On Sept. 25, 2021, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures was launched.
The cinematic experience is unique, the world over. Where else can a diverse group of people be engaged such that they forget their differences and experience almost identical emotions simultaneously?
It is also where art and technology
unite to deliver a unique mix of sound and image.
Beyond entertainment, cinema is an important module of
literature. Many films have also transcended the realms of the cinema halls to
become cultural milestones the world over.
Motion pictures have existed for over a century, hence a
museum dedicated to the magic of the movies was not just a welcome idea, it was
essential.
However, a major problem with the Museum became instantly
apparent to its patrons.
The story of Hollywood’s founding is both exceptional and
inspiring. A group of primarily Jewish émigrés arrived in America to escape antisemitic
persecution in Europe and set up what would become a multibillion-dollar
industry.
This includes Paramount Pictures co-founder Adolph Zukor,
Warner Bros. founders Harry and Jack Warner, Universal Pictures co-founder Carl
Laemmle, Columbia Pictures co-founder Harry Cohn, and MGM co-founders Sam
Goldwyn and Louis B. Mayer.
While partisan hatred may have marred the universal charms of what
used to be wholesome entertainment, Hollywood still continues to captivate audiences
globally and is likely to last as long as the human race.
Shockingly, the history of the origins of Hollywood and its
Jewish founders was conspicuous by its absence.
There was even little reference of Jewish auteurs who shaped
Hollywood. Sunset Boulevard director Billy
Wilder was the only one who had a small placard
next to one of his six Oscars that he fled Nazi Germany because of
his religion.
Anti-Defamation League CEO
Jonathan Greenblatt, responded
as follows:
“I would’ve hoped that any honest historical assessment of the
motion picture industry — its origins, its development, its growth — would
include the role that Jews played in building the industry from the ground up. As
I walked through, I literally turned to the person I was there with and said to
him, ‘Where are the Jews?’ The omission was glaring.”
Israeli-American media mogul Haim Saban and his wife Cheryl,
who made the largest donation of $50 million to the Museum told Rolling
Stone that they “firmly believe that the Jewish contributions to the
film industry, from its founding to today, should be highlighted.”
The director of the museum director and president, Bill Kramer
said:
“Representation is so important to us, including our Jewish
founders. If we are not talking about them in enough detail or more
prominently, we want to hear that and we want to respond to that. And we’re
really happy to be able to make a change and are going to course correct.”
Based on reports, this seems to be a case of exclusion and not an omission of details.
Kramer later informed Rolling
Stone that a year from now, the museum will launch an exhibit
of the founding fathers and the birth of the studio system, which will mark the
first and only permanent exhibition in the collection.
There has been scant coverage in the news media of this
scandalous exclusion.
The issue was covered by Rolling
Stone Magazine and also carried the Jewish publication Forward, the Wrap, and a
few others.
For any museum curator of any culture or organization, the top
priority should be the details of its founding. While it may be essential to include
contemporary figures in order that it appears relevant, without the founders the organization would never have existed.
It is hence outrageous and revolting that the Jewish founders of Hollywood
were
excluded. The organizers may have made amends, but it could be argued that
the damage is already done.
We have to wonder why this glaring omission occurred?
It has to be remembered that in the past, despite having
Jewish founders, many major Hollywood stars from the golden era such as Edward G Robinson, Hedy Lamarr, and Kirk Douglas were compelled to opt for stage
names to conceal their Jewish identity because of the perceived bigotry within
the industry and among audiences.
But those were the old days, contemporary Hollywood claims to celebrate a commitment to diversity and ‘representation’.
However, that commitment to diversity increasingly seems to
exclude the Jewish people who are among the most persecuted groups in the
history of mankind.
The focus is only on people of color and LGBTQ individuals.
Sarah
Silverman and Seth
Rogan, have spoken about antisemitism in contemporary Hollywood.
Perhaps woke liberal Hollywood is focused on the superficial and
hence perceive the Jewish founders as people of ‘white privilege’ who were rich, and
powerful people. Perhaps they blame these founders, much like the founding
fathers of the nation, for systemic racism within the industry and hence think the founders do
not deserve mention or respect.
Perhaps the top echelons of Hollywood, owing to their warped ideals
see Israel as an aggressor and that somehow has translated into them thinking
of the Jewish people as oppressors rather than oppressed.
In recent times there has been a blatant display of antisemitism.
Harry Potter star, Emma Watson took to
Instagram to express support for the Palestinian
cause.
Other showbiz
stars such as Susan Sarandon, Games of Throne’s star Lena Headey,
‘comedian’ John Olivier, Roger Waters, Dua Lipa, Viola
Davis, Javier
Bardem, Penélope Cruz, and even Israeli
born Natalie Portman have expressed pro-Palestinian views.
The fear among people in Hollywood is that they may be ‘canceled’
for not toeing the line.
Gal Gadot received backlash for supporting
her homeland of Israel.
Hence the stars try to make an overt demonstration to appear as true believers of the groupthink.
Today, Israel is the only truly liberal, democratic, and pluralistic state in the Middle East. It is also the only true ally the US has in the Middle East. Isreal stands for diversity and tolerance, the very ideals that Hollywood claims to strive for.
Yet the powerful in Hollywood seem to harbor an irrational dislike for Israel.
Is this plain antisemitism, masquerading as a concern for Palestinians?
What is even more amazing is prominent Jewish filmmakers have
joined the groupthink.
Even Steven Spielberg who made the masterful Schindler’s List which
was a profound tribute to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust made Munich. The film attempted to paint a false equivalence between the terrorist who
massacred Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972 and the Israeli government. It was abominable Palestinian propaganda.
The liberals in Hollywood keep falsely claiming that President
Trump and his supporters for being Neo-Nazis.
By relentlessly discriminating against the Jewish people, it is
they who are behaving like Neo Nazis
It is time for the powerful Jewish people to stand up for
this bigotry. If they can exclude the founding father of Hollywood in a museum
to celebrate showbiz, they can do anything.
The Holocaust remembrance falls on 27th January, silence at such time will be tantamount to complicity.
This article also appears on American Thinker
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