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Are Hollywood's politics killing the movie business?
latimesblogs.latimes.com ^ | October 14, 2008 | Patrick Goldstein

Posted on 10/14/2008 2:10:59 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper

Leonardo DiCaprio is a big supporter of saving the planet. George Clooney is always at the U.N., trying to prevent more mass murder and starvation in Darfur. Matt Damon recently criticized Sarah Palin, saying if she were elected vice president it would be "like a really bad Disney movie--'The Hockey Mom.' " Agree or disagree with their stands--would that really stop you from seeing their movies?

If you ask conservatives, the answer is yes. I wrote a post yesterday analyzing the box-office failure of "Body of Lies," which starred Russell Crowe and DiCaprio in a Middle East political thriller. According to my favorite conservative blogger, Dirty Harry (who was nice enough to call my post "thoughtful"), I missed the real issue. As he put it:

"Many Americans no longer trust Hollywood not to insult their beliefs and values.... Goldstein brushes past the idea that the fall of the movie star (other than Will Smith and Adam Sandler) might have something to do with their strident and boorish politicking. Even Americans in sympathy with what DiCaprio and Clooney believe don't want to be scolded about the environment by the private jet, mansion-dwelling crowd. We want to like our movie stars but today's crop just isn't all that likeable. We want to project onto our movie stars and neither in real life nor even up on the screen are we allowed to do so anymore.... When they wig out and go all liberal or outright anti-American it destroys their reliability, likeability and our ability to project all in one fell swoop."

(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: hollywood
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To: netmilsmom

Thank you for the link. It was an enjoyable read.


81 posted on 10/14/2008 3:11:34 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: Berlin_Freeper
It is really very simple. Assh*le liberal stars and producers making bad movies. I have a DVD player and easy access to 60 wonderful years of film making. Why should I go see the current crap when I can just as easily watch The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, On the Waterfront, A Clockwork Orange, Cool Hand Luke, High Noon, etc., etc., etc.
82 posted on 10/14/2008 3:12:39 PM PDT by Tail Gunner John
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To: Berlin_Freeper
"Many Americans no longer trust Hollywood not to insult their beliefs and values....

I'm NOT GOING TO PAY TO BE INSULTED. And I'm not going to pay to be most likely insulted either.

In short, I'm not going to the movies. I gave up. Most of the people I know gave up. The teens in the family go some times, but they'll tire of being insulted or "played" and after a while they'll quit going to...

83 posted on 10/14/2008 3:13:12 PM PDT by GOPJ (Why are ACORN press releases being posted on FreeRepublic? Trolls gone mad?)
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To: Berlin_Freeper
I love how this guy asks a question, it actually gets answered by someone on the right, then says that the answer is wrong. As box office receipts continue to fall, for various reasons, they'll continue to ask why, then ignore the answers they get. Good luck with that!

I've stopped going to movies because they suck and are predictable from opening to closing credits. They are no longer entertainment, so why bother paying upwards of $9 to sit through 2 hours of boorish liberal pap. Who is actually in the movie is secondary but indicative of the level of crap that you'd be paying to see.

Let them continue to write and film their liberal crap and spew their inane opinions, they will eventually be bankrupted and the world will be better for it.

84 posted on 10/14/2008 3:14:00 PM PDT by tonyinv ($)
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To: Nekman

Godzilla is actually a perfect example of Hollywood’s tone-deafness. Yeah, having the American military flail around ineffectively while a bunch of FRENCH commandos save the day is really going to inspire a huge turnout here in the U.S. Gag me, gag me, gag me!


85 posted on 10/14/2008 3:15:08 PM PDT by McGarrett (Book'em Danno)
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To: what's up

I want to see it because I like Ridley Scott (the director).


86 posted on 10/14/2008 3:15:15 PM PDT by Cecily
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To: Brett66
I certainly enjoy the scene in Titanic where DiCaprio sinks into the abyss.

Damn! There went another keyboard!!!

87 posted on 10/14/2008 3:15:17 PM PDT by Night Hides Not (McCain is Lucy, McCainiacs are Charlie Brown, & the football was a secure border...before Sarah.)
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To: Wneighbor

Exactly! I really don’t want to spend $10 and two hours watching the typical Hollywood empty head bashing my life, my life style, and the corny, traditional things I believe in, while promoting those “values” they consider sacred, like ‘reproductive rights,’ adultery, homosexuality, anti-war, anti-America doctrines. Just won’t waste my time, much less money.

And, at this point, even if they were capable of making an apolitical movie, why would I want to make them any wealthier ?


88 posted on 10/14/2008 3:16:33 PM PDT by EDINVA
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To: Berlin_Freeper
Why can't they make em like they used to?

I would go if they did!

89 posted on 10/14/2008 3:19:11 PM PDT by Wonderama Mama (Socialism is great until you run out of someone elses money - Margaret Thatcher)
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To: OneWingedShark

No problem at all!


