Is Hollywood the ATM of the US Democratic Party?

Padre

Milforum Chaplain
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/candidates-begin-their-screen-tests/2007/02/23/1171734017531.html

AS THE world press descends on Hollywood Boulevard, it has been a champagne-soaked, dramatic pre-Oscar countdown of conspicuous consumption. The media attention sparked big events all week in show business, finance, gastronomy, fashion, charity and politics.
On Tuesday the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived, rallied 10,000 fans, then raised $US1.3 million ($1.6 million) from Hollywood glitterati at a $US2300-a-head dinner at the Beverly Hilton. This was followed by a private party at the house of David Geffen, promoter of the film Dreamgirls. The battle for Hollywood cash was on.
By Wednesday morning Geffen had trashed Bill and Hillary Clinton as liars or worse, and Hillary as unelectable and polarising, in a New York Times interview, triggering an internecine war in the Democratic Party and the Hollywood community.
Geffen had raised $US20 million or more for the Democrats in the Clinton years, so it was a bitter rebuke. Apparently, hell hath no fury like a Hollywood Democratic supporter scorned. (Despite Geffen's plea, Bill Clinton had refused to pardon Leonard Peltier, an American Indian activist jailed for life over the deaths of two FBI agents in 1975.)
For a man with legendary smarts, Geffen's outburst was controversial, and probably had the Republican strategy supremo Karl Rove singing the score from Dreamgirls in the shower. The stakes are high. On Tuesday the Californian Senate voted to bump up the state's 2008 primary from June 3 to February 5, making the delegate-rich state even more crucial in the presidential race.
The formidable Clinton machine sprang into action and the gloves came off as the Obama-Clinton sides traded barbs all week.
Meanwhile, the film director Steven Spielberg, one of Geffen's partners in DreamWorks SKG, seemed to subtly side with Hillary by default, as did many others. After all, the Clintons had stayed at Spielberg's home in Pacific Palisades when Bill was president.
As the starlets squeezed into their dresses, Hillary arrived on Thursday for four campaign events. Al Gore arrived to party as well. No one has the final cut yet in the Democratic Party. But there is no doubt that Hollywood is the ATM for the Democratic candidates.
This Oscar Week mix of politics and Hollywood aristocracy is nothing new. Politicians and stars have always been fascinated by each other, often scandalously.

Washington and Hollywood share an intimate history going back a century, including bizarre incidents such as Errol Flynn seeking Eleanor Roosevelt's assistance to help a Nazi spy, Herman Erben. (She didn't.) Marilyn Monroe-esque events fed the tabloids for decades. Marlon Brando was one of the first men to be seen out with Jacqueline Kennedy after the assassination of her husband. On it goes. Today, however, it seems to have a harsher political edge, with strident pundits such as Fox News's Bill O'Reilly accusing Hollywood of Leni Riefenstahl-like propaganda.
While Obama wowed devotees at the Beverly Hilton, a few blocks away the Christian right made a stand in the belly of the beast with their Faith & Values Gala at the Beverly Wilshire. Its aim, as stated at www.movieguide.org, is to redeem "the values of the mass media according to biblical principles by influencing entertainment industry executives and helping families make wise media choices". Good luck, folks.
Even the post-Oscars Governor's Ball menu will be attempting a political bent. For the first time everything on the menu will be "100 per cent organic". The 1600 guests will sit on "recycled wood" chairs as they sink 500 bottles of Laurent Perrier, 600 spiny lobsters, Kobe beef, black truffles from Perigord and 220 kilograms of organic Valrhona chocolate shaped into Oscar statuettes with edible gold leaf. All while they stare at 10,000 roses, and gold orchids and rust calla lilies flown in on the day from the Netherlands.
Detractors who believe Hollywood is the world capital of debauchery have had a problem ever since the conservative Republican presidency of Ronald Reagan. How can Reagan's fans pillory the city that created him?
Getting money out of stars for anything is very difficult. Obviously, however, some stars are generous for their cause du jour .
The big Hollywood donors for liberal candidates are people such as Geffen, Spielberg, Steve Bing, Haim Saban, Norman Lear and Barbra Streisand.
The mogul Jerry Perenchio backs the Republican senator John McCain. Generally, Republicans are a bit thin on the ground in Hollywood - with some standout exceptions. Ron Silver, Bo Derek, Charlton Heston and Chuck Norris are not exactly A-list, although Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, Kelsey Grammer, and James Woods perk things up a bit.
The top Hollywood agencies had pre-Oscar parties yesterday and all are heavily politically connected. Ari Emanuel, a power in Endeavor talent agency, is the brother of Rahm Emanuel, now a congressman but formerly a Clinton White House stalwart. But agents are adept at hedging their bets and there will be support for both Obama and Clinton, and even Republicans.
Hollywood's immense wealth has been on display this week but, despite the glitz , there is a political intelligentsia with money who want detailed answers to serious questions. And yes, there are also plenty of examples of dumbness. Jessica Simpson met Gale Norton, who had been introduced to her as the Secretary of the Interior, and said: "You've done a nice job decorating the White House."
Its easy to ridicule the entertainment industry. But its political and financial muscle is a fact. On Sunday about 80 million people will watch the Oscars, which have already generated $US80 million in advertising revenue for the US network ABC.
If you are one of them, think of the stars biting the heads off their chocolate gold-leaf Oscar statuettes after the show, and the Hollywood donors dreaming of a sleepover in the Lincoln Bedroom.

:confused:
 
5.56 are you trying to tell me that Dick Cheney is not personally and single handedly responsible for present day climate disasters as indoctrinated in the movie "The Day After Tomorrow?"

Do you mean the movie, and others like it are are politically biased towards liberalism and the US Democratic Party?

:shock:
 
Yup....

Come on folks, look at where the liberals get their funding. Not everyone is Hollywood is a liberal but 99% of them are.
 
5.56 are you trying to tell me that Dick Cheney is not personally and single handedly responsible for present day climate disasters as indoctrinated in the movie "The Day After Tomorrow?"

Do you mean the movie, and others like it are are politically biased towards liberalism and the US Democratic Party?

:shock:

I think you missed the point of the movie.

The movie targeted Cheney because he is a Big Energy persona, not so much as he was a Republican or Conservative. I mean the guy is the ex-CEO of an OIL company. Cheney doesn't represent the energy lobby, he IS the Energy lobby. And for the record there are lots of Republican Conservatives who acknowledge Global Warming is a serious threat. They just aren't in the pocket of the energy industry. John McCain, for example.

For years Cheney was trying to deflect acknowledgment of the global warming problem, -thats why he got singled out in the movie. And it was richly deserved. When you put your own personal interests ahead of global interests, you deserve to get portrayed as an dumbass. BTW, I liked the message, but I didn't like the movie.

And for the Record, Democrats get nailed too. If you remember The Godfather II, the corrupt senator Pat Geary was a very obvious reference to Harry Reid. D-NV.
 
I think you missed the point of the movie.

The movie targeted Cheney because he is a Big Energy persona, not so much as he was a Republican or Conservative. I mean the guy is the ex-CEO of an OIL company. Cheney doesn't represent the energy lobby, he IS the Energy lobby. And for the record there are lots of Republican Conservatives who acknowledge Global Warming is a serious threat. They just aren't in the pocket of the energy industry. John McCain, for example.

For years Cheney was trying to deflect acknowledgment of the