Interesting Article on Hollywood Conservatives

[lester1/2jr]

There's a running story about "conservatives in Hollywood" and how imperiled they are there. I don't doubt that's true, but it hasn't resulted in any kind of counter movement as of yet. Mel Gibson is MIA for obvious reasons, Christian movies tend to be conservative but of substantially lower quality, ...who knows why this hasn't become more of a genre unto itself.

This article takes a hands on approach: it actually describes literal meetings that took place between these people and shows why the whole thing hasn't worked. For starters, the movement is filled with alcoholics who can't agree on anything. Also, they are mostly busy with other profitable projects, but mostly because they couldn't make an entertaining movie with the agenda near the fore, because it just becomes punditry.

Anyway, interesting article from an interesting guy* http://takimag.com/article/ignorance_among_hollywood_conservatives_david_cole

Why? Why did a group of undeniably talented conservatives (with a membership list of about 2,200) fail so miserably where others have succeeded? Along with “Killing Jesus,” there have been quite a few recent “conservative-friendly” Hollywood success stories: “American Sniper,” the “Narnia” films, “The Passion,” “Soul Surfer,” “Team America,” “300,” “The Kingdom,” “Facing the Giants,” “Fireproof,” “Courageous,” “The Blind Side,” and the current mega-hit “Kingsman.” Turning out films with a conservative slant and popular appeal can be done, and at one point or another every conservative has said it should be done. Yet the industry’s number-one group of right-leaning professionals failed to do it.

*The author is Jewish and has been active in debunking phony Holocaust artifacts in museums. It's an exceedingly uncomfortable topic that hasn't led to much appreciation from respectable quarters and has led to being embraced by quarters no one would want to be embraced by.

[zombie no.one]

I think he more or less nails it here:

The minute you put any political adjective before “entertainment,” you’ve doomed yourself.

never heard of An American Carol before. watching on youtube now, 5 minutes in and it's already woefully bad, lol

[lester1/2jr]

Westerns were relatively conservative but people got tired of them I guess.

 

[indianasmith]

I have to confess - AN AMERICAN CAROL is a guilty pleasure of mine.  Seeing a Michael Moore lookalike slapped around by Patton, JFK, and Bill O'Reilly made me feel all warm inside.

[Flangepart]

My friend Barbara doesn't like any film that tries to preach, even if it has a point of view she basically agrees with. I second the motion. When ya get to spending too much time lecturing, ya done gone too far.
I consider myself Conservative, but I know there is a way to make a point without bloviating.

[lester1/2jr]

 If you're a conservative your creative decisions will express that without having to try I think. That's what they should have done just made a movie period.

[Trevor]

Seeing a Michael Moore lookalike slapped around by Patton, JFK, and Bill O'Reilly made me feel all warm inside.

That was the only time I laughed in that movie.

Michael Malone: Hey, wait a minute, you're not a ghost!
Bill O’Reilly: I know! I just enjoy slapping you.

 

[lester1/2jr]

There's Christian movie called Old Fashioned that is being marketed as an alternative to 50 Shades of Grey. I read about it, it's just wholesome, it's not some new kind of Christian s and m which would have been more interesting I think

[BoyScoutKevin]

While this article refers to contemporary Hollywood, thus has it always been, almost since the time Hollywood first started making films, and for an equally long time has it been a convenient and popular whipping boy, by some political and religious conservatives, for its . . .

liberalism,
messages sent,
belittling of religion,
etc.

And while there is some truth in the criticism, much of the criticism has been exaggerated.

Liberalism
Hollywood has never been as liberal, as some people would believe. Here you really have to divide the people appearing in front of the camera, the actors, and the people behind the camera, the  studio executives. For the studio executives have almost always been, since the start of Hollywood, extremely conservative. It is only recently that they have become less conservative. And, as for the actors, while most could be considered to be liberal, now and then, there have always been a number of actors, who have been conservative.

Messages sent
"If you want to send a message, then get Western Union." Someone in Hollywood once said, and while Hollywood is not immune to putting out message films, messages of all types, Hollywood has, for the most part, been reluctant to get out there with "a message" in fear of alienating a segment of the movie going public, who would then not buy a ticket, that they might otherwise buy, and thus reduce the take at the box office.

Belittling of religion
If religion is being belittled, and shown in less than an 100% positive light, then that is a new phenomena. For long in the history of Hollywood, it was scared to show religion in anything but an 100% positive light in fear, again, of alienating a segment of the movie going public, who would then not buy a ticket, that they might otherwise buy, and thus reduce the take at the box office.

What the article does do, and I thank lester1/2jr for posting it, is reminding me of something that I knew, but had forgotten, and that is that while most of Hollywood's critics have been from outside of Hollywood. Hollywood has almost always also had its critics from inside of Hollywood. Of course, who should know better that what trumps politics and religion in Hollywood is not its liberalism, its messages sent, nor its belittling of religion, but its  desire to make money. And if a film is seen to be able to make money, whatever its take on religion and/or politics, it'll be made.

Thus, here is a list of horror films for . . . And while one may not agree with all the selections, one can understand, to some extent, why these films were chosen for their respective categories. And I do not remember where I got this list, but only that I thought it was interesting, and thus wrote it down, and as I think it is still interesting, I am passing it on to anyone who might want to read it.

Left wingers
death dream
masters of horror : homecoming
land of the dead
eyes without a face
American psycho
people under the stairs
body snatchers

Right wingers
invasion of the body snatchers
any slasher film
the last house on the left
the exorcist
the exorcism of Emily rose

Libertarians
dawn of the dead
lair of the white worm
28 days later
they live