Conservatives in Hollywood?!

City Journal ^ | Brian C. Anderson

[I still care]

Hmmm.... I thought she said bourgeois.

Maybe she said "CAPITALIST piece of bourgeois #%$^&$%#$" ?

:)

[OmegaMan]

I don't mind women in these roles, I like tough chick characters, but I think there's a kind of affirmative action going on thats beyond what the marketplace demands. Thats why Hollywood is losing the young white male demographic imo. Another thing they've done is stop making the 80s type action flicks that included firearms and alot of gunfire, especially involving white male leads.

My theory is that this is the result of something that started a couple decades ago. Hollywood has always been criticized for violence (with guns) and sex, but the new complaint that has been more effective has been the lack of good roles for minorities and especially females. The people/activists pushing the later have used the violence issue as well as a way to put more pressure on Hollywood to become more 'diverse'. Action movies involving guns and sometimes nudity became synonymous with white male action heroes (Arnold, Clint, Mel, Sly, Bruce....).

Instead of stopping making action movies though, what Hollywood has done is just make them without the guns (use swords, bows and arrows, kung fu....) and with minorities or females in the lead roles. That shuts up their critics for the most part, but also turns off to some degree the young white male demo. These new politically correct action movies do ok, but they're not exactly what this large demographic demands. My suggestion to Hollywood would be to use this statistic and the lower box office overall as an argument that political pressure is damaging the business. Then go about making the kind of movies the market demands, whatever they are.

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

Probably.

City Journal is the flagship publication of the Manhattan Institute, one of the premier conservative/liberty-oriented think tanks in the country, and the inspiration for some of former Mayor Giuliani's best urban policies.

[OmegaMan]

I should read the whole piece, instead of just skimming it - I probably agree with them on alot too.

[Skywalk]

Yeah Independence Day did terribly with Will Smith as the lead.

And so did Hitch...

oh wait, they didn't.

I agree women in action roles is getting lame. But having people OTHER than white men in those roles is not a bad thing, nor does it doom the movie to financial failure.

Also, did you read the article? Much of it was descriptive and very informative to me to know there are rightists in Hollywood. Not sure where you get the idea that it's main theme is the production code.

[Wicket]

I can only speak for myself and a few others, but content indeed has something to do with it. I like suspensers, mysteries, action films, chick flicks, historic sagas, family movies.

I used to go to the movies probably once every couple of weeks. The past few years, I have been getting tired of the PC stuff in Disney (Indians good, pilgrims bad, among others), the gratuitous violence and profanity in the Bruce Willis type fare, gay themes, and the negative view of humanity and Christianity found in much of what Hollywood has produced.

There have been few movies that even faintly interested me in the last few years, aside from Zorro, Incredibles, Monsters Inc, Master and Commander, the Passion, Penguins, and the Lord of the Rings series. That covers, what, the past 3-4 years of movie viewing for a previously every 2 weeks movie watcher.

Recently, however, I actually have seen some listings that encourage me. We'll see.

[Señor Zorro]

I do not deny that some people do refrain from watching Hollywood's movies due to the politik of the makers, however I think (and I could be wrong) that this makes up the minority of the drop. The nature of Hollywood has not significantly changed. In the 50's where were Communists to be found? The same places the flaming liberals (not significantly different from Communists) are to be found: the media, academia and the Democratic party.

I personally do not see many modern Hollywood movies, but not because of the politics of the makers. Rather, I simply find the movies themselves offensive (i.e. language, excessive and gory violence, etc. though I am hoping to give Clean Films a whirl sometime soon--maybe then I'll be a little more current).

[Señor Zorro]

Senor Zorro - there are NO great liberal stories.

LOL! Point taken. However, some liberals are gifted story tellers, ala George Lucas.

By the way, I plan to see your latest movie. I loved the first and Zorro has always been one of my favorite folk heros - right up there with Robin Hood

I love Zorro's character (obviously), but the greatest actor to ever don the cape is, in my mind, Guy Williams when he played Zorro for the television series in the 50's. I always find it ironic how the liberals like to identify themselves with Robin Hood (stealing from the rich to give to the poor), when the only reason for Robin Hood's activities were high taxes!

[LS]

As Medved shows, though, all it takes is about 10% of all conservatives to choose NOT to go to a movie and that makes a significant impact. And, as I say, I'm a movie-a-holic.

[ZULU]

"I always find it ironic how the liberals like to identify themselves with Robin Hood (stealing from the rich to give to the poor), when the only reason for Robin Hood's activities were high taxes!"

Excellant point!

[uncitizen]

I would argue that it is the quality of the wares that Hollywood is producing, rather than their politics. If you tell a great story, people will listen.

The problem is that their "story" is always about their "politics". What we need is just a story, with no hidden agenda (however thinly veiled the message may be). This is what i appreciated about "Elizabethtown". Very refreshing.

[Tuxedo]

There are a few conservatives in Hollywood: Drew Carey, John Larroquette (I enjoy his McBride movies), Bruce Willis, Robert Duvall, Gary Oldman, Mel Gibson, and some of Hollywood's biggest stars (RIP) were conservative: John Wayne, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, Frank Sinatra (later years), Bob Hope, Robert Mitchum, and Glenn Ford.

[COEXERJ145]

Glenn Ford is still alive.

[JZelle]

"Glenn Ford is still alive."


Wow! Has he broken 100?

[stacytec]

Jeeze people, we are all adults here, why invite censorship when it isn't warranted? If you don't like the F word, stop reading and move on.

[COEXERJ145]

He was born May 1, 1916.

[Wicket]

Yep, that pretty much covers it. I don't often avoid movies because of the participants' politics, just that a lot of what's being put out these days is poor quality, agenda driven, violent, semi-pornographic, etc.

[Tuxedo]

Yeah, forgot about that. Sorry Glenn Ol' buddy. ;)

[RightOnline]

An excellent piece; superb post. Bump.

[RikaStrom]

per our discussion