Hollywood Reporter actually posted an article A New McCarthyism today, following the theme of a lot of what I’ve posted about over the last few months, from my own local convention shunning me over politics, to Marvel Comics’ apparent litmus test of only hiring writers of the extreme left persuasion. This isn’t in Hollywood alone, but it’s something that’s across the entertainment industry from music, to writing, to comics, to games, and then to Hollywood itself. It’s actually far worse in some of the other forms of entertainment. I’ve posted up some of the direct name calling and shunning in public that’s been done to me by people like J. Michael Straczynski, hollywood writer, and Sharon Lee from science fiction publishing. As well as the doxxing that one of my former favorite bands The Early November did after they went off on a bizarre swearing tirade about the President on their twitter. The message is clear:
If you do not follow the groupthink exactly, you are not welcome here, and we will disavow you.
It’s frightening, and it’s pretty awful what’s going on. Hollywood Reporter of course did their standard virtue signalling of “well a lot of people are afraid”. It’s not about fear, it’s about whole industries wantonly discriminating against Conservatives and Christians. It’s been going on for a long time it’s just now more pronounced than ever.
Even in that, Hollywood Reporter DOES report what’s going on:
In an astonishing reversal of Hollywood history, just as liberals here once considered themselves an endangered species, so do conservatives today. They no longer are free to talk in the open, because they feel — rightly — we’re no longer prepared to listen, any more than they’re prepared to listen to liberals. There’s deafness on both sides.
Tim Allen made headlines this week when he groused: “You gotta be real careful around here. You get beat up if you don’t believe what everybody else believes. This is like ’30s Germany.” It’s nothing like Nazi Germany, and he undermines his point by so exaggerating it — but there’s some truth to what he says.
Think I’m wrong? Imagine what Mel Gibson or Vince Vaughn must have felt at the Golden Globes. I couldn’t help wondering how the crowd would have reacted if they had spoken out instead of Meryl Streep. While she was given an ovation, they’d have been booed off the stage.
And that worries me. Because nobody should be afraid to speak. Freedom of speech means freedom for all, for our opponents as well as ourselves.
“Our opponents” really shouldn’t be in a journalistic article like that talking about this, as that’s the mindset that causes this. It tells even how entertainment journalism has these very issues. But, it’s good enough for a start. And it’s good news that this is getting whistle blown even to this kind of level. It means the culture is starting to change, starting to shift. We’ve won the country, despite the screaming, and now after generations of neglect, we have an opportunity to start taking the culture back from the communist degenerates who want nothing more than to bring this great civilization down, the very civilization that gave them the ability to produce their art like never before.
Your call to action: Back in 2010, I was at a bar with Andrew Breitbart, drinking beer and having a great time. He was adamant then that the most important thing we can do is not let the culture get to this point. That our voices need to be heard in schools, in art, in entertainment. If you look at the renaissance, it used to be that way. The best art in the world has been produced by Christians to value and honor God. The gatekeepers have kept any and all of that silent since the late 1960s. Produce your own art. Make your own platform. Support artists who share your values. It’s the only way to produce real change, that will shift the culture over time to where it can be safe again to speak your true beliefs in these circles.
Diversity of ideas is the most important one. And as history has shown, a society which only follows one ideology and silences opposing views will always lead to oppression. I see the same views you critic in German & European media.
Thank tech we can publish our own art now, without having to appease to gatekeepers. And we can choose to do which creators to support with our hard-earned cash and which to shun.
I wouldn’t recommend you holding your breath that the message is actually starting to sink in, Jon. Blue as a skin color only works for cartoons and people whose paychecks are signed by James Cameron. 😛
While past performance isn’t necessarily an indication of future results (to borrow from the financial services ad disclaimer), every time someone has had a light go on like in the article in question, it’s soon snuffed out by the mental suffocation of Groupthink, often without more than a faint whisper of protest.
They won’t if we leave it alone for sure. That’s why I keep pressing.
One of the biggest ironies here is that J. Michael Straczynski’s father was actually on the Hollywood Blacklist during the McCarthy era.
Yes but that’s a blacklist not questioning “settled science”. How dare someone do that sort of blasphemy!
There’s a reason I work as I do in my own space as indicated elsewhere to you, Jon- games, providing the tools for Authors, Screenwriters, etc.
I’m tired of the bullshit. We both are.
Hadn’t heard Straczynski had gone off on you… That’s a shame, mate! What happened?
‘Course, I was also flummoxed by Peter David’s coming out party, so clearly I can’t judge these guys very well.