Conservatives say they have to 'talk in whispers' in liberal Hollywood

If you are a devoted reader of Andrew Breitbart's ultra-conservative Big Hollywood website, as I am, you'd think that the world as we know it is surely coming to an end, being turned into a hideously ever-shrinking black hole by Hollywood liberals and their fellow travelers.

The site is chock-full of posts lambasting liberal film critics for not liking vigilante movies, decrying the "gutless" Comedy Central for editing out any references to the prophet Muhammad in "South Park," mocking global warming activists, getting into a tizzy for weeks on end about Tom Hanks' elitist, anti-American view of American history and, of course, celebrating Sarah Palin at every turn. My favorite recent headline  -- and I've linked to it, just in case you thought I made this up -- was "Is James Cameron a Genocidal Maniac?"  

One of Big Hollywood's pet causes is promoting the notion that if you're a conservative, working in liberal Hollywood is like trying to survive in an oppressive gulag-like Soviet state where everyone has to conform to a rigidly controlled form of liberal political thinking. The site features an interview with "Northern Exposure" actress Janine Turner, who's launching a new organization, Constituting America, where she contends that "it's hard for conservatives in Hollywood because they're afraid to step out. Because when they do, there could be repercussions where they don't have work, and that can mean -- I think there are a lot of conservatives in Hollywood ... [but] no one is really willing to take the first step. And I don't blame them. I mean, it's affected my career too. And I think it’s hard ... when you step out as a conservative, it’s just such a – the environment is very left, very, very different to our type of environment.”

Mystery novelist and screenwriter Andrew Klavan, a leading conservative activist, put it more bluntly: "There's a culture in Hollywood where if you're a left-winger, you can talk very openly.... If you go in to sell something, you can make anti-American, anti-military, anti-religious remarks, but I'm the kind of guy who's going to say, 'No, I disagree.' But that's pretty much the end of my sale. Whereas, if you're a conservative, especially if you're a religious person, people like that meet in secret, talk in whispers. It's a very disturbing kind of culture."

Being a Jew who grew up in the South, I sympathize with all oppressed minorities, but I think that conservatives need to get a grip here. Yes, Hollywood is lousy with liberals -- they're everywhere. That's a given, OK, just like where my family comes from, there's a Baptist church on every block. But where's the evidence that conservatives are denied jobs because of their political beliefs? For all the vague charges being bandied about, I've never heard any specific examples of suppression in action. If you're a conservative and can offer me chapter and verse, I will be happy to take up your cause.

And I will do the same for any liberals who can support their claim that they've been denied work in talk radio simply because it happens to be dominated by, ahem, a lot of moral absolutist conservatives. In both cases, I suspect that each field has strong political leanings because of greater cultural forces at work, not because of bias. But if you think you can prove me wrong, have at it.  

 

Photo: Janine Turner in the 1999 Lifetime drama "Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Secret Affair." Credit: Justin Canning / Lifetime

Comments

[Raymond]

No sympathy here. If you are proud of what you are and what your stand for you will "come out of the closet."

Otherwise, con$ervative$ in Hollywood "talk in whi$per$" all the way to the bank.

[Chicolini]

Don't you just hate when these 'victims' whine and pout about being marginalized instead of pulling themselves up by their bootstraps and improving their lot instead of expecting special consideration?

[The Royal One]

Be sure, it is a true and indefensible indictment of the sheer hypocrisy
of the "entertainment" community as a whole, which has long espoused
"expression" and "individuality" to the rest of the world, while suppressing
the same among their own. Hollywood? Bigger-ticket carnies, believing their
own spiel.

[K.E.]

Hey, no one's stopping the rightniks from writing scripts or funding projects.

If their ideas are so great - put 'em out there, call your moneyed conservative friends to fund them, see if they sell any tickets.

I thought so.

[PhDForMe]

Yeah, well try being a conservative in academia! It's just as bad. Liberals like to preach about peace and tolerance, but I have never seen a group of people get so angry if you don't share their beliefs in whatever cause they are taking up this week: animal rights? gay/lesbian/transgender marriage rights? illegal alien rights? anti-corporation for not using fair-trade goods? it is so difficult to keep track of all the liberal causes that it is easier not to speak your mind and act like a "like minded individual" because otherwise, you will, most definitely, be out of a job...

[mjs]

This post has the feel of a false dichotomy--one is either liberal or one is conservative, and neither designation is defined in terms that speak to our times. Personally, I don't know why conservatives even waste their time in a democracy, except to throttle the expansion of civil rights and liberties, or maybe shrink the whole experiment down and drown it in the bathtub (well, to exploit it for all its capital does make a few dollops of sense). We United Staters have "social" military, "social" police, "social" fire departments, "social" interstate highways--as soon as someone points out that health insurance companies add no value to the product they control conservatives get apoplectic and warn of Stalinism! "Conservatism" is a wonderful idea for a closed system that benefits a select few and good bloody luck to the rest of you! The invisible hand of the free market is a monkey's paw.

++++

[Abe]

Richard: Anyone who is "intimidated into silence" about their political views either lives in North Korea, or they haven't done the background thinking/reading that give one confidence when expressing their opinion. Don't take it personally, but trying to pass the blame on to others does not absolve you from your responsibility to think about, change, or defend your viewpoints.

For the record, I'm conservative, and I have lived in places where I was in the majority, and places where I was definitely in the minority. Never once did I feel "intimidated into silence."

It is also possible that you or the people you talk to approach politics in a way not conducive to real discourse. May I suggest that you discuss your political views by comparing ideas and experiences, rather than trying to "convert" with a sledgehammer, like so many people do these days.

[sfkid]

I liked Janine Turner in Northern Exposure, but, that's about it. Don't care if she ever works again...

[Bill]

Do you honestly think the bias is that straight-forward?

From a newspaper that goes out of its way to document how bias happens, somehow in THESE cases a casting director must explicitly say "I hate your politics" for it to be proof.

I work in a different industry, one where I regularly see my co-workers spout off about how no one with a brain could possibly be conservative - they just can't imagine someone having that point of view.

I just sit and nod quietly.

So "proof of bias" - perhaps not. But you're demanding far more proof than you would of an African-American, Hispanic or female.

[Marla]

Oh please. Do you have any idea how thrilled most Liberals would be to find a self-described Conservative whose position was actually well-considered and fact-based?

An honest-to-Pete debate about traditional vs progressive values? Really, it would be great.

But instead, here's what soi-disant Conservatives are bringing to the national discussion:
--Blather about Obama's birth certificate
--Positions taken solely on the basis of what Conservatives think will "annoy Liberals" (so they're essentially driven by their hatred of the Left instead of by any positive values of their own)
--Along these lines, political expression that consists entirely of Liberal-bashing.
--Insisting that they ARE entitled to their own facts (see Obama's birth certificate, above)
--Sarah Palin.
--Etc.

It comes down to lack of responsibility for their own opinions. Oh, those mean Liberals disagreed with you because you support more defense spending? Well, you could put on your big-boy pants and state just what it is that brought you to that conclusion. (And you could try checking your own facts FIRST, then coming to a conclusion. There's this thing called Google.) But that's a lot harder to do if you only believe it because Rush Limbaugh told you to. Much easier to play the victim card: Gee, those Hollywood liberals are such meanies!