Posted on 11/24/2011 5:48:00 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
An exclusive THR/Penn Schoen Berland study reveals why Dems and Republicans like different films -- and which actors each side absolutely refuses to pay to see.
On Sept. 23, Morgan Freeman went on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight to proclaim that Tea Party opposition to President Obama "is a racist thing." The timing wasn't ideal, considering Dolphin Tale had opened that day and the film was tracking particularly well among conservatives, many of whom the star had suddenly maligned.
While only 627,000 people saw Freeman on CNN that night, millions soon viewed the clip as Drudge Report, Twitter, Facebook and other digital outlets turned it into a viral sensation -- not difficult given how partisan and personal politics have become in this run-up to the 2012 presidential election. "He belongs on my 'no pay, no watch' list after his latest, nearly hallucinatory raving," wrote one commenter on a conservative media site.
With Dolphin Tale opening with a strong $19.2 million that first weekend and finishing No. 1 with $13.9 million in its second, the financial impact of Freeman's comments is hard to quantify. But they did have an effect. In a far-ranging poll Penn Schoen Berland conducted for The Hollywood Reporter of 1,000 registered voters to gauge moviegoing tendencies of Democrats vs. Republicans, it's clear political allegiances have shifted entertainment viewing habits.
Jon Penn, the firm's president of media and entertainment research, says that before Freeman's words, interest in Dolphin Tale was considerably higher among conservatives and religious moviegoers than among liberals. After the remarks, 34 percent of the conservatives who were aware of them, and 37 percent of Tea Partiers, said they were less likely to see the film -- but 42 percent of liberals said they were more likely. (Five days after Freeman's remarks, 24 percent of all moviegoers were aware of them.)
In fact, overall, 35 percent of Republicans and 45 percent of Tea Partiers consider a celebrity's political position before paying to see their films, compared with 20 percent of Democrats.
Many exhibitors say privately that they cringe when a star waxes politically just before one of their movies opens -- like when, seven weeks before Contagion, Matt Damon attended a Save Our Schools march where some attendees compared Republicans to "terrorists." Videos of Damon mocking conservatives for their fiscal policies spread like wildfire on the Internet.
"Of course it impacts box office," says Landmark Theatres owner Mark Cuban. "You just hope that for every member of one party that no-shows because of comments, another buys a ticket for the same reason."
Democrats and Republicans Favorite Movies
Among the poll's findings:
► Democrats are bigger moviegoers This is likely fueled by Hollywood's reputation -- among both parties -- for churning out movies that promote liberalism (Avatar was named by the most moviegoers as having a liberal agenda). During the past six months, Democrats have seen on average 5.7 movies in a theater, while Republicans have seen fewer than four.
► Republicans are more likely to wait for home video Democrats are likelier to see movies on opening weekend, while GOP members prefer waiting it out. Republicans assume their values will be assaulted onscreen -- so why pay the big bucks? -- while Democrats embrace pop culture more and want to be "in the know," says Penn.
► Republicans prefer family films; Democrats like edge From hundreds of Oscar winners and classics, Republicans were far more likely to name as favorites The Sound of Music and It's a Wonderful Life; Democrats favored Bonnie and Clyde and The Silence of the Lambs. Among recent films, Republicans were likelier to choose Soul Surfer and Secretariat. Democrats? The Social Network, Bad Teacher and Easy A.
► Republicans tsk-tsk sex, violence and cursing While majorities of both parties think movies contain too much of all those, the numbers are greater for Republicans. A majority of Democrats think Hollywood films are generally inspiring and morally uplifting; a majority of Republicans don't.
► Democrats think America is portrayed well While 62 percent of Dems say Hollywood shows America in a positive light, only 39 percent of Republicans concur. And 44 percent of Republicans think Hollywood portrays the U.S. military negatively, but only 21 percent of Democrats agree. "Typically, when you see a movie, it will reflect a Democrat's values," says Penn. "Republicans aren't getting the films they want."
► Not everything about movies is partisan Dems and Republicans say comedy is their favorite genre, popcorn is their favorite theater snack, Forrest Gump is their preferred blockbuster and Indiana Jones is their favorite action hero.
I prefer foreign or independent movies.
Many foreign movies are not shy about showing how horrendous Communism actually is .
Yep, the values are clear. Conservatives want decent movies and will wait till they come to the house. Democrats run right out to sit in a crowd looking at smut. It’s kind of like the difference between a 16 year old and a 40 year old.
Mighty Macs was the last movie I went to a theatre to see, before that, it was Secretariat. And before that, the Blind Side.
Hollywood thinks far too well of itself.
Being that over 40% of the population consider themselves to be conservative and just barely 20% to be liberal, this only verifies this fact. Maybe some actor's PR people should pay heed to this, seeing they are on a percentage. Looks like being a parrot for the left is not a good business decision, but then again, what do liberals know about business in the first place.
There are certain movie stars whom I will not pay to see because of insults they have cast about my political persuasion. In years past it did not make much difference. Now it appears it does. When Morgan Freeman made that comment my wife and I decided not to go see that film. He has joined the list of dozens of actors whose movies we will not go see!!
Given the relative numbers of liberals vs. conservatives, this looks like an overall loss. At 35% liberal, 0.35 * 0.42 = 0.147 (14.7%) increase, but 60% conservatives comes to 0.6 * 0.34 = 0.204 (20.4%) decrease. So, a stupid remark by a liberal actor caused an almost 6% audience decline.
Instead of being mindlessly liberal, Hollywood filmmakers should try to target films to the consumers: they would make far more money.
Liberal movie = Torrents, if I care enough to see it.
Grr, please overlook my grammatical errors in the above post! I clearly did not proofread it adequately.
P.S. My ratio of conservatives and liberals came from http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/08/the_autumn_of_the_left.html.
Ditto that, or how women are treated by Muslims, man we could talk. when i review my netflix que i could tell you the ones i saw about that can’t remember the name now
besides television series i watch no hollywood movies did watch secretariet however
Very deceptive stat. The main point is that a lot of conservatives not only won't go to see the dolphin thing but won't go see any of his future films. The numbers will ad up.
ad = add
That sums it up.
Soul Surfer Trailer:
These are people who “play pretend” and read other people’s written lines for a living. Many have not finished high school and yet by virtue of their fame, see themselves as one who can opine or lecture others to see how dumb we are. Yes, we are dumb or stupid when we take our hard earned money (or in the case lately, our unemployment dollars or welfare cards) to purchase an escape from our reality...but we line their pockets to continue to bite the hand that feeds them.
I dont even go to the movies anymore. But, if I did I would definitely not got to a movie produced by or starring alib jerk.
The last movie I saw in a theater was “Courageous”. It was made by Sherwood Pictures, the movie making arm of Sherwood Baptist Church from Albany, Georgia. It was a very uplifting movie about the importance of fatherhood and fathers in children’s lives.
I rarely go to movies.
Besides morality, the current liberal-slanted films seek to lack soul. They don’t engage me in any way; they’re just a pointless experience.
The few times I go to the theater (and they’re getting even fewer) I walk out feeling either bored or irritated, wanting my 2 hours back (+ my $$). Most of the current films I wouldn’t even watch for free.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.