Posted on 02/13/2003 4:56:58 AM PST by JohnHuang2
If the past few months are any guide, much of the chatter this Academy Awards season might have less to do with Oscar and more to do with political activism.
Especially the chatter on talk radio.
"I want to figure out a way to hurt these people," Dennis Prager said about the parade of liberal actors that have been speaking against the Bush administration.
"God knows, not physically," he added.
Prager threatened a weekly segment on his popular, nationally syndicated radio show whereby he'd update his listeners on the latest musings of the Hollywood Left.
"It's now a weekly event that someone in Hollywood says something foolish -- truly foolish -- about America," he said.
Prager's most recent Hollywood rant was set off by Dustin Hoffman, who said in London recently -- after receiving yet another award -- that President Bush's real reasons for threatening a war with Iraq are, of course, "hegemony, money, power and oil."
The Bush administration "has taken the events of 9/11 and has manipulated the grief of the country, and I think that's reprehensible," Hoffman said.
Prager went on about how such Hollywood anti-Americanism detracts from his ability to enjoy movies.
Prager might not know it, but he's not alone. According to a poll in The Hollywood Reporter, one of the two primary entertainment industry trade papers, 44 percent of Americans say they might not pay to see a movie that stars a politically active celebrity whom they disagree with.
Among the Hollywood Left, Jane Fonda, Alec Baldwin and Barbra Streisand have the most to worry about in regard to offending their audience, according to the poll, which was taken in May.
And, before Hollywood's activist celebrities dismiss talk radio as insignificant, they should understand just how large the medium's audience is: up to 47 million people over the age of 18 tune into talk radio each week, according to industry analysis.
That makes talk radio the No. 1 format among adults. Some of those adults even buy movie tickets.
Beyond Prager, others with national talk-radio shows are also seeking ways to counter Hollywood's endless, leftist babble.
"Any chance we have to ridicule them, we'll take it," Laura Ingraham said about the Hollywood Left, just before the industry's Academy Awards nominations were made public.
Oliver Stone, Madonna and Richard Gere might even make good "human shields" for Saddam Hussein, Ingraham joked on her show.
Stone earned the mention for his "wet kiss" to Fidel Castro via the new documentary film "Comandante"; Madonna for an upcoming music video that reportedly is an anti-war statement containing scenes of wounded Iraqi babies; and Gere for his anti-Bush diatribe in Germany recently.
"Bush's plans for war are a bizarre bad dream. There doesn't appear to be any sort of basis for any of this," Gere said at the 53rd Berlin Film Festival.
Like Prager, Ingraham was verbally searching on her show for a way to make the Hollywood Left "feel the pinch," as she put it.
The talk-radio circuit even has pet names for Hollywood's peaceniks. Oliver North calls them the "Susan Sarandon Left," while Michael Savage delights in the term "Hollywood Idiot."
Like the Hollywood Idiots who assert that oil is the real reason for a likely war with Iraq, Savage maintains that Gere, Hoffman, and others also have ulterior motives for bad-mouthing America in front of receptive European audiences.
They're simply suggesting that, "If you're going to boycott America, please don't boycott my movie," Savage says.
Larry Elder, the former host of TV's "Moral Court" and host of a newly syndicated national talk-radio program, has also been hammering the Hollywood Left on a regular basis.
"My favorite is Sheryl Crow's pronouncement at the American Music Awards that the best way to avoid conflicts is to not have enemies," Elder told me off the air recently. "Yeah, and the best way to avoid crime is to not have criminals!"
And it's not just the hosts. A caller to Michael Medved's radio show on Oscar-nomination day advocated boycotting the Academy Awards broadcast. "I would love to somehow punish Hollywood," the caller said.
If that poll from The Hollywood Reporter is accurate, many Americans are already engaging in a boycott of sorts, choosing to see movies that don't star Gere, Hoffman, Baldwin, Jessica Lange, Sean Penn, Woody Harrelson, Martin Sheen and too many more to mention who have been publicly bashing America since the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
Maybe, for the sake of their all-important box office "take," it's time the Hollywood Left stop talking and start listening to talk radio.
I rarely buy a product because the maker sponsors a TV show. On the other hand, I have tried Snapple ice tea because they sponsor Rush.
Stockpiling supplies of botox?
Yes, I'll go to see the move with Viggo as Aragorn. I'll go to see it with that homo Ian what's-his-name as Gandalf. Tolkein's message shines through far more than Viggo's politics and Ian's sexual fetishes. That message is worth watching.
Shalom.
Good point. If I had kids, I wouldn't let them watch this crap--the misuse of guns and mindless violence--either. I will plead guilty to watching some of it myself.
We're on the same page. Deny them your consumer dollar and they will have that much less to contribute to those thieves who loot our family incomes.
Do you know who first noticed the potential of movies to propagandize and brainwash the public?
Right. It was Lenin. And he was speaking of the American film industry.
"Mindless" being the operative word.
The popular culture is duming America down at least as fast as the State schools are. We need a resurgence of the fine arts in this country. Note: I'm not talking about the cr@p funded by the NEA, I'm talking about real fine art, classic works like the ones we studied in high school and college. You need to engage your brain to watch Shakespeare but not to watch Stephen King.
Last Christmas you could have paid about $6 to go see "Santa Claus 2" or between $10 and $100 to go see "The Nutcracker". We've priced fine art away from the masses. IMO nothing would do more to elevate our culture than to work to make fine art accessible to everyone, along with sufficient education to enjoy it.
Shalom.
Shalom.
Gee, I wonder who wounded them. Could it be. . .SADDAM????!!!!
Understood. Reminds me of that saying: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise?
from dogeggs.com
If you want to do some browsing on your own, start here...
Google search for: Viggo Mortensen Iraq
I guess for the truly uneducable, BS would be someone worth listening to, but now when most of the Hollywood stars come out and say something, the reaction from the electorate is, "What can you expect? They are all nuts.", at best, and at worst, anger at such traitorous conduct.
Shirt reads: No more blood for oil
Link to Lying Media Bastards
I loathe these hypocritical Hollywood types. They are essentially saying "It's okay for us to drive gas-guzzling SUVs and have more money than God, but that only applies to ME, ME, ME!!! You *little people* who pay my salary should just shut up and make do."
The next movie I'll see is Gods and Generals, and after that I'll choose VERY carefully.
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