Conservatives (heart) Hollywood — Part II

August 28, 2006

To follow up on an item from a couple of weeks ago, I’m still not fascinated by Hollywood, but I am fascinated by the right’s fascination with [tag]Hollywood[/tag].

I was perusing the conservative blogs, as I do every day for one of my other gigs, and I found a few far-right sites talking about last night’s [tag]Emmy[/tag] Awards program. Then it was more than a few. Soon, it was far more than I ever would have expected.

* Some claimed it was mean of Conan O’Brian to mock Fox News so soon after two Fox News reporters were freed from a hostage crisis.

* One high-profile conservative thought the Emmy’s were important enough to live-blog the awards ceremony.

* I lost count of how many conservative blogs were offended by a skit, parodying “Lost” and featuring a plane crash, which started last night’s show. Apparently, many on the right were offended by the timing — the plane crash yesterday in Kentucky was too fresh on people’s minds. Wizbang’s comments, in particular, stood out:

Unfortunately, though, the folks in Hollywood last night probably didn’t even know there was a plane crash. The Hollywood-types are so far removed, not only physically but emotionally as well, from what happens in fly-over country that the producers and the stars in attendance might as well be on another planet.

I didn’t watch the awards and I have no idea whether the skit in question was over-the-line or not. Regardless, if the entertainment industry is such a blight on our culture, why on earth are so many conservatives writing so often about Hollywood? If the industry is so far removed from real Americans and their values, a) why did all of these conservatives watch the show; and b) why are they all writing about it today?

I think No More Mr. Nice Blog is on to something here: conservatives really are star-struck.

This whole Conservative love-hate Hollywood obsession is like the preacher who is so anti-pornography that all he (or she) can do is get their hands on and watch as much pornography as possible, then tell anyone who will listen all about it.

Honestly, who could spend their time live blogging the Emmys while multiple bomb blasts were ripping through NATO nation Turkey (borders on Iraq no less). How insensitive of these people!

BTW, I saw the opening of the Emmy’s and it was a complete and total re-creation of the show Lost that it was unmistakable. It was also over to top with sight gags etc. I might note there was also a segment where Conan was in a South Park Episode that poked fun at Tom Cruise being gay (anti-gay and anti-hollywood where was the talk about that). Another segment was about 24 where Conan used the resources usually reserved for anti-terror crusader and all American Jack Bauer. Later on Conan sang in the monologue making fun of NBC flogging ratings (anti-corporatism?). Honestly go find something important to do! Shouldn;t you be out looking for the link between Iraq and 9/11?

  • I bet they were really incensed at Jeremy Piven’s acceptance speech and probably accused him of promoting pornography and homosexuality. His speech was hilarious.

    With his voice cracking, he confided in the audience that while in his early 20s, his agent had told him he wouldn’t work until he was in his mid-40s. Piven said acting was his life. “I thought: ‘I don’t know what to do for 17 years. Do I become a fluffer?’ “

    http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/accent/143991

  • Elmer Gantry covered this topic pretty thoroughly. Remember all those TeeVee preachers who were unfaithful to their wives (then sobbed about it after being discovered)? All those pedophile (or maybe ephebophile) Roman Catholic priests?

  • Let’s do something constructive. Here are three suggestions for avoiding Kentucky Style plane crashes:

    Tags: Lexington, Kentucky Blue Grass Airport, Conair, Comair, CRJ-100 jet, Flight 5191, National Transportation Safety Board, FAA, NTSB, Federal Aviation Administration

    I guess this is too obvious, so nobody’s done it.

    Color code the runways by length.

    At either end of the runways, right in front of the takeoff apron prep area, 3 foot wide painted bars, 10 of them, 50 feet apart. At least do this for the shorter runways. You could list the actual length, to be fancy, but color would be best. Apparently runways are already marked with distance warnings, big black “3” for three thousand feet left, etc, at various points down the runway.

    Or:

    RFID chip like device on plane, which identifies the plane by make and model.

    If such a plane reaches a takeoff apron prep area of a runway too short, alarms go off in the cockpit and the tower.

    Third possibility:

    Radio with tight directional beam broadcasting straight down the runway, broadcasting the runway length. Receiver in plane connected to safety interlock that at least sounds an alarm, and perhaps locks up the engines, unless an override is depressed.

    posted by SkiTheStars @ 7:58 AM

    Douglas Keachie

  • I suppose if they were so offended by the “Lost” skit then they think we should get rid of “Lost”. A plane crash is the premise of the entire dang show……

  • Well, of course the Reich blogs are upset about the Kentucky plane crash. The way Kentucky voted in ’04, there were probably more Republicans on the plane than there were Democrats…..

