{"id":1278,"date":"2017-01-17T18:34:46","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T02:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/?p=1278"},"modified":"2017-01-18T04:39:01","modified_gmt":"2017-01-18T12:39:01","slug":"hollywoods-political-bias-its-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2017\/01\/hollywoods-political-bias-its-money.html","title":{"rendered":"Context: Hollywood’s Political Bias? It’s Money"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Unquestionably, a majority of the people who work in Hollywood lean politically left. More than lean, in many cases. But how much of their politics makes it onto the big screen? Rory Carroll takes up the question in the Guardian, writing <\/a>that:<\/p>\n

“the industry as a whole could disappoint those hoping for a liberal, inclusive wave from Los Angeles to counter rightwing populism from Washington.<\/p>\n

Hollywood, after all, is still dominated by white men who like to make films and shows built around other white men, fictional and real, who slash, shoot and zap other characters in the hope, ultimately, of putting butts in seats. Waging a cultural crusade against the White House is not in the job description.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ultimately, it’s more about box office than political agendas. Paul Dergarabedian, senior analyst for the box office tracker comScore says:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more about box office than any other agenda. I don\u2019t see any particular agenda besides lots of franchises to bring people into theaters. More Marvel superheroes, more DC superheroes, more sequels.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hollywood stars know they have a platform and they use it. But the business of Hollywood is something entirely different. Studios make decisions based on the bottom line (and yes, the art is part of that line).<\/p>\n

Michele Burke, a makeup artist with two Oscars says: \u201cTruly we are artists, and most people here want to create great films, great stories. But at the end of the day this is a huge money-making machine.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But\u00a0Boris Zelkin, a film composer who is\u00a0politically libertarian, said liberal bias was ubiquitous.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you name a show where there\u2019s a sane or compassionate conservative? Or smart Christians without a skeleton in their closet? Or a non-evil corporation? It doesn\u2019t have to be an active jab at conservatives, it\u2019s what they don\u2019t show.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But Marty Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California says that political propaganda rarely works well at the box office.<\/p>\n

