In Liberal Hollywood, A Conservative Minority Faces Backlash in The Age of Trump

vivaliberty ^ | 3-2017 | David Ng

[doug from upland]

As an Academy Award-winning producer and a political conservative, Gerald Molen has worked in the entertainment business long enough to remember when being openly Republican in Hollywood was no big deal.

“In the ’90s, it was never really an issue that I had to hide. I was always forthright,” recalled the producer, whose credits include “Schindler’s List” and two “Jurassic Park” movies. “It used to be we could have a conversation with two opposing points of view and it would be amiable. At the end, we still walked away and had lunch together.”

Those days are largely gone, he said. “The acrimony — it’s there. It’s front and center.”

For the vast majority of conservatives who work in entertainment, going to set or the office each day has become a game of avoidance and secrecy. The political closet is now a necessity for many in an industry that is among the most liberal in the country.

Since the presidential election, some conservatives feel that their political beliefs are more of a career liability than ever — even for those traditional Republicans disenchanted by President Trump.

“I feel absolutely it has harmed me professionally,” said Andrew Klavan, the L.A.-based screenwriter and novelist, and a “reluctant” Trump supporter. His credits include the 1990 Michael Caine dark comedy “A Shock to the System” and the novel “True Crime,” which was made into a movie directed by Clint Eastwood.

Klavan said that producers have “called my agent asking, ‘Why would you represent this guy?’ Anything that lowers your odds is going to hurt.

[Mollypitcher1]

It’s what he was hoping for. The big danger today is that people have been fed the giant lie that Communism is dead. It is not. It simply thrives under the term progressism.

[Avalon Memories]

Personally, I think they should come out of the closet, band together and take it to the Hollywood Left. Turn the whole McCarthyism whine of the Left right back at them. Defy the Left to discriminate against them for their political beliefs. Go for the proverbial Leftist throat and tear it out. Don’t be cowards. If I had the means and wherewithal to lead such a movement in the entertainment industry, I’d do it in a heartbeat.