Rated R: Republicans in Hollywood Review

IGN ^ | January 6, 2006 | Peter Schorn

[ChicagoHebrew]

January 6, 2006 - Hollywood has a richly-deserved reputation as an extremely liberal town populated by celebrities who rarely hesitate to assail their audiences with their political opinions. Between bluffing that they'd leave the United States if Bush was elected (Alec Baldwin), demanding that he be impeached (Barbra Streisand), hosting Air America radio shows (Janeane Garofalo, Al Franken), consorting with Fidel Castro (Danny Glover) and making romantic movies about Stalinist mass-murderer and t-shirt icon Che Guevara (The Motorcycle Diaries), Hollywood has gotten quite fat suckling at the liberal teat.

But just as there may be a few Britney Spears fans at a death metal concert, surely there must be some Republicans in Hollywood; and Democratic speechwriter and independent filmmaker Jesse Moss set out to find them in his short documentary Rated R: Republicans in Hollywood, which initially ran on the American Movie Classics channel in September 2004.

Using the 2003 gubernatorial run of Arnold Schwarzenegger as his hook - examining whether the lifelong Republican's success was proof positive that Hollywood conservatives are not a persecuted minority - Moss hopped on Arnold's campaign caravan and tracked down conservatives willing to discuss their career and their politics.

Actors Drew Carey, Pat Sajak, Patricia Heaton, Ben Stein, Vincent Gallo, producer Douglas Urbanski (The Contender), director John Milius and film critic/talk show host Michael Medved (among others) all make appearances; despite their recognizable successes, they all comment about lost job opportunities and negative reactions from co-stars, collaborators and money-men.

[ChicagoHebrew]

Interesting, I'm going to have to check this movie out.

[pcottraux]

I've seen it. It's very good, even though it's actually made by a Democrat. But unlike Michael Moore, he is fair in his portrayal.

[b4its2late]

But unlike Michael Moore, he is fair in his portrayal.

Wow! I'm surprised he hasn't spontaneously combusted.

[Luker]

Hollywood - a sesspool of egomanical, insecure, oversexed fruitcakes

[softwarecreator]

I always knew that Ben Stein was Republican ... but Drew Carey?  Shows that, even in Hollywood, some people do have a clue.  I have a lot of respect for people in hollywood who admit to being conservatives, that can't be easy.  My line of work (computer technology) has more than it's share of libbies, but la-la-land is even more overrun with them.

[pcottraux]

He seemed to me to be a moderate Democrat who really believed there is an intense anti-Republican bias in Hollywood and wanted to make a movie intelligently discussing the issue.

[aft_lizard]

Drew was in Bush first Inaugural Parade with Kelsey Grammer and Pat Sajak. Carey is a Former Marine.

[pcottraux]

There are actually a lot of Republicans in Hollywood, but most of them are not HUGE stars, and are not outspoken at all. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shannen Doherty, Susan Lucci, and Heather Locklear are a few I could name offhand (yes, I know they're all women but those are the ones I notice most I guess).

[softwarecreator]

unlike Michael Moore, he is fair in his portrayal

A democrat being fair and telling both sides of the story?  Who knew?  Guess you learn something new every day.

[Tyche]

Actually, I think he was a Air Force officer.

[softwarecreator]

yes, I know they're all women but those are the ones I notice most I guess

yeah, but they are good looking women.  Of course the left has Garafalo and Striesand as eye candy.  {{yucch}}

[pcottraux]

Well, things like that are very rare.

This is a REALLY old thread from FR, but here is a link to a long list of conservatives in Hollywood (a lot of the names that appear are very surprising).

http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b140fd711ae.htm

[pcottraux]

Streisand is only eye candy to wealthy nose-reductionists.

[Disambiguator]

Rules must be obeyed! You mentioned several attractive conservative women, therefore pictures are mandatory.

*tapping foot*

[softwarecreator]

Wow.  Frasier is a conservative???  My guess is people like Clint Eastwood, Charlton Heston, Bruce Willis and Arnold would be the few republicans.

Funny how the guys who usually play "real men" are GOP and the ones who play "not so real men" like Johnny Depp are lefties.  I am always surprised that Alec Baldwin is a leftie ... seemed like a pretty tough guy.

[aft_lizard]

Nope Marine.

http://www.who2.com/drewcarey.html

Carey joined the Marine Corps reserves in the 1980s, a job which he credits with establishing his signature buzzcut-and-black-glasses

[softwarecreator]

Interesting link.  Surprised that Dennis Hopper is republican because in "Land of the Dead" he played a character, obviously reminiscent of Rumsfield, in a not too flattering light.

Thanks for the list!!!

[softwarecreator]

LOL.  So true.

[softwarecreator]

You make a good point.

[pcottraux]

I promise I'll be back in a minute and it will be worth the wait.