Donald Trump Versus Hollywood

How Hollywood stands exposed as bitter losers and hypocrites after a Trump victory 

Hollywood has always been politically conscious and vocal. This is not just restricted to political endorsements and campaign appearances for other candidates. Many in Hollywood have served in a variety of political positions reaching as high as the Presidency.

The elections of 2016 had most of Hollywood come out fervently in support and advocacy of Hillary Clinton. While the campaign for Hillary was passionate; there were scornful tirades were directed towards Donald Trump and even his supporters. The forums of these vitriolic outbursts, that often got profane, were not just political campaign rallies, but also expensive fund raisers, rock concerts,  comedy shows, YouTube videos and talk shows. Finally there were threats to leave the US if Trump was elected because the country would crumble without them.

Despite all this, the people had made up their mind and on Nov 8^th Donald J. Trump secured an emphatic victory to become the 45th President of the United States. For all the Hollywood luminaries who supported Clinton and who are role models for many, the ideal move should have been to use their influence to bring the nation together, support the new President and work towards the betterment of the country. If they just couldn’t bring themselves to support a man they so despised, perhaps a dignified silence would have been appropriate to respect the popular mandate.

But instead there was amplification of viciousness that commenced during the campaign. There was an endless and almost nauseating display of self-righteous indignation. Bruce Springsteen unleashed on Trump for promoting 'bigotry, racism and intolerance' and terming his policies are nothing but 'lies'. Comedienne Amy Schumer had a meltdown where she called Trump Voters 'Kicking, Screaming Babies'. Lena Dunham claimed that she broke out in hives, cried after the Trump victory. Like all previous tirades, baseless charges racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia and general bigotry were leveled.

A brood of forgotten television stars led by Martin Sheen created a video urging electors to ‘vote their conscience’ and vote for somebody other than Trump since they deemed him unprepared and unsuitable.

But the worst of it all was saved for the Golden Globes, here Meryl Streep was honored with a life time achievement award. But instead of thanking her audience and her colleagues who made her what she is. Streep launched into a spiteful attack against Trump. She began by suggesting that Hollywood is run by 'foreigners' and if they were evicted from Hollywood what would be left was MMA and football which she assert is ‘not art’. But Trump is against illegal immigration, he has said nothing that would suggest he is against foreigners or legal immigrants. She claimed Trump of mocked a reporter for his disability. But the truth is that is a standard set of hand movements that Trump has employed while mimicking everybody from himself to Ted Cruz. She claimed Trump would try to muzzle the press. But all that Trump has said that he will hold the press accountable and will sue them if they misreported. At best Streep is utterly ignorant at worst she is a pathetic liar. But that didn’t stop the audience that largely comprising of champagne sipping millionaires with gowns and tuxedoes worth thousands of dollars from cheering and tearing up.

So is Hollywood really a place for the strictly virtuous such that they can attack Trump, look down upon the millions who voted for him and those who enjoy MMA and football for entertainment?

Let’s see how Hollywood ranks on the issues racism, sexism, xenophobia, and homophobia, the reason they give for hating Trump and his supporters. We look for answers to the following questions

How many leading men and women in Hollywood are not white? You can count them on the fingers of your right hand. How many leading men and women in Hollywood originate from to Asia? There are none. 

How many leading men and women in Hollywood belong to the LGBT community and are open about it? There are none. 

How many African American themed movies have won Oscars?  ‘Selma’ about MLK leading the voting rights movement was ignored (only nominated for best picture) despite being acclaimed and excelling in all departments, ‘Twelve Year a Slave’ missed winning on the important category of Best Actor and Director despite winning the best picture of that year and Will Smith was snubbed by the Oscars for his performance in Concussion despite acclaim. 

