Which side of the political divide has gone Hollywood?

August 17, 2006

At first glance, this seemed like a story of little or no consequence.

Nicole Kidman has made a public stand against terrorism. The actress, joined by 84 other high-profile Hollywood stars, directors, studio bosses and media moguls, has taken out a powerfully-worded full page advertisement in today’s Los Angeles Times newspaper.

It specifically targets “terrorist organisations” such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine.

“We the undersigned are pained and devastated by the civilian casualties in Israel and Lebanon caused by terrorist actions initiated by terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas,” the ad reads. “If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die. We need to support democratic societies and stop terrorism at all costs.”

It wasn’t just Kidman; other actors who signed onto the full-page ad include Michael Douglas, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, and Bruce Willis.

Not knowing any of these people personally, and not having much interest in celebrities, I didn’t find the statement particularly noteworthy — which is why I was a little surprised by the outpouring of responses on the right. You know, the ones who frequently complain about Hollywood?

There was no shortage of conservative blogs that were thrilled by the entertainers’ ad, some even suggesting Hollywood was finally turning over a more conservative leaf.

Maybe, maybe not, but to borrow a line from Stephen Colbert, aren’t conservatives supposed to believe that the entertainment industry is “destroying America”?

I certainly don’t mind if performers become politically active; I think everyone should be. But the right sometimes seems to have an odd fixation with entertainers, preferring to rail against Michael Moore and Barbara Streisand instead of … what’s the word I’m looking for here … more politically significant rivals.

I think Steve at No More Mister Nice Blog has stumbled upon an uncomfortable fact.

…I don’t get my opinions from entertainers. I don’t take what they say all that seriously. The only people who do are you guys.

You actually read Barbra Streisand’s semi-literate blog. You care when Sean Penn goes on some embarrassing politicized junket. You still pay attention to Jane Fonda.

You’re the guys who can’t tell the difference between entertainers and politicians. The only actor to be elected president? A Republican. The only actor who’s currently a governor? A Republican. NFL football player running for governor? Republican. I could go on.

You’re stagestruck. You’re Hollywood-obsessed. You’re jealous. Come on — admit it.

I would add to this that high-ranking Republican officials rely on entertainers/novelists for science advice, and appoint actors like Ron Silver to be members of the Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace.

And Republicans want voters to think the Dems have gone Hollywood?

I never really got it either. Wealthy people, for the most part, like republicans because they have always been friendly to large incomes/estates.

  • It’s nice to see this being talked about. I’ve often wondered why Republicans get a pass on this–there’s not much evidence that anyone cares about what Jon Bon Jovi or Barbara Streisand think, but Republicans aren’t just attracted to celebrities but vote for them time after time after time. Just throw a dart at a map and you’ll find someone. Just off the top of my head you’ve got:

    Reagan as governor, Ventura (“independent,” but come on), Schwarzenegger, J.C. Watts (star quarterback at Oklahoma), Tom Osborne (hall of fame coach at Nebraska), Sonny Bono, Jim Bunning (major league pitcher, pitched perfect game), Fred Thompson (actor), Fred Grandy (actor), Steve Largent (hall of fame NFL receiver), J.D. Hayworth (Arizona sportscaster), Connie Mack(s) (both the grandson and great-grandson of Major League hall of fame manager), Jack Kemp (NFL quarterback), Jim Ryun (track star, Olympian), George Felix Allen (son of Super Bowl coach of the Washington D.C. Redskins).

    Then you’ve got all the swings-and-misses, like the attempts to recruit first Mike Ditka then Ted Nugent (?!) to take over for Jack Ryan in Illinois, before shipping in Alan Keyes. And the WaPo reported in April that the Virginia Republican Party was working over ex-Redskin Hall of Famer Darrell Green, trying to convince him to run for state senate.

    Most of that group ought to be tumbling out of a VW Bug, not attracting votes in the greatest democracy on earth.

    “Shut up and sing” indeed.

  • “If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die.”

