Why Is Hollywood So Woke?

Entertainment journalist Christian Toto explores why almost everyone in Tinsel Town—from the top star to the lowest crew member—seems to fall on one side of the political spectrum. There is no shortage of reasons. But that doesn’t mean those reasons are commendable.

#hollywood #leftist #woke #prageru

Script:

Why does Hollywood lean so far to the Left?

I'm an entertainment journalist and movie critic, so I get asked this question a lot.

`If Hollywood reflected America, then half of Tinsel Town should be as red as it is blue. But that’s not remotely the case.

Why?

Here are five reasons.

One. Guilt.

A-list actors are paid incredible amounts of money to play dress-up. They’re ridiculously fortunate. And they know it. And they feel guilty about it.

That guilt must be assuaged.

And what better way to assuage it than to speak up for the “less fortunate”: the undocumented immigrant, the misunderstood criminal, women, blacks, gays, and the transgendered. And, by God, there’s an entire planet to be saved!

You can’t feel guilty if you’re saving humanity, can you? Especially if it means no actual sacrifice on your part.

Two. The Need for Meaning

Somewhere along the line — probably in the ‘60s when so many wholesome ideas went south — the notion that providing entertainment was, in and of itself, valuable, lost currency — not with the public, but with the glitterati.

Sure, acting brings money and fame, but not “meaning.” And meaning is more important than both, especially if you can purchase it so inexpensively: all you have to do is say the right things about the right causes. That those causes always happen to be leftist ones is merely a coincidence.

Three. The Need to Be Loved.

Everyone wants to be loved and admired. But most actors live to be loved and admired. Success for an actor is being adored by strangers. When stars rail against border enforcement, pro-lifers, or a certain real estate mogul, and get fawning press coverage, that’s even more love and admiration.

And there’s a bonus. You get to be told how courageous you are “for speaking out.” A rant about “gun violence” on Oscar night becomes a “powerful statement.” It doesn’t get better than that.

Speaking of Oscars, if you have any hope of winning an award — (and who doesn’t want awards?), that ambition goes out the window if you’re suspected of being on the wrong side of the political aisle.

Four. Career Preservation

Job security doesn’t exist in Hollywood. And this makes everyone, from the top stars to the lowest crew members, very nervous.

So, in order not to give anyone the slightest excuse not to hire them, Hollywood types double down on woke posts to Twitter or Instagram praising the latest leftist fad.

These messages send a clear signal to their colleagues, and especially to their employers: “I’m a forward-thinking progressive, just like you.”

Push against this orthodoxy and you’ll pay a stiff price. Ask Gina Carano how that works. When the star of the popular Disney series, The Mandalorian, suggested that conservatives were being persecuted for their political beliefs, she was light-sabered from both the show and Hollywood, Inc.

Or consider how singer Macy Gray changed her tune after she said trans women aren’t the same as women-women. Mercilessly pounded for this apostasy, it only took a few days for her to fully recant.

Five. If It’s Right, It Must Be Wrong

There is a pervasive belief in Hollywood that conservative ideas are grounded in “hate” or “denial”. Conservatives hate gays and minorities, deny science and even deny that America is systemically racist … and on and on.

Imagine, they wail, if these haters ever gained power. We’d descend into fascism, or worse.

This explains why celebrities get hysterical whenever the political winds shift. Hollywood activists never say, “oh, we lost that one,” they say it’s the “end of the world.” And to them, it is.

Okay, I can hear you asking, why should we care what Hollywood actors think? I agree we shouldn’t care so much, but — let’s face it — a lot of people do. Stars are American royalty.

And, like it or not, they have a big platform. When they take strident political positions, it further divides us.