Posted on 08/06/2006 2:17:24 PM PDT by Frank T
It's good to have friends in high places. Just ask Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The California governor, a Republican, has been endorsed in his re-election bid by three of Hollywood's biggest political forces -- all of whom are noted for their big-wallet donations to the Democratic Party.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Schwarzeneger has received the backing of Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and media mogul Haim Saban. Such party defections will hurt Schwarzenegger's opponent, state Treasurer Phil Angelides.
"It starts with a personal relationship. They are friends," Andy Spahn, a spokesman for both Spielberg and Katzenberg, told the Times.
According to the Times, the two men also like Schwarzenegger's plans to tackle global warming and fund schools. But further, Spahn said, "they are receptive to the governor's taking a less partisan approach to the job and a more inclusive approach to government."
Perhaps the deepest pockets among those embracing Schwarzenegger belong to the Egyptian-born Saban, who produced the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" and eventually created a media empire.
Saban, who is trying to acquire the Spanish-language network Univision with other investors, is a former trustee of the Democratic National Committee and one of its biggest donors. He spent $200,000 fighting the 2003 recall election that brought Schwarzenegger to power.
Other Hollywood Democrats on the list of Schwarzenegger supporters include Jerry Zucker of "Airplane!" fame, movie producer Jonathan Sheinberg and Bud Yorkin, a longtime TV director and producer.
"I can't run away from the fact that I am a friend of Arnold. But if I disagreed with him, I wouldn't have voted for him," Yorkin said Friday. "People think Hollywood is one giant liberal. That's not the truth."
Maybe you are impressed by Spielberg's "Munich". That's OK. But I'm Jewish, have greater affinity to Israel than Spielberg does. I don't need to see his "Munich" fluff. I don't watch many movies anyways
Well I'm Christian and watched the movie. All these claims that Speilberg was pro Arab in the movie is just hogwash.
Angelides must be really pissed.
(you know he brought California to the Dukakis camp...)
(/s)
I can get it anytime for free from my local library. Someday I will
No ... Munich? I rarely see any movies. Was it pro-Israeli or apologist?
It was a Spielberg movie and in my opinion, from someone who has SEEN it, it was pro Israeli.
apologetic leaning towards sympathetic (to the PLO)
.....only to become pathetic!
I heard a lot of criticism on this forum about Munich being anti-Israel but I like Spielberg's films so I went ahead and rented it.
I thought it was a great film. I didn't in any way find it to be anti-Israel, pro-Black September. Sure, there was a fabricated scene where one of the Mossad agents engages in conversation with one of the terrorists that Spielberg took a lot of heat over. I felt this scene was just a slight bit of dramatic license used by Spielberg to give viewers a little background on the Arab/Israeli conflict. Not a sin for a filmmaker
To any FReepers who avoided this film based on what you read here, I really recommend renting it. You might be surprised.
Ah-nulds decline continues. Hollywood likes Fidel Castro, too.
It was not apologist. It was very pro-Israeli. It did deal with some of the personal moral issues facing Mossad agents who had to go out and assassinate people. I don't think that necessarily makes it pro-terrorist.
I thought it was an excellent (and beware, violent) film.
Well if I had been an academy member, I would have voted for it over Crash.
If Spielberg really wanted to make a film that was anti-Israel, he certainly would have included the very factual event where Mossad agents ambushed and killed a Moroccan waiter in Norway. Gunned him down in front of his pregnant wife. They believed he was Salameh, the Black September ringleader. This was one of Mossad's most shameful blunders.
It was nowhere to be found in the film.
Was that seen with the CIA all true? I haven't been able to find where it was anywhere on the net.
There was a little bit of dramatic license although Salameh and other high-ranking PLO agents did have CIA contacts. We were sort of playing both sides at the time.
US policy at the time overwhelmingly supported Israel but we kept a few PLO guys in the loop as well.
When Mossad told the CIA that their PLO contacts were slated for assassination, the CIA kept their mouths shut and found different PLO guys to do business with.
Well Spielberg coulda done a better with that.
He did put the disclaimer at the beginning: "inspired by true events." so he took quite a few liberties as a filmmaker. The scene where the daughter almost picks up the phone was highly exaggerated. Mossad saw her leave with her mother. She never returned after forgetting something.
There were a few more scenes that were slightly (or entirely) fabricated. Spielberg wasn't making a documentary. He took some liberties with Schindler's List as well. It's still a great film.
Yeah. I'd liked both Munich and Schindler's List. How anyone can say that Spielberg isn't pro Israeli after Schindler's List and the Center is really beyond me.
"YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!" (Jack Nicholson)
Just like my MasterCard... PRICELESS!!! (Oh! And Gray Davis, too!!!)
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