    Unless the deaths are from a 500-pound JDAM dropped by an F-16 on an apartment building where terrorists MIGHT be, then it’s “collateral damage”, and that’s okay. Because it’s the terrorists’ fault.

  • Republicans scream about Hollywood types because they’re easy to scapegoat, not because the repubs think they actually have a significant influence on voters. Big time Hollywoodites make a lot of money relative to the amount of work they do, their antics and love lives are constantly spotlighted, and they do tend to be more liberal (Big time CEOs probably also make a lot of money relative to the work they do, but they aren’t nearly as interesting and they tend to be righties). So it’s just easier, and the republican political mindset is clearly that it’s easier to demagogue than it is to actually have a discussion wherein they might be expected to back up their position.

  • It wasn’t just Kidman; other actors who signed onto the full-page ad include Michael Douglas, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, and Bruce Willis.

    Haven’t most of these people come out for the war already?

    “at all costs” I wonder if that means cost in money or costs in civil liberties. Maybe Sly Stone could drive a slick old hotrod in the front windows of a Mosque and become their worst nightmare, an actor with an opinion.

  • Someone do me a favor:

    Show me anyone, anywhere that has written/said anything that says we shouldn’t fight terrorism.

    I get the feeling you’ll have a hard time doing so.

    Hollywood star, athelete, political pundit, or basement-dwelling blogger — it doesn’t matter. We’re all in agreement that terrorism sucks and should be fought.

    What many of us have a problem with is the way it is being fought, the fact that Iraq has distracted us from the actuall WoT, and the concept of trashing the Consitution just to make us a “feel” safe.

    Apparently, that equals not wanting to fight terrorism. Not sure why, but for some it does.

  • Oh … and I’ll give you a dollar if you can convince me that I should give a rat’s flea infested ass what some actor/singer/director/producer thinks about anything.

  • ScottW – please remember, the Hollywood people on the left are wealthy, sure, but they mostly come from working class backgrounds. They know the worry of depending on that next paycheck.
    I have often wondered about the demonization of Michael Moore. He is actually the personification of what America is supposed to be about, the wealthy man that came up by his own work, and brought others with him.. Same with Bill Clinton, that America offers the opportunity to rise to the top by sheer personal abilities.
    No, the Republican’ts are the party of the wealthy, entitled, and entrenched. Despite their propaganda, they despise those who would get close to having as much wealth as they do, but not share the Republican’t authoritarian views.

  • Oh how important for these idiots to get together over wine and brie in their mansions and give their pocket change to place this ad in a newspaper. What a commitment of time and money!!! I forgot, their personal aides probably did all the work. Why don’t they talk their children into joining the military and make a true contribution to the war on terror for oil. Pathetic.

  • I was under the impression that it was Israel who killed the civilians in Lebanon. And didn’t WE start that little thingy in Iraq?

    Oh well. Celebrities. What do you expect.

  • Hey if the Repugs really hated Hollywood and high-profile entertainment folks then why do they have folks like Angie Harmon, Jason Sehorn and Dorothy Hamill at the 2004 Republican National Committee or others such as Bo Derek, Shannen Doherty, Tom Selleck, Patrician Heaton among others talking about supporting Republicans. Maybe they didn’t get the memo that GOoPers don’t like them.

  • Stallone?

    He must be hurting for money…have you seen the previews for the new Rocky flick?

    I suppose when Willis gets to be 80 and senile he’ll be telling folks how he fought all of those terrorists in the 80s and 90s…

  • Well, as the one person here who does know who these people are, they are all Republicans.

    Yes indeed, there are Republicans in Hollywood.

    Does everything now make sense???

    T-t-t-t-t-t-t-that’s all, folks!!

    Yer Hollywierd Reporter

  • It will be interesting to see how many of the actors who signed the ad will get acting jobs in the future. Will Barbra put her foot down?

  • Fallenwoman:

    If you had the slightest clue what you talk about, you wouldn’t be my favorite moronic fool.

    Your rightwing bullshit view of the world is about as accurate as those who think the earth is still flat. (In case you’re one of them, that’s been disproven now for something like 600 years).