\u201cHollywood is most successful \u2013 creatively as well as commercially \u2013 when it conveys the American dream and the struggles to realize it. The industry loves stories about people who succeed against long odds, no matter what their backgrounds, because the audience loves those stories, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Movies that show struggles against prejudice, poverty, ignorance, oppression and fear reflect liberal values only in the sense that \u201creality has a well-known liberal bias\u201d, said Kaplan, quoting Stephen Colbert. \u201cIf there were big money to be made telling stories celebrating home schooling, semi-automatic rifle ownership, the bullying of gays, white supremacism, misogyny or xenophobia, Hollywood would be racing to make them.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unquestionably, a majority of the people who work in Hollywood lean politically left. More than lean, in many cases. But how much of their politics makes it onto the big screen? Rory Carroll takes up the question in the Guardian, writing that: “the industry as a whole could disappoint those hoping for a liberal, inclusive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1278","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-politics","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/hollywood-1246529_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C552&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ePZm-kC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1099,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/09\/this-weeks-notable-aj-stories-an-artist-erased-a-cautionary-tale.html","url_meta":{"origin":1278,"position":0},"title":"This Week’s Notable AJ Stories: An Artist Erased, A Cautionary Tale","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"September 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This Week: What exactly does cultural equity actually mean?... In our social media world everything is about images... A cautionary tale as an artist is erased from the internet... There's a difference between culture and art... Why Italy fought to keep Venice off the endangered list. A Good Survey Of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Weekly AJ Top Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Weekly AJ Top Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/weekly-aj-top-stories"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/a37cdd303d36b0bc45b2997748bd767d_ebfae2e60ce6cc21783fbd09892854b62000x1122_quality99_o_1amdsmtpq1v0t15av1d4rr10prfju.jpg?fit=620%2C415&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/a37cdd303d36b0bc45b2997748bd767d_ebfae2e60ce6cc21783fbd09892854b62000x1122_quality99_o_1amdsmtpq1v0t15av1d4rr10prfju.jpg?fit=620%2C415&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/a37cdd303d36b0bc45b2997748bd767d_ebfae2e60ce6cc21783fbd09892854b62000x1122_quality99_o_1amdsmtpq1v0t15av1d4rr10prfju.jpg?fit=620%2C415&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1733,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2018\/07\/how-a-beethoven-tweet-broke-our-twitter-feed-and-other-lessons-about-social-media-today.html","url_meta":{"origin":1278,"position":1},"title":"How a Beethoven Tweet Broke Our Twitter Feed (And Other Lessons About Social Media Today)","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"July 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks ago we posted a link in ArtsJournal to a piece in the Toronto Star under the admittedly provocative headline: \"Time To Retire Beethoven's Ninth?\" In the piece, John Terauds, who used to be the Star's staff classical music critic, suggested it might be time to put away\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "changing culture"","block_context":{"text":"changing culture","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/changing-culture"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/pianist-930412_640.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":891,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/06\/this-weeks-top-aj-stories-when-blockbusters-fail-edition.html","url_meta":{"origin":1278,"position":2},"title":"This Week’s Top AJ Stories, When Blockbusters Fail Edition","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"June 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Maybe our biggest problem with teaching music in schools is the way we teach it. Hollywood thought making blockbusters would save it. Surprise! How charity auctions take advantage of artists. The internet is changing what we value in the world. And the wonder of Bill T. Jones... Music Teacher:\u00a0We should\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Weekly AJ Top Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Weekly AJ Top Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/weekly-aj-top-stories"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/music-811025_960_720.jpg?fit=720%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/music-811025_960_720.jpg?fit=720%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/music-811025_960_720.jpg?fit=720%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/music-811025_960_720.jpg?fit=720%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3227,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2026\/02\/why-the-death-of-american-leadership-may-run-through-your-local-orchestra.html","url_meta":{"origin":1278,"position":3},"title":"Why the Death of American Leadership may run through your Local Orchestra","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"February 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In the space of a week, we have lost two significant and iconic American institutions. But the shuttering of the Kennedy Center and the decimation of the Washington Post are neither isolated nor unrelated.","rel":"","context":"In "arts and politics"","block_context":{"text":"arts and politics","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/arts-and-politics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/652234-stairs-1229149_1280-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C637&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/652234-stairs-1229149_1280-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C637&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/652234-stairs-1229149_1280-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C637&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/652234-stairs-1229149_1280-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C637&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1107,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/09\/this-weeks-aj-arts-highlights-has-entertainment-made-art-irrelevant.html","url_meta":{"origin":1278,"position":4},"title":"This Week’s AJ Arts Highlights: Has Entertainment Made Art Irrelevant?","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"September 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This Week: Major shakeup in London's museum world... Nobel laureate says entertainment has killed art... Latest study of Hollywood reaffirms cultural inequality... Why did Wells Fargo disparage artists?... Did the Glenn Gould Foundation get ahead of itself in announcing arts Nobel prizes? Seismic Changes In London's Museum World: Two high-profile\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Weekly AJ Top Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Weekly AJ Top Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/weekly-aj-top-stories"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/crowd-of-people-1209630_1280.jpg?fit=800%2C403&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/crowd-of-people-1209630_1280.jpg?fit=800%2C403&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/crowd-of-people-1209630_1280.jpg?fit=800%2C403&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/crowd-of-people-1209630_1280.jpg?fit=800%2C403&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":76,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2009\/04\/voice_mail_-_another_innovatio.html","url_meta":{"origin":1278,"position":5},"title":"Voice Mail – Another Innovation Bites The Dust","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"April 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I gotta admit - sometimes it's days between times that I check my voice mail. I resent how cumbersome vm is. Way more cumbersome than texting or email. When it was introduced in the early 1980s, voice mail was hailed as a miracle invention -- a boon to office productivity\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1278"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1282,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1278\/revisions\/1282"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}