Interesting quote:
“What troubles conservatives about Hollywood is less the promotion in movies of left-liberal policies than the breakdown of the old taboos.”
Good art tends to have trouble with politics. political ideologies, religion, religious doctrine, and can even challenge/subvert moral thinking and moral authority. In Hollywood, the creative imagination of one writer/artist is often molded by hundreds of people working on a project that is often aimed at millions of people. It can be quite interesting to see how the sausage is made, and even the old studio system appears to be having a lot of trouble this summer in keeping up with the new technology.
The creative arts, from acting to dance to theater, tend to attract people who had trouble with the ‘old taboos.’ L.A. and coastal California also generally tend to have a rather liberal/Left-Of-Center culture, which can affect the people who move there.
So, how much influence does Hollywood really have on culture, and thus politics, and thus people who seek to influence culture and politics?
From Gary Becker’s response:
‘Since it is well established that political views are greatly affected by the attitudes of people one interacts with closely, it is not surprising that some of the liberality of the media rub off on actors and others in the filmmaking industry. In addition to their concern about political approaches to personal morality, their association with the media helps make filmmakers anti-business, especially big business, and strongly pro-union.’
and:
‘So all in all, I believe Hollywood is a very minor contributor to general political views, but I do not think their influence can be fully dismissed.’
I’m not sure myself if such a thing can be known, but I remain wary of those seeking such influence for its own sake.
More culture wars?
If you don’t like ‘They Live,’ like a shining beacon of freedom in the fog, you can always turn to the day the Cubans and Russians invaded a small Colorado town…:
Who really looks to Hollywood for all their questions and answers?
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