How many female directors have been nominated for the Oscars ? There are only 4 since the Oscars were instituted in 1929

There have also been instances of White Actors being cast in roles meant for non-whites, who can forget Mikey Rooney’s playing a Chinese gentleman in Breakfasts at Tiffany, or Emma Stone playing a character who is one quarter Chinese and one quarter Hawaiian in Aloha or Jake Gyllenhaal playing the Prince of Persia or Johnny Depp playing a native American in Long Ranger. Let’s not forget the racist exchange between liberal Democrat Hollywood bigshots Amy Pascal and Scott Rudin about President Obama, in which they suggest that they talk only about African American themed films with the president. Finally, there is a record women being paid less and being subject to humiliation and objectification at the hands of the powerful in Hollywood.

Is appears that if you belong to the minorities, life may not always be great in the liberal, tolerant utopia of Hollywood.

On the other hand we also see Hollywood continue to laud and fund projects for child rapist Roman Polanski. Despite being convicted of having sex with an underage girl, R Kelly continues to be celebrated. Rappers whose work often have lyrics that are anti-women and anti-police are regarded as poetic geniuses. Hillary Clinton whom Hollywood supported had a record of demonizing women who accused her husband Bill of rape and sexual misconduct. How about the material that Hollywood churns out every year? There are plenty of Hollywood films that that are lewd and crude, also promote stereotypes and objectify women and glorify violence

Do these people have any moral authority of telling regular folks whom to vote for?

Trump launched his campaign by promising to be tough on illegal immigrants not to be confused with immigrants who enter legally. This is what causes Hollywood to call Trump xenophobic and racist. The truth that unlike regular folks, no Hollywood Star has lost a job to an illegal immigrant. No Hollywood Star who want open borders, has welcomed an illegal immigrant families to their mansions. Few in Hollywood care or known about the exploitation of illegal immigrants as cheap labor by big corporations. No Hollywood star has been the victim of a crime committed by a criminal illegal alien. Many in Hollywood accused Trump of being incompetent. Well, even before becoming President, Trump has negotiated deals with Carrier, Ford and Fiat to keep thousands of jobs in America. Nobody can deny that securing jobs for his countrymen was the right thing to do. Many in Hollywood claim that Trump will start another war, the truth is Trump was fervently against foreign wars such as the Iraq, in fact liberal Democrats and Obama seem very keen to begin a war with Russia over ‘hacking’ claims. Many ladies in Hollywood claim Trump is anti-women but the truth is that Trump appointed Kelly Ann Conway who is the first female campaign manager for the GOP, Trump is also a pioneer in employing women in real estate all through his career. Many in Hollywood accused Trump of being Homophobic, but the truth is that he is the first GOP nominee to pledge support for the LGBT community at the GOP convention. Finally they claim that Trump will muzzle press, but there is no evidence that he will do any such thing. In fact the Obama administration has set a new record (77 percent reject) for withholding Freedom of Information Act requests and used the Espionage Act more than any other government to prosecute whistleblowers who leak to journalists.

Most of the regular folks are sick of the career politicians who promise change but upon getting elected focus on serving themselves and their rich cronies. Donald Trump has resonated with millions owing to his strong record of achievement in business and promising to deal with issues such as the economy, security, health care and immigration. So far he has achieved more than any other President elect, his cabinet is populated with individuals with strong record in business and leadership. Prospects for a Trump administration are looking very bright indeed.

What most of the powers that be in Hollywood seem to forget is that every single endeavor in the entertainment industry functions because of the patronage of regular folks. The reason they have sprawling mansions, luxurious cars and yachts is because regular folks spent their hard earned money on the product they put out. Superstardom is achieved because thousand regular folks gather at a film premier for one glimpse of their favorite star. If these regular folks turn their backs on Hollywood, there would be nothing left.

Thus when these people attend concerts or comedy shows or watch TV shows or movies, to they do not want to be lectured about how they should lead their lives, whom they should think or how deplorable they are for voting a certain way. All they deserve is a big and profound “Thank You” and a healthy dose of entertainment.

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