Posted on 03/13/2010 4:57:28 AM PST by Kaslin
For the first time that I can remember, there were no politically charged comments at the Academy Awards ceremony last Sunday. And I was ready. We had left-wing bomb throwers like George Clooney, Sean Penn, Barbra Streisand and co-host Alec Baldwin all lined up in the "let it fly" zone. But the show turned out to be the silence of the lambs.
What's going on?
The answer to that question is money, pure and simple.
The rise of the machines has dislocated entertainment all over the country. Now you can program your life on your computer and endlessly amuse yourself with iPods, DS games and BlackBerry phones. No longer do you have to drive to a movie theater to see something interesting.
Therefore, the pool of movies, recordings, books and other forms of entertainment is becoming shallow. For the most part, companies are not throwing around big dollars to actors and singers anymore. Now you have to earn your bread by selling product. And alienating potential customers is not a good business model.
You may remember Clooney, for example, saying the federal government under President Bush was run like "The Sopranos." That was in 2003. Since that time, Clooney has pulled back from provocative political statements. I am guessing commerce has something to do with it.
Baldwin continues to toss grenades at the right, but even he has tempered his commentary. Back in 2002, old Alec told a Florida audience that George W. Bush's victory in 2000 did as much damage to America as the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Last Sunday night, he was like your hip uncle, a few wisecracks and then off to the bar.
Even Penn, as rabid a left-winger as can be imagined, refrained from blasting anyone. A few days earlier, however, he did say that he hoped his critics died "screaming from rectal cancer." I guess it's comforting to know that some things never change.
Streisand continues her political website, but what used to be bombs-away prose has turned surprisingly mild. Streisand has resumed touring and recording, so again, marketing may be in play.
Mass-market entertainers simply cannot survive by alienating much of the country. Polls show that 40 percent of Americans currently identify themselves as conservative. As Streisand well knows, people need people to buy their records and see their movies. That's the way we were and continue to be -- with apologies to everyone for those lines.
I kind of miss the embarrassing Oscar moments, where some celebrity would bash his or her country or call out a right-wing politician. Yes, those were cringe-worthy experiences, but they broke the tedium of the long-winded Academy Award telecast.
Next year we should have a retrospective of the crazy stuff said during past Academy Award programs. Michael Moore could host it.
That never stopped the left before. I no longer go to the movie theaters primarily for two reasons. The first being that the vast majority of movies suck. And secondly, I'm not willing to finance the left through ticket sales. If they want to produce propaganda that's fine, but I won't be paying for it.
I am sure they are dissapointed ‘cause he’s not worse!!!
Leni
Yep. As far as they’re concerned, their guy won. Game over. Half the things he’s doing, Bush did. They nearly shat out their kidneys over the Patriot Act and troops in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007, but it’s allllll okay now.
RE: “I don’t go to the movies anymore. I don’t rent or buy DVD’s of the ‘stars’ anymore. i’ll never Madonna at concerts propagandizing the young and insulting the parents of those that are at her concerts!, , movie ‘stars’ putting down the system that made them rich. Athletes get filthy rich so they too can demean the very citizen’s who pay to watch them play, no sirree. I do not need to spend my dollars for them to amuse or entertain me for a temporary fix, and be propagandized and lied to in the process. I do not need to watch black mean belittling white women/girls or hear them or pay for their continued lifestyles. I will not help JLO continue to be seen or heard calling Governor Palin a bitch. What has JLO contributed to our country? She has certainly gotten rich from it....Julia Roberts is in the group, George Clooney, all of hollwood practically. I used to be huge on movies, have several hundred. No more. I even cut my cable package back out of rebellion. Not because I couldn’t afford the movie channels, but because I will not fund these attacks by these ‘stars’ on our Country.
I don’t save that money that I don’t use on movies and the ‘stars’ .
I use it to donate to TEA party candidates and candidates of my choice who are running for office, all across this country!
America does not fall on our watch. Not our watch.
To Islam or Communism or tyranny.”
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Agree, and this bears repeating so I re-posted all of it! I do as you do, boycott nearly everything — and you know what? I find I’m not missing a thing!
Re: “Hanks has nothing to worry about where he lives. $26,000,000.00 for a house in Pacific Palisades, Ca. No blacks or illegal immigrants living there. ;-)”
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Not to nitpick as I get your point totally, but there ARE illegals living in Pac Pal — they are the ‘help’ living right there in the homes of the rich and sometimes famous — scream ‘INS’ and see what happens in those neighborhoods!
“but there ARE illegals living in Pac Pal — they are the ‘help’ living right there in the homes of the rich and sometimes famous — scream ‘INS’ and see what happens in those neighborhoods!”
Very very few. I am from there(Malibu) and most hire Americans from an agency in Beverly Hills who are screened up the yang. They are also paid top dollar. 35-50,000 per year.
I personally believe they’ve got their COMMIE THUG [A HATE AMERICA PERSON] in the WH....so they are playing nice. IF W would have been in office...their mouths would have been as ugly as EVER....money has been on the downward skids for a number of years...
If you let the movie age before you go, they make less, while the distributor and theater owner make more.
Are you saying that there is a sliding box office share on new movie releases? If so, about how long is it before there is a significant shift to the theater owner? I'm in favor of supporting local businesses, but I'm not interested in putting money into the pockets of Hollywood. Of course they make it pretty easy by producing crap...I am just not tempted to go to the movies anymore. I must say that I love my Netflix account, however. I can watch plenty of old movies and I've found a few TV series that I didn't watch when they were on originally.
I think I read 4 weeks is the number.
Well, that is interesting. Of course there's still the problem that they don't make any movies I want to see. I've been to 1 movie in the last year and a half or so as I recall...it was the Harry Potter movie I saw.
I’ve been a Clint fan for decades.....Bought the Gran Torino dvd....Well worth the money.....Pushing 80 and still commands the screen like none of the current dodo birds.....I used to catch the matinees when everyone was at work and the kids were at school.....Problem is, these days there is nothing worth watching.....
Our favorite was the Miracle theatre in downtown Fayetteville, NC.....Held over 2,000 people with a balcony to boot....The curtains would open and the cartoon would show......The curtains would close and re-open and it’s showtime folks.....It has since been torn down along with all the other single theatres.......
For old school Clint fans, Gran Torino was an unexpected treat. When the trailer came out, I must have watched it on YOUTUBE 100 times....the crazy eyes, the veins popping, shotgun drawn....GET OFF MY LAWN! After all these years he pulls out another classic line. Clint was my definition of cool when I was a youngster.
the crazy eyes, the veins popping, shotgun drawn....GET OFF MY LAWN!Garand. M1 Garand, not a shotgun.
Blind Side, Sherlock Holmes, Cop-Out (profanity alert) and UP?
I can’t recall any other actor who could have pulled off that role at his age.....Amazing.....The man is 80 this year!!!.....A true icon with many classics under his belt.....
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