90 posted on 10/14/2008 3:19:37 PM PDT by netmilsmom ( Obama And Osama both have friends who bombed the Pentagon)
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To: TightyRighty
If Damon was trying to equate Palin to a bad movie - he could have reached for, I don’t know, say.....Dogma

or Stuck on You

91 posted on 10/14/2008 3:23:28 PM PDT by Wonderama Mama (Socialism is great until you run out of someone elses money - Margaret Thatcher)
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To: netmilsmom
Amazing, isn’t it?

I considered seeing it again after I read the first paranoid article about “Batman is Bush”.

I didn't find any "Batman is Bush" article, but I did find THIS!
Which is a great watch.

92 posted on 10/14/2008 3:24:04 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: Lazamataz

Whine about declining revenues and then make up answers about why it is happening.

I have seen about 4 movies in the past 15 years in a theater.

They don’t deserve my money.


93 posted on 10/14/2008 3:30:57 PM PDT by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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To: Berlin_Freeper
Sorry Goldstein -- you don't get it. Tinseltown is all about illusion. Even though an actor may play many different kinds of roles, hero and villain, the viewer is willing to play Coleridge's game of "suspension of disbelief" as long as the actor doesn't destroy the illusion.

But when they begin to become just another individual who insults principles held deeply by the viewer, the illusory process stops. There are many actors whose performances I've enjoyed prior to knowing their interior small-minded ugliness.

For instance I'd always liked Ed Harris. But when he refused to honor Elia Kazan because Kazan "named names" during the Hollywood blacklisting days, Harris's appeal withered in my mind. I can no longer stand to watch him in any role, seeing only his group-think hatefulness instead of the character he's supposed to be portraying. I feel the same way about all the actors/directors Goldstein names, and more. Many more.

94 posted on 10/14/2008 3:32:38 PM PDT by Bernard Marx
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To: Berlin_Freeper
DUH! You think?

It took these arrogant morons how long to figure this out?

Ann Coulter's 'Shut Up And Sing' should have been all they needed to hear.

Rulz is rulz!



Ann looked particularly lovely in H&C the other night.
95 posted on 10/14/2008 3:37:39 PM PDT by Islander7 (This Atlas is shrugging!)
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To: Berlin_Freeper
Would it stop me from seeing their movies? No, not right away it didn't. Everybody has opinions. But when it gets to the point where the entertainer becomes an activist and intends it to intrude on our otherwise nonpolitical intercourse then hell yes it causes me not to see their movies. And worse, when the movies themselves become vehicles for political activism then I'm honestly no longer interested at all.

What actors do for a living is simulate emotion and memorize lines. There is nothing in those that lends any credibility to their political judgment. Nor to their intelligence. If there were, parrots would be in charge.

96 posted on 10/14/2008 3:38:11 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Berlin_Freeper

I look at the movie, not the actors (with a very few exception, to remain unnamed). If I think I will like the movie, I ignore the actors. If I don’t, I don’t care who is starring.


97 posted on 10/14/2008 3:47:29 PM PDT by chesley (I'm still alive, still employed, & still married. Life is GOOD)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

When it comes to all the artiste types, whether actors or musicians, singers or even athletes, I’d simply RATHER NOT KNOW their political views. Or their religious views. Or their “real” personalities.

In fact, I’d rather not know too much about them at all. I remember the day I found out that that adorable, sweet Whitney Houston was just another gangsta girl from the ‘hood. Sort of took away from her music. Countless examples since then.

There are, of course, celebrities for whom this information is sought out-—because that is all they are famous for-—who they are and why and the ways in which their lives are trainwrecks.

But for someone actually selling a product that is not simply himself-—such as movies, books, music-—we’d all like it better if these “artists” would just shut the doggone up.

People would probably still be listening to the Dixie Chicks today if they had not shot off their mouths. And that’s even with pretty much KNOWING their views anyway.


98 posted on 10/14/2008 3:50:30 PM PDT by fightinJAG (Rush was right: You never win by losing!)
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To: Lazamataz

Some of the “liberals” just kinda ruined the whole scene, man. Dig it, like, you know - it’s just bad vibes - not groovy, dig it. See, the old school liberals made great movies and kept their politics on the mellow side - smooth, and all that.

I’m not to sure how well such trash movies today could be considered a viable “export” either. The Soviet Union, of all places, use to ban all kinds of “western decadance”; but I recall that the old school liberals took this stuff seriously - fine symphony orchestras, fine art, dining, night life, dancing, etc. I don’t care for opera, but it’s nice knowing it’s there I guess. My tastes are eclectic, but while I consider a bluegrass festival more to my liking - and I’m sure the Bolshoi theatre was really good - something is completely FUBAR with popular culture.


99 posted on 10/14/2008 3:51:21 PM PDT by Freedom4US
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To: Tamar1973
The stuff coming out of Bollywood isn't bad either. I'm not much into humor/comedy (ESP. American), but some of the Bollywood movies are just SO funny!

There is some excellent film coming out of Iran too. Try "Secret Ballot."

100 posted on 10/14/2008 3:52:26 PM PDT by sionnsar (Obama?Bye-den!|Iran Azadi|5yst3m 0wn3d-it's N0t Y0ur5 (SONY)|http://trad-anglican.faithweb.com/)
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