Why do we keep feeding the beast?
There is a stereotype that Hollywood is liberal and that conservatives are not only unwelcome, but in fact blacklisted. There is a perception that Hollywood pushes a socialist agenda with its programming and its actions. In Ben Shaprio’s new book, “Prime Time Propaganda,” major Hollywood players come out and say he is absolutely right.
So, why do we keep feeding the beast?
Why do we keep supporting Hollywood and the anti-American entertainment industry?
In 1961, then FCC Chairman Newton Minow called Television a vast wasteland. In fifty years, little has changed. But why do we conservatives support a medium that is so vehemently against what we stand for?
Few years ago, I quit watching scripted entertainment television. I watch Fox News some. I watch some reality television. I do enjoy “The Deadliest Catch” and more recently have become addicted to “Ice Pilots.” The last fiction show I watched was “24”. I can’t tell you the last time I went to see a movie at the movie theater, other than taking my kids to something like “Cars.”
I, personally, refuse to support Hollywood.
Hollywood thinks they put Obama in office. They are proud of it. Susan Harris, the creator of SOAP and the Golden Girls says, “At least, you know, we put Obama in office, and so people, I think, are getting – have gotten – a little bit smarter.”
Hollywood producers revel in the fact they are liberals and the love to shove conservatives’ noses in it. A great example is when the TV show “Friends” had a lesbian wedding and the actress that was cast as the minister was the half sister of Newt Gingrich. The producers said it was a very deliberate choice.
If you are conservative in Hollywood, you better keep it quiet or you will be unemployed. Actor Dwight Schultz was on the A-Team and also had a recurring role in the Star Trek: The Next Generation. He auditioned for St. Elsewhere. Bruce Paltrow was the producer and knew Schultz was a big fan of Ronald Reagan. In a great example of liberal tolerance, he said, “There is not going to be a Reagan a**hole on this show!”
The question is, why do we conservatives continue to enrich people who insult us, who work against us and who hold us in utter contempt?
A few years ago, Steven Spielberg was interviewed and asked something to the effect of which new director really worried him. Which new director had the potential to knock him off as the top director? He said, it wasn’t someone in Hollywood that worried him. With the advent of the Internet and computers, he was now worried about the talented guy in Peoria.
It was not that long ago that the Hollywood establishment really did control entertainment. They had a monopoly. There were only so many movie screens you could get a movie onto. It was almost impossible to get a film Hollywood did not like distributed. There were only three broadcast networks and there was just no way around that monopoly. Studios were expensive to build or rent and the equipment to film and edit the film was prohibitively expensive.
Now, with the Internet, personal computers and HD cameras that you can buy for less than $1000, the monopoly is broken.
Have you ever heard of Star Trek: Phase II? It is a new version of Star Trek that is produced by Star Trek fans. They are not professionals. CBS owns the rights to Star Trek and lets them produce their episodes as long as they do not try to make a profit from Star Trek. The show is so well done that actors from the original Star Trek have appeared on it and it has won awards. It is a network quality show that is produced strictly for the Internet.
If these amateur Trekkies can can create a network quality show, why can’t conservatives create good entertainment geared for conservatives? We do not need studios, Hollywood or the networks. All we need are computers, cameras, a little talent and the Internet. We can, if we want.
And if we do create some good conservative entertainment, we will not feed the beast any longer.
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