I don’t think there is any saving Hollywood from the clutches of fanaticism. There is still too much pressure from the wealthy and privileged ruling class, who insist that politics is everything. Take, for instance, the kind and generous bravery of the Berlinale Film Festival, which dared to go against the fanatics by asking them to leave politics out of it.
Wim Wenders made the mistake of attempting to free art from politics.
Yes, thank you! If only the Oscars and every other award show here would follow suit. IF ONLY.
No one wants to hear a single word from celebrities anymore about politics, but for the small group of No Kings protesters and progressives who think they should use their power to– oh, I don’t know — genuflect? Virtue signal? Yes, because then the mob won’t come for them.
They throw a fit over this. They throw a fit at another festival because someone made some comment about female cinematographers the scolds didn’t like. Remember when Oscar nominee Coralie Fargreat did this?
DO WHAT WE WANT OR ELSE!
How to keep those deals coming, those great headlines coming? Why, virtue signaling, of course. They only want one kind of person to watch their movies, after all. Or perhaps they have an inflated sense of importance now and haven’t kept up with the story that Hollywood is collapsing.
It’s an easy game they all play. You get to keep everything — your millions, your massive mega-mansions, your great seat at the restaurant, your studio deals, your “projects” that are infused with so much slanted dogma almost no one can stand watching them anymore – and the small price you have to pay is to MAKE A STATEMENT!
Look there! It’s Mark Ruffalo prattling on about the Latest Thing. It was Gaza, but then it shifted to ICE OUT. That’s their new virtue signal over here. But not in Europe. It’s still Israel and Gaza because the oppressor/oppressed fundamentalism only has a few designated groups, and Free Palestine is still among them.
So Adam McKay and others think that if someone shoves a microphone in the face of some actor or filmmaker, their saying a thing about Gaza will make ANY DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER. Newsflash: it doesn’t. Not even a tiny bit. If you want to do something, go there. Spend your money. Sponsor families. Donate. Raise money. Do something, but for the love of all things holy, SHUT THE HELL UP.
More than 80 current and former participants of the Berlinale have signed an open letter to the festival condemning what it claims has been its “silence” when it comes to the conflict in Gaza and the “censoring” of artists who have spoken out.
Actors Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Angeliki Papoulia, Saleh Bakri, Tatiana Maslany, Peter Mullan and Tobias Menzies, as well as directors Mike Leigh, Lukas Dhont, Nan Goldin, Miguel Gomes, Adam McKay and Avi Mograbi are among the signatories of the letter, which says they “expect the institutions in our industry to refuse complicity in the terrible violence that continues to be waged against Palestinians.”
Or don’t shut up. Keep spouting your pet causes, the ones deemed convenient and won’t get you into any trouble. Make politics everything. But don’t be surprised when we tune you out and stop watching your films. Who would want to, by now? That is why movies are bombing here. That is why the Springsteen movie bombed. He, too, exists in a fantasy world of his own making, where he is “doing good work” standing up to Trump. It’s just that he doesn’t read the room either. He’s fighting for the ruling class. He is defending the aristocracy. Who cares?
The most heartbreaking realization is how not very smart celebrities are, no offense. When Ethan Hawke talks about “fascism” he does so without realizing that if we were living in a fascist country he’d be dead or in jail, as would all celebrities. Everyone would be dead or in jail in a fascist country. Fascism means “conform or else.” That’s much closer to what has happened on the Left. If Ethan Hawke or Adam McKay ever did so much as humanize the Right their careers would be over. They live in a hell of their own making but they are free to say and do whatever they want.
Every day, it’s some new thing where people who can’t shut up, never shut up, speak freely and loudly all of the time, have nearly 100% of the culture all to themselves – every talk show, every network, almost every streaming platform – bleat out the word “censorship.”
They have said not a word in the past ten years as Hollywood was consumed by mass hysteria and cancel culture. I did. I spoke up, and eventually, the mob came for me too. Why? A joke on Twitter. Nearly all of the studios now refuse to advertise on my site to punish me for my opinions — I never would have thought the “free speech” crowd were such strident totalitarians at heart, but THEY ARE. They feel emboldened to destroy the careers of the non-compliant, then turn around and call themselves the heroes of free speech. What a joke.
That’s nothing compared to the fantasy world of people like Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, who routinely cry about censorship when A) you couldn’t pay people to watch their shows, and B) they never shut up! Ever! Not about anything. They can say whatever they want all of the time, anywhere, at any award show, on any late-night television show. No one is censoring them except themselves. Why? Because even Adam McKay is scared shitless about getting canceled himself, and he knows it because everyone knows it, it’s just that none of them will talk about it.
These are not brave people. These are cowards. It’s understandable. Not everyone can lose everything, as I did, just for speaking out and exercising my freedom of speech. These guys don’t. They’re happy to be part of the most totalitarian movement to ever overtake Hollywood, leaving the 1950s blacklists in the dust. None of the great stories of our time will even be told because the Left can’t offend themselves. Their balls are in a vice by progressive activists, and they know it.
No one will tell the story of Evergreen College, which would make a great screenplay. This was 2017, before things got REALLY bad.
Nothing that happened in the Summer of 2020 will ever be told unless it’s to demonize the Right over January 6th. Nothing that happened on the Left has been addressed, even a little bit. Only Ari Aster had the courage to tip a toe in with Eddington. No one else, certainly not Adam McKay, would dare.
You think anyone will buy a screenplay about how they pushed out Joe Biden and installed Kamala Harris? Nope. You think they’ll tell the story of girls who are fighting to play fairly in sports against biological boys? Nope. Never gonna happen. Why? Because this group — every single one of the 80 people who signed this letter – are going along with the culture of silence and the climate of fear, the blacklists, the mass delusion that makes them falsely believe they are cosplaying World War II.
Rather than address any of that, they’re happy to participate in an industry that silences people — and half the country — because they are deemed “dangerous” and “toxic” to utopia.
Say whatever you want to say. You are not oppressed. No one is censoring you. The Berlinale, like some others, would like for politics to be left aside to allow for art to breathe — just for one second, and even that is too much for these people. My goodness.
Dear Hollywood, please understand that you are not the center of the universe. Maybe you were once. You aren’t anymore. People are bored by you and your unending self-importance. Read the room. Let art survive outside the walls of the totalitarian Doomsday Bunker. I beg of you. It’s almost over anyway. AI is coming, and AI doesn’t care about offending people and won’t adhere to the rules of Woketopia like all of you do. Your days are numbered. READ THE ROOM.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.awardsdaily.com ’