    I love reading baloney from batshit nitwits like you who think you know anything about anything, particularly Hollywood.

  • Opinions from celebrities are like opinions from blog commenters or anybody else for that matter: they should be taken at face value as one person’s opinion that is agreable, neutral or disagreable to your own. The problem comes from thinking that because the opinion is a celebrity’s that it carries more weight or significance than anyone else’s. It doesn’t.

    Given Hollywood’s Jewish connection, I don’t doubt the ad was to show support for the Israeli side of the war. I don’t know if supporting Isreal is de facto support of the opinions of Republicans, the right or Bush. It very well may not be.

    But to take a gratuitous shot at the actors — other people have been telling them how to act and scripting what they say their whole lives. Who knows how much thought they actually gave to signing their names on the dotted line.

  • Fallenwoman:

    Like I said:

    “I love reading baloney from batshit nitwits like you who think you know anything about anything.”

    Please, do more. I print out every one of your posts and save them.

    For the coming toilet paper shortage.

  • Here’s a great backstage-Hollywood Bruce Willis story you won’t hear on E! Entertainment TV:

    Back in 1994, when Willis first started making $20 million a picture, he and his then-best buddy/producer Joel Silver did an interview for the LA Times where they bemoaned the high union wages paid to the below-the-line people in Hollywood as being the cause of driving up the cost of motion picture production.

    The next day, Willis was over at Sony (the old MGM lot), and parked his car in a fairly prominent space out front while he “took a meeting” in the Thalberg Building.

    When he came back, he found an enormous pile of human excrement on the hood and windshield of his car. Accounts of the sources vary from 5-6 to as many as 15 “contributors.”

    An investigation was held of this “act of terrorism” as Willis called it, committed in broad daylight at a busy location that at least 2-3,000 people must have walked past during the time he was inside at his meeting.

    Nobody saw anything.

    This ad is the first public political act Willis has taken since, though he’s been a big-time financial contributor (in private) to Arnie and the California Recovery Team, and to his good buddy Boy George II.

    He’s definitely never said anything since against those “high paid” union guys ruining Hollywood’s financial base.

    As to Stallone, he can’t even get people to buy his art (and he’s actually not bad – not great, but far from bad), let alone go to a movie he’s in. Rocky VI is currently forecast to be the first studio picture to open to negative numbers on opening weekend.

  • Entertainers are artists. Artists are connected to the world in a way that gives them a good overview of the human condition and they reflect that vision back to us in their performances/creations. They takes on what is going on in our world are the perfect medium for understanding that world. They get it on a level that few other do and their views of our world should be respected and given equal or higher billing to the views of those who are running this country into the ground. That’s what I think and I’m sticking to it.

  • Unless the deaths are from a 500-pound JDAM dropped by an F-16 on an apartment building where terrorists MIGHT be, then it’s “collateral damage”, and that’s okay. Because it’s the terrorists’ fault.

    Testify, brother!

  • ***The actress, joined by 84 other high-profile Hollywood stars, directors, studio bosses and media moguls,***

    85? That’s all they could muster—out of the hundreds within their ranks who can equally be labelled as “high-profile” within their ranks? EIGHTY-FREAKIN’-FIVE?!?

    Most of the “stars” are has-beens, doing commercials, game-show appearances, and (especially for Mr. “Someone flung poo on my car!”) working as cartoon voices. The rest of them are doing nothing more than trying to belly-up to the slop-trough before the next generation puts them on the curb. Look at the age-range of these folks—they’re sure to have appeal to Bill O’Lielly’s audience (they’re antiquated enough).

    Oh—and just for the record, one might note that NMMNB left a couple of things out. First President forced to resign for fear of impeachment? A Republican (Nixon). First Vice President to resign when on the verge of criminal indictment? A Republican (Agnew). First draft-dodging tagteam to be elcted President/Vice President? Also Republican (Bush/Cheney)….

  • Entertainers are artists. […] — FaulknA, #21

    I think this must be the main difference between Europe and US… As far as I’m concerned, _with a few exceptions_, actors are not “artists”; they’re puppets.The director is the artist, who coaxes out the best (or not) out of an actor.

