Hollywood and the Left

As if we needed proof, a new book is coming out in which TV executives admit that Hollywood pushes a liberal agenda. I'm not shocked--are you? But it's interesting that taped interviews accompany the book, (Primetime Propaganda by Ben Shapiro), so it'll be hard for these execs to say they were misquoted. I wanted to share some of these statements by the liberals, who always claim to be the tolerant ones. Here some are in no particular order.

In one video, Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman says that when she cast Candace Gingrich-Jones, half-sister of Republican former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, as the minister of a lesbian wedding, “There was a bit of ‘f--- you’ in it to the right wing.” Kauffman also acknowledges she “put together a staff of mostly liberal people,” which is another major point of Shapiro’s book: that conservatives aren’t welcome in Hollywood.

Maybe that’s because many liberals call them“idiots” and have “medieval minds.” At least that’s what Soap and Golden Girls creator Susan Harris thinks of TV’s conservative critics. However, the ranks of dumb right-wingers has dwindled, according to Harris, whose video has her saying: “At least, you know, we put Obama in office, and so people, I think, are getting – have gotten – a little bit smarter.”

Some of the videos have executives making rather obvious revelations. Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds talk about pacifist messages in M*A*S*H and MacGyver producer Vin Di Bona says anti-gun messages were a recurring theme in that show. But an additional video has Di Bona, who also created America’s Funniest Home Videos, becoming remarkably blunt about his approval of a lack of political diversity in Hollywood. When Shapiro asks what he thinks of conservative critics who say everyone in Hollywood is liberal, Di Bona responds: “I think it’s probably accurate, and I’m happy about it.”

Another video has Leonard Goldberg — who executive produces Blue Bloods for CBS and a few decades ago exec produced such hits as Fantasy Island, Charlie’s Angels and Starsky and Hutch — being very honest. He said liberalism in the TV industry is “100 percent dominant, and anyone who denies it is kidding, or not telling the truth.” Shapiro (the author of the book) asks if politics are a barrier to entry. “Absolutely,” Goldberg says.

Shapiro got another honest reply from Fred Pierce, the president of ABC in the 1980s who was instrumental in Disney’s acquisition of ESPN. After the author says, “It’s very difficult for people who are politically conservative to break in” to television, Pierce responds: “I can’t argue that point.” Those who don’t lean left, he says, “don’t promote it. It stays underground.”

Then there's House creator David Shore. He acknowledged that "there is an assumption in this town that everybody is on the left side of the spectrum, and that the few people on the right side, I think people look at them somewhat aghast, and I'm sure it doesn't help them."

Well, there are many more that I'll save for the next blog. Again, these are hardly revelations, but they come from those in the know. The smug and condescending comments are repulsive, especially considering these are the self-anointed tolerant ones. Are there ways we can limit our support for these left-wing factories?

Truth from an interesting source

Now get ready for something highly unusual – truth out of Hollywood. Imagine that. It comes in an interview with the star of the latest Transformers movie, Shia LaBeouf.

“Sometimes I feel I’m leading a meaningless life.” I heard that same statement from a student at Palomar College who became a Christian as a result of this honest assessment of his own life. Look at all the things people do to avoid dealing with a lack of meaning in their life – spend money, climb the corporate ladder, engage in dangerous activities, use drugs, seek more and more entertainment.

“Most actors on most days don’t think they’re worthy. I have no idea where this insecurity comes from; it’s a God-sized hole. If I knew, I’d fill it, and I’d be on my way.” Greg Koukl says he knows one thing to be true about every audience he speaks to – all the people there suffer from low self-image. We know we can be better than we are, yet we continually fail. Paul talks about that in the book of Romans.

“To my mind, talent doesn’t really exist. Talent is like a card players luck. It is motivation, ambition, and luck.” I don’t know if I really buy this statement, but in a way I hope it’s true. It seems to suggest most of our successes in life are due to what we can control. Not all of us can be blessed with “talent,” but we can work hard and still achieve great things.

“The good actors are all screwed up. They are all in pain. It’s a profession of bottom-feeders and heart- broken people.” So much for listening with rapt attention when some Hollywood star tells us how to live our lives, how to vote, how to think about issues.

“I have no answers to anything. None. What is life about? I don’t know.” At least he has a different starting point than most of the human race, which either pretends to have all the answers or pretends that it’s no big deal to live in a meaningless universe. But we are not meant to live with no answers. We all have a God-shaped vacuum in our lives that must be filled.