  • Its just the usual ‘Hollywood = Babylon’ boilerplate.

    It beats original thought, and stirs up the troops.

  • Why is the Right fascinated with Hollywood? Well, as someone who lives and works in the belly of the beast, this is my observation:

    Typically, the talentless are always fascinated with the thing they can never achieve, since getting through the gates does require talent. You see them all over the place out here, and they end up bitter never-were’s, ranting at Little Green Snotballs with the rest of life’s losers.

    The Right is by definition talentless, which is why they are righties. Ever see the program on Nazi Art, the stuff that Hitler (failed artist) promoted after he got rid of all the work by the talented artists who created Expressionism and such? Second rate, represenational, sentimental crap.

    Art (and yes, there is such an animal hiding in the deep forests here in Okeefenokee West) by definition challenges Things As They Are. Thus, it is impossible for someone who wants to bow down and be a fluffer to those with authority to do the work. (Yes, there are lots of fluffers-to-authority out here, but you don’t know their names and never will, because they will never create anything more memorable than a half-bad blowjob)

    The Right hates great work like “Rescue Me,” “The Shield” and “the Sopranos” (how it is that two of those are on a network owned and run by Fox is something I have yet to figure out), but the first two of those I just mentioned are marvelous studies of what happens to those we ask to protect us from the world. “The Office” is the best and most truthful look at the workplace you can come up with – and of course the righties all hate it because we know which character they all are. And all of those shows challenge Things As They Are Perceived To Be. “24” might be the right’s favorite show, but the truth of that show is they are showing what would happen if the right’s fantasies did come true. What? They think the son of Donald Sutherland is one of them????

    Actually, if you really want to understand Hollywood and why righties mostly can’t make it here, watch Entourage. Can you imagine any blogger at RedState getting invited to any of those parties???? (BTW – Jeremy Piven has Ari down cold, no wonder he won, but then he’s had 17 years to watch all the Aris he’s had for agents)

  • I’ll repeat what what I said when CB posted about this last time.

    It has nothing to do with being “starstruck”.

    It has everything to do with money.

    Republicans believe – yes, they really believe – that if it weren’t for Hollywood and labor union contributions to Democrats they would be the sole political party in the US. It bothers them – it gnaws on them – it costs them sleep – that there are non-conservative candidates and causes that are able to raise serious money.

    So they spend a huge amount of time railing about two types of issues. These are the two issues that all conservatives – paleos, neos, libertarians, christianists, isolationists, reactionaries, “moderates” – agree on:
    1. Hollywood is evil.
    2. Unions are evil.

    Attacks on Hollywood for being immoral or “out of touch” have nothing to do with whether or not they care about entertainment – remember some of them, like Jack Abramoff, jump at the chance to produce “entertainment”, or at least a warped, conservative kind of entertainment.

    These attacks have everything to do with intimidating actors, directors, producers from contributing to Democrats, and intimidating Democrats from taking their money.

    That’s all there is to it. End of story. Follow the money.

  • I buy BC’s arguments.

    Of course, there is always the Tipper Gore/Joe Lieberman “We want to parent for you so you don’t have to” liberalism that sticks in my throat. But with luck, the two of them will never be an issue again 😉

  • I think rightwingers are always eager to ass-kiss the authoritariat. And (pop) culturally Hollywood is King. BC makes some good points, but I think there’s always a psychological aspect to these things. Or in the case of wingnuts, just a psycho aspect.

  • It wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that the right thinks nudity and foul language in movies/music are responsible for the demise of civilization would it ??

  • If someone tells you it was too soon just ask them how long do you have to wait? Is it a function of how many people died? What’s the formula for time following a catastrophic event to depict a unrelated and only vaguely similar skit?

    I think the plane crash in Kentucky was preventable and stupid so should we all take a hiatus from carelessness and stpidity for a certain period? If so, I hope it lasts until after the elections.

  • Don’t think that conservatives don’t care about Hollywood or it’s denizens, it’s just that anyone with any cache in popular culture is against what the wingnuts and their politcal heroes stand for. I remember at the Cowardly Cowboys’ last inauguration the Bush twins were distraught that nobody “cool” was appearing or performing at any of the parties. Let’s face it, Ron Silver, Dennis Miller and Larry the Cable Guy don’t ooze excitement or sex appeal.

  • “It wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that the right thinks nudity and foul language in movies/music are responsible for the demise of civilization would it ?” – ScottW

    Why do conservatives care about civilization anyway? Civilization is the art of living in cities. Conservatives all live in the Suburbs or Xburbs. Don’t expect to see any of them actually ‘living’ in a city. Only liberals and the poor live ‘in’ cities.

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