Audiences Abandon Hateful Hollywood

“I sincerely apologize for my lapse of judgment, … for causing such dismay and heartbreak to my fans. … Regretfully, I did not take into consideration that my performing for the [Trump inaugural] concert would actually instead be taken as a political act against my own personal beliefs and be mistaken for support of Donald Trump and Mike Pence.” – cowed Broadway songbird Jennifer Holliday

To coin a new phrase, intolerant Hollywood is “Streeped” (rather than steeped) in liberal fascism. Tony Award-winner Jennifer Holliday had participated in presidential inauguration festivities since Ronald Reagan. That included four presidents, Democrats and Republicans alike. Why then the firestorm of criticism and n-word profanity for her agreeing to perform at last Thursday’s “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration”? In 2017, how is singing at a pro-American event suddenly “offensive”? Yet, Ms. Holliday’s dogmatic Hollywood overlords misconstrued her authentic patriotism as a public act of defiance. Their marching orders to her (and others) were unequivocal: perform for Trump and you’ll never work in this town again. So, she didn’t: Sieg Heil!

Hitting a crescendo in the polarizing Obama years, Hollywood—in absolute lockstep with the propagandist MSM—has been politically weaponized. Therefore, is it any wonder that an article last June in Vanity Fair reported: “2016 is on track to be Hollywood’s worst year for ticket sales in a century”? Hollywood’s overt, anti-patriotism has made it radioactive to its middle America movie-skipping audience. You know, the salt of the earth folks populating the vast spaces outside of Democrats’ cosmopolitan urban centers. This Silent Majority elected President Donald Trump. Those sick of being demonized by failed Democratic politicians as “deplorables”—and lectured to by Hollywood limousine liberals who “know better” than the rest of us.

To be fair, the underlying economics of this steady decline are complex. They include high ticket prices, a preponderance of sequels and reboots (read: a lack of original material) and a host of fingertip entertainment options including satellite TV, and paid streaming services like Netflix. However, the vital element not factored into any of these calculations is the widening left-right cultural divide.

A-list Hollywood actors are the best at playing make-believe. Essentially, these surrogates function as attractive movie props. Thus, they parrot the ideas of off-screen, invisible others. In cinema classic “Sunset Boulevard” (1950) character Joe Gillis (played by William Holden) admitted:

“Audiences don’t know somebody sits down and writes a picture; they think the actors make it up as they go along.”

He’s right. Actors convey the writer’s words, feelings—and most importantly, message. That’s why Hollywood types—when speaking for themselves—come off as condescending, entitled and phony. Even someone as exalted as Meryl Streep. Indeed, her Golden Globe anti-Trump rant disrespected and alienated millions of American voters. Further, her unwarranted criticism of the then President-elect showed a fundamental lack of fairness. And given her lack of good faith, what loyal American will spend hard earned dollars to watch her future films?

These Hollywood elites are very well paid visual placeholders in a story. Nothing more. Their power depends on their ability to fill increasingly empty chairs in entertainment venues. What has-been “Sunset” actress Norma Desmond (played by Gloria Swanson) called, “Those wonderful people out there in the dark!” Our modern-day equivalent to this character is the deluded, self-important Meryl Streep.

Her ilk will quickly discover that Trump’s America is a new paradigm. Unfortunately, for regurgitating imaginary grievances, Ms. Streep is not the most atrocious example. That title goes to washed up actress and singer Madonna. At Saturday’s misguided Women’s March on Washington, the Material Girl provocateur publicly proclaimed she had “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.” In true Orwellian fashion—after understandable blowback—she clarified she had actually intended a ‘revolution of love’. What two-faced Clinton style ‘is’-word gobbledygook! Madonna’s un-American totalitarianism is crystal clear.

Expressed anarchy is not free speech. It’s a call to violence—inciting potential criminal acts—and advocating sedition. Consequently, the superficial shine is rapidly fading from loud-mouthed celebrity egotists. And only time will tell if anti-American know-nothings—exemplified by Streep and ‘Madge’—will suffer forgotten Norma Desmond’s fate. The new sunset is “Streeped” Hollywood: those marginalized for imposing themselves as ideologues instead of simply entertaining. These left-wing poseurs should stick to their prepared scripts (or sheet music). They need not play politics too, by spewing Hitlerian hate from the nearest MSM microphone.

David L. Hunter is an Associate Editor at “Capitol Hill Outsider.” He’s on Twitter and blogs at davidlhunter.blogspot.com. He is published in The Washington Post, The Washington Times, “FrontPage Mag,” and extensively in “Patriot Post,” “Canada Free Press” and “American Thinker.”