childlike wonder. We would have done better to error on the side of Barney than on that of Polanski.
For whatever reason, the acting business seems to attract people who are liberal. Their personalities, impulses, abilities to play make believe on camera, etc., which allow them to make a living as entertainers, also give them liberal world views, which translate into Hollywood activists almost always supporting the liberal side of issues.
Have you heard of anyone in Hollywood who opposes same-sex marriage, for example? Is anyone there pro-life? Is anyone there opposed to the global warming agenda?
I’m no therapist, but, I would believe that certain personality types, with a desire to be “tolerant” of anything, gravitate to the entertainment business. And then, once there, some of them want to use their celebrity to push causes, which are liberal because they are liberal.
You can include the music business for the most part , too .
Have you ever noticed how many actors are left handed?
Actors want to play the widest range of roles possible. To effectively portray these characters, they need to get into the characters' minds. It is possible that in that process, many end up being captured by their roles, such that the distinction between good and evil becomes blurred.
It has got to where I seldom go to the movies anymore. I used to go quite often. No longer. All during the war my favorite actors and musicians have gone out of their way to not merely express their opposition to the war, for example, which doesn’t surprise me, but to heap scorn on people like me. Their audience.
So, I’m not “boycotting” them, but I just don’t feel like watching them, the connection is broken. I’m no longer able to see them as their role and can only see them as them. Same with the musicians. I can’t listen to them anymore. Again, the connection is broken.
Artists should learn that the moment you step outside your art, you destroy your art. Let your art speak for you. Otherwise you’re just another uninformed crank shooting off at the mouth. And your audience is heading for the exits.
In the Second World War dozens of actors enlisted, and many of those became well beloved actors throughout the remainder of their careers. I can’t name one, not one actor to have left Hollywood for Afghanistan. Its hard to respect these people the way we did their grandfathers. There are no Lee Marvins in Hollywood and no Jimmy Stewarts.
And it shows; these pretty boys are trying to be action heros, but it falls flat when most families have a nephew or an uncle in the marines serving overseas. They know what the real thing looks like and its nothing like these bozos.
It's the same reason I'm having a hard time reading newspapers... the writers are so contemptuous of people like me.
These two have a lot in common.
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