Why has Hollywood forsaken conservatives?
Hollywood鈥檚 liberal bias is offensive 鈥� and bad business. It鈥檚 time conservatives changed this.
Detroit, Mich.
I don鈥檛 know what my butcher鈥檚 political beliefs are, and I don鈥檛 want to know. I pay him for his services and we are both happy. I want the same arrangement with my entertainers.
If my butcher constantly mocked my values, I鈥檇 soon take my business elsewhere.
Yet Hollywood regularly mocks conservative values. Me 鈥� and a lot of other conservatives in America 鈥� are ready to take our business elsewhere.
The entertainment industry鈥檚 depictions of various characters and values add up to one message: Conservatives are bad for our country. What does that teach our children about respecting the right to hold dissenting opinions?
When I watch TV, I often cringe at the thought of how many people don鈥檛 know they鈥檙e being sold a philosophy under the guise of entertainment. Some of it is subtle, such as the passing comment on 鈥淟ie to Me鈥� about torture at 骋耻补苍迟补苍谩尘辞. Some is blatant, like the pro-liberal values on 鈥�Boston Legal,鈥� or when 鈥�Saturday Night Live鈥� or another comedy show makes below-the-belt fun of a conservative one time too many.
Look at the way business is portrayed: Hollywood would have us believe that all big businesses are run by heartless men who would kill us with their dangerous products and pollution if they had a chance, all for the sake of earning money.
Drug companies selling overpriced and dangerous drugs, oil companies destroying the environment, banks ripping us off, and manufacturers exploiting workers, all hiding behind high-priced lawyers have become clich茅s on modern dramas.
When was the last time TV showed big businesses doing what they normally do: give millions to charity, invent groundbreaking products, and create thousands of new jobs? Hollywood behaves as if we need television characters to protect us from the very businesses that employ us.
Consider TV comedies. How often do you see liberals being made fun of, as opposed to conservatives?
Think about what you have heard recently on Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O鈥� Brien, and Jimmy Kimmel about Sarah Palin. Mainstream comedians attack her incessantly. Notice that their jokes are not usually about her positions, but rather they are personal 鈥� meant to make a laughingstock out of her. These comedians are molding a public opinion of Palin that insists she is stupid, ignorant, unsophisticated, and dangerous.
Try to recall a comparable barrage of spiteful jokes at the expense of other vice-presidential candidates like Joe Lieberman or Joe Biden 鈥� it鈥檚 not as easy.
It wasn鈥檛 always this way. Comedians of old, such as Bob Hope, made fun of politicians, but he included both sides. Dick Van Dyke also stayed light-hearted.
It鈥檚 become normal for conservatives to be portrayed poorly: On 鈥淏oston Legal鈥� the main character, Denny Crane, was a composite of just about every negative stereotype of a conservative: he sexually harassed women, carried a gun, and was oblivious to his ignorance. Alec Baldwin鈥檚 conservative character on 鈥�30 Rock鈥� has similar undesirable qualities.
Furthermore, Hollywood has taken to developing and lauding bad characters with 鈥済ood鈥� qualities, like the meth-dealing father on 鈥�Breaking Bad,鈥� the likable mob boss on the 鈥淪opranos,鈥� or the pot-selling mother on 鈥淲eeds.鈥� That is essentially an open attack on the conservative belief that there is right and wrong, because it promotes relativism.
Doesn鈥檛 Hollywood realize that a chunk of their customers are conservatives?
Don鈥檛 get me wrong, there is balanced entertainment out there: A good example is 鈥�24.鈥� Even though the series is often caricatured as a conservative show, it鈥檚 actually quite balanced. The hero, Jack Bauer, seems to be conservative, though thankfully you can鈥檛 be too sure who he would vote for because his politics are not discussed. The writers use his character to point out the failings of the liberal characters but they also use it to point out the failings of conservatives. The producers seem to understand that while viewers enjoy edgy, they don鈥檛 necessarily need or want to see lopsided jabs at liberals and conservatives, they simply want unbiased entertainment.
Unfortunately more and more entertainment is offensive.
Bias, no matter which way it is directed, harms both liberals and conservatives and anyone in between.
Just as we would stop doing business with a butcher who consistently and purposely offended us, we must likewise stop doing business with networks that do the same.
Before boycotting TV, which might not be all that practical, viewers should pay attention to the types of messages that get pushed through seemingly innocuous channels and vote with our clicker.
Another practical step we can take is to send e-mails to the networks and express dissatisfaction when you see bias. Until we let them know that we want and value balance in entertainment, it will be more of the same.
We have to let Hollywood know that by moving from entertaining to promoting a political philosophy, it has forsaken its customers. We can help change that.
Chris W. Bell is a freelance writer from Detroit.
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