Right fights back

Hollywood Reporter ^ | 06/07/05 | Paul Bond

[Hi Heels]

"List the artistic people on the left and those on the right, and compare their work: Those on the left are more creative." What??......

[Hi Heels]

Ping

[Borges]

Ask Finefrock for examples of Hollywood's liberal slant, and he rattles off films endlessly: An uptight preacher in 1984's "Footloose" has a conservative American town so juiced up that it outlaws dancing; the character representing the U.S. Marines in 1999's "American Beauty" is portrayed mostly as a homophobic lunatic; Communism is lionized in movies such as 1981's "Reds" and 2004's "The Motorcycle Diaries"; employees always come off as heroes (think 1979's "Norma Rae"), and the "system" is always evil (1987's "Wall Street"); and 1987's "Dirty Dancing" extols the virtues of abortion and 1990's "Pretty Woman" the normalcy of prostitution.

And don't get him started on Brian De Palma's classic 1976 horror film "Carrie."

I hate group think like this. Carrie was a faithful adaptation of the Stephen King novel so the blame for the characterization should go to him. 'Reds' reflects Warren Beatty's obsessions not some monolithic system (that film had trouble getting financing) And he obviously didn't watch Footloose to the end where the Preacher is shown as a genuinely good person. And fighting the 'system' is bad? Everyone does it everyday.

[Borges]

The sad truth is that not enough conservatives go into the film industry because of knee jerk condemnation of it amongst a certain segment of conservatives who distrust the Arts. I remember posts here from people trying to get financing for a conservative themed film project and couldn't get anyone interested conservatives included. They wanted nothing to do with 'Hollyweird'

[Darkwolf377]

"Bullshit!" Gelbart replies, when asked if liberals make things difficult for conservatives in Hollywood. "If you're not strong enough to support a Republican administration out loud, then you're a wimp."

Gelbrat is correct here. Hollywood conservatives need to express themselves the way every other American conservative does. They're in the business of communication, and if they're too wimpy to make only movies that match their values, what good are they? "When I watch movies I'm not looking for a political agenda, nor do I see one," he says.

Now it's Gelbart who's full of bull. To say the lib agenda isn't rampant in Hollywood product is just laughable.

Hollywood Conservatives need to live with the courage of their convictions, or they're no more conservative than the RINOs in congress.

[Borges]

All Art has a political/moral/sociological agenda. It's always based on certain assumptions about the world.

[CzarChasm]

Gelbart, with his eyes squeezed shut and his fingers in his ears said, in between chanting "la-la-LA-LA-LA I can't hear you",
    "When I watch movies I'm not looking for a political agenda, nor do I see one,"

Gelbart does acknowledge...No executive today is willing to greenlight a movie that portrays extreme Islamists as the enemy... But Gelbart believes that is a pragmatic decision having little to do with politics.

    "You make a radical Muslim mad, and he won't rip off your bumper sticker, he'll rip off your bumper -- then your car will be found in another state, and he'll put a fatwa on you," he says. "I think fearing for your life is a pretty good reason not to do it."

And thus, you [Gelbart] spineless weasel, they win.

[Robert DeLong]

I wish we could find out who said: "I'm ashamed to be an American."

He needs a good freeping.

[Hi Heels]

Yep. Boyfriend is in the business. All the republicans glow in the dark they're so obvious amongst the rest.

[Hi Heels]

Fighting the good fight.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1352453/posts

[Borges]

Well I was thinking more in terms of actually making films as opposed to protesting other people's. :-)

[Darkwolf377]

I odn't understand why you call it groupthink. Whether one agrees with the points made, they're legitimate ones.

The movie Carrie altered the character from the book, who was as much a brutal abuser as she was a religious wacko. Hollywood producers don't just shrug and say "Well, it was in the book, so we HAVE to make her a religious wacko." They played up those elements in the movie, and they had every right to remove them if they wanted. They made the movie, they can't go crying "But it was in the book!" when they made the conscious decision to retain those elements while removing others (the newspaper accounts and the post-fire investigation, for example, are simply eliminated, as are many character moments).

Reds was as described--I don't see why this is groupthink. Communism was lionized in that movie, and it was a Hollywood movie. Where's the groupthink?

The Footloose preacher is also as described--he's a cliched character who "outlaws dancing". That's not groupthink, that's the way it is in the movie. An "awww, he's really a nice guy" add-on explaining his behavior doesn't change the behavior. Do people think of that character as a hero or a slobbering cliche of a preacher?

The person quoted doesn't say fighting the system is bad; he merely points out that the system, and big business, are ALWAYS shown as evil. That's a good or bad thing, but it's true--are 99% of movies about how GOOD the US system is?

[Darkwolf377]

Of course. I don't see your point, though.

[wrathof59]

Gelbard admits he's a coward, then says he has a right to be.
But I have heard Hollywwod for the last 2 years decry that censorship is the fault of George Bush. Gelbard is clearly the censor here, he admits it.

Hollywood is trash for the most part.

But nobody listed "Team America/World Police" which was definately pro-American, anti-Terrorism.

[mnehring]

""List the artistic people on the left and those on the right, and compare their work: Those on the left are more creative." "

Actually not.. Political thought and creativity have nothing to do with each other. Those on the 'left' may seem more successful in creative endeavors because they tend to follow pop culture type trends more, and thus often create something that sells more. In terms of creativity, the 'left' is good at creating movements, the 'right' is more individual and task focused.

One also cannot narrowly define creativity as limited to film, music, art, etc. The businessperson who takes $5,000 in savings and creates a successful store has to be creative. Marketing and advertising professionals are often accused of selling out art by the 'left', but they must be, and have the privilege of being creative in their job every day.

I was at a gallery show the other week by a famous photographer. He does a lot of commercial work as well as art photography. He was asked by an obvious 'progressive' in the crowd (the 'Boycott Corporate Food' shirt gave him away..) what he felt about selling out to the corporate world and big business every time he does a commercial job.
The photographer quickly scolded him and said basically, thank God for the corporate world, they keep us fed... The real error of artists is they somehow want to separate themselves from 'real life' and make themselves special when in reality, everyone has an artist within...

[Hi Heels]

I think we should do both....

[Borges]

The Groupthink is that every movie regardless of who made it or the circumstances surrounding it's behind made is always part of some monolithic system and is really what 'Hollywood' thinks. I attribute art to the creator and no one else. The character in the movie was an abuser as well. She's certainly not what anyone would take to be a run of the mill Christian. I would say that Reds showed how Communism eventually betrayed the working class they were supposed to represent. The Preacher from Footloose turns out to be a noble character albeit overly protective. I think people left the movie thinking that.

[Borges]

I mean that Gelbart claiming that he doesn't look for a political agenda is beside the point. It's always there.

[Hi Heels]

I didn't think the sentence made any sense at all. Reminds me of that Johnny Cash song. "The one on the right was, in the middle and the one in the middle was, on the top...."