Most mainstream Hollywood continues to be driven to insanity at the mere mention of President Donald Trump.
If you ask the 'stars' the reason behind their unhinged
display, they will baselessly characterize Trump as a bigoted oppressor in
chief trampling upon the little people like Godzilla, while they see
themselves as moral beings speaking truth to power.
So how has their overall record been on speaking the truth to
other power?
How did they react to Will Smith's unprovoked assault on
comedian Chris Rock?
A violent and unhinged Smith was a security risk to others in
the Auditorium. The Academy apparently asked Smith to leave but he refused to
leave. What they should have done is summoned their security team and forced
Smith out. They should have canceled the announcement of the best actor. They
should have set up a new list of nominees and asked others to vote again and announced the winner later. The Academy should have pressed charges against Smith.
Smith’s colleagues were largely silent as the incident
occurred, they looked on with amazement and horror. Some of Smith’s colleagues
actually hugged and even consoled him, yes, they consoled the assaulter, not
the victim.
While most acceptance speeches are cut short by the Academy,
Smith was allowed to prattle along in his acceptance speech where he
attempted to project himself as a bigger victim than his victim. Smith did not
apologize to Rock. Smith’s colleagues gave him a generous round of
applause and a standing ovation.
Ideally, they should have remained seated and refused to applaud
as a matter of protest. When celebrated auteur Elia Kazan was honored with a
lifetime achievement Oscar, some academy members refused
to acknowledge or applaud Kazan. The reason is Kazan has ‘named
names’ during the McCarthy era.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YziNNCZeNs
In the following video former Bond girl, Jane Seymour was the
only star to do the obvious i.e. condemn the act of violence. The rest such
as John Voight shamefully supported Smith and Kevin Costner claimed he was
backstage hence he couldn't comment.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aiM5-iNd6uk
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe declined to weigh
in claiming to be “dramatically bored of hearing people’s opinions about it”,
the same Radcliffe didn’t hesitate to baselessly attack Harry Potter author J K
Rowling for being transphobic.
Jim Carrey, perhaps because his star is fading, was among the
few who condemned both Smith and Hollywood for their silence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd9qrDtXq0E
Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said
that the altercation “perpetuated
stereotypes” against Black people.
Adam Sandler, Howard Stern, and even Alec Baldwin also supported
Chris Rock.
What about Smith’s actions?
Chris Rock is a much shorter man than Will Smith. When Smith
struck t Rock he knew there wasn’t any physical challenge. Had the joke been
made by someone such as Sylvester Stallone or Jason Statham who have the strength
to take on Smith and even knocked him down cold, Smith would probably remain
in his place and laughed it off.
Also, Rock is a standup comedian who does comic supporting parts
in movies, Rock is considerably lower in the hierarchy of power compared to
Smith. What if someone with the power of Steven Spielberg or Studio Head had
made that joke, Smith once again would have taken it with a smile.
In assaulting Chris Rock, Smith was punching down both
literally and metaphorically.
The fact remains that words have to be countered by words,
Smith’s act of violence was totally, completely, and utterly wrong. There are
no complexities in this issue.
But Smith is a major Hollywood star with considerable clout
which is why Hollywood is not speaking truth to power or comforting the
afflicted.
But this isn’t the only time Hollywood has displayed cowardice
and selfishness.
Harvey Weinstein was a serial abuser who subjected women to
unspeakable violence. Most within Hollywood knew what Harvey was up to.
But Harvey was powerful in Hollywood and could make and indeed
break careers. Hence everybody chose silence.
In fact, they were eager to honor and flatter Weinstein.
Jennifer Lawrence who once bragged about hurling obscenities at
Trump indulged in an obsequious display before Weinstein. When Meryl Streep
received a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes, instead of
thanking her peers and her fans, she dedicated her speech to bashing
Trump. But Streep too was an ardent admirer of Weinstein.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPpoKquOG5Q
Another
Trump basher, Brad Pitt, confronted and apparently threatened to
kill Weinstein for sexually harassing his then-girlfriend Gwyneth
Paltrow, this occurred in 1995. Pitt however didn’t expose Weinstein to the world which would
have saved many women. He just made sure that his loved one was protected. He
didn’t want to risk losing meaty roles in Weinstein-produced movies. Pitt starred in 'Inglorious Basterds' (2009) and 'Killing Them Softly' (2012)
which were produced by Weinstein.
Now that Weinstein is in prison and it is powerless, myriad film actresses have miraculously mustered the courage to come forward with their horror stories. Had they exposed Weinstein
sooner, many innocent women would have been saved from unspeakable trauma. But
they placed their careers first. Yet these women call themselves feminists and
participated in the Women’s March to protest Trump’s inauguration in 2017.
The Me Too movement exposed similar cowardly behavior towards
sexual predators such as Kevin Spacey, Charlie Rose, and Matt Lauer. Superior
and colleagues merely claimed ignorance about predatory behaviors
since the perpetrator was a powerful star.
Many Hollywood stars appear in movies and TV series by Amazon
Studios and Apple TV. They do not care or dare to question Apple for
their sweatshops in China or Amazon for exploiting
their workers who happen to be regular people.
What about China?
Action star John Cena during
an interview with Taiwanese media said that Taiwan is the first country that
can watch his movie. It was an innocuous remark, but Cena was so petrified of
losing the Chinese market that he immediately posted a video in which he
apologized to China.
Many other stars such as Trump-bashing basketball player
LeBron James remain mum on China’s poor record on Democracy and the systemic persecution
of the Uyghurs.
None at the Oscars dared to speak about Afghanistan where for
almost 200s Days teenage girls have been banned by the Taliban from attending
schools. The reason is that the mess was caused by Democrat Joe Biden. They know critics
of Biden have a short career expectancy in Hollywood.
How do they react to those who speak truth to the powerful?
‘Comedian’ Stephen Colbert called Fox News Reporter Peter
Doocy "a ridiculous man" and implied Doocy deserved a slap because
of a tough question he posed to Biden
Clearly, they have no concern for regular people and interest
in speaking truth to power when they stand to lose financially.
Even their Trump hatred may just be a charade to keep their
careers alive.
These are a cowardly and self-centered group that shamelessly wag
their tales before the powerful. Their self-righteousness prevents them from comprehending
their hypocrisy.
What can you do as an audience?
You just walk away, their plummeting box office numbers and TV
ratings are proof that the movement began a long time ago, and their recent display
will merely hasten the abandonment.
This also appears on American Thinker!
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