    When I first came here, my husband and I would discuss a film and it was always: He: “it had such and such in it”. Me: “who directed it?” To this day, he’s more likely to watch a film because it has A , B or C in it, while I’m more likely to watch a film by a particular director whose work I liked before.

    Which is why the ad doesn’t get my blood a-coursing; I still want to know: “who directed it?”

  • Unholy Moses makes an excellent point in post #6. Why should taking a stand condemning terrorism and lamenting civilian casualties be considered a conservative position? We’re just buying into the lie that Democrats/liberals are weak on fighting terrorism if we let them get away with that characterization.

  • Rip,

    Praise the Lord, YESS, my brother!!

    BTW, great photo on your site. I’m going to take a stab at the caption:

    1991’s “Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man”?

    Kind of a poor-man’s “Butch and Sundance”

  • Meh. I’m unequivocally opposed to terrorism in all its forms and the use of violence and fear for political ends, that doesn’t make me a righty or a conservative. What makes one a conservative, nowadays, is they don’t care how unprincipled they become in their opposition to terrorism and violence. They don’t care how evil and violent they become themselves. By that I mean everything we’ve seen this administration do – attack countries unprovoked, institutionalize torture, illegal spying, locking people up on a mere whim, etc, etc.

  • The reason they’re obsessed has nothing to do with being starstruck, and everything to do with contributions.

    My guess is it really, really bothers Republican political operatives that Democrats can raise so much money so easily from Hollywood. They’re also pissed off that Democrats raise money from unions.

    The natural mixing among Republican politicians, political operatives, contributors, lobbyists, pundits, & bloggers means that these views seep across, by osmosis, from the moneymen to everyone else. That’s why, whatever else they may disagree about, all Repubilcans share two core beliefs:
    1. Hollywood is evil
    2. Unions are evil.

    The goal of all the Hollywood-bashing has always been to intimidate rich Hollywood contributors from giving money to Democrats (or intimidate Democrats from taking money from Hollywood – same difference). Same with unions. The long-term goal is to starve Democrats of money and assure themselves of perpetual political hegemony.

    Remember, Republicans play to win, Democrats play to tie.

  • Stallone will be “Rocky” again this winter; and next spring its Willis in the fourth “Die Hard”. Maybe the military has frontended when it should have rear-ended, taking those in their truly fit-Fifties over 19 year olds. That would end terrorism for sure.

  • They get it on a level that few other do and their views of our world should be respected and given equal or higher billing to the views of those who are running this country into the ground.

    I’m going to have to respectfully disagree on this one.

    Other than maybe Johnny Depp, DeNiro, and a few others, actors are NOT artists.

    An artist creates something that transcends generations, politics, and the society in which it is created. They give us a unique view upon the world and/or, if they’re really good, call into question the way we ourselves view the world.

    Actors simply read lines that someone else wrote (the screenwriter), and do so in a way that someone else suggests (the director). They don’t create anything.

    Cezanne, Monet, Warhol, Hemmingway, Ginsberg, Kerouac (sp?) …

    THOSE were artists.

    Stallone, Kidman, Willis … ?

    Not so much.

  • Thanks for the link, but your portrayal of me as a hypocrite belies a failure to actually read what I wrote. I began: “Yesterday I took a swipe at NewsMax for celeb bashing. Yes, celebrities are not above criticism, but they have the same God-given right to free speech that we all enjoy …”

    I ended:
    “Pretty cool. Think of that the next time someone whines about Natalie Maines.”

  • What a further waste of money from people who buy SUVs for their personal assistants (so they will continue to absorb their mental abuse), and order pedicures for the hairless pets.

    Next step: full page ads in the NYT, proclaiming “Pie good…better with ice cream”

  • Interesting how Blue Crab Blvd literally broke it down to “Wow. I didn’t realize that so and so was one of us” or “was one of us”.

    The fact that it is so about “us versus them” to so many right-wingers is important to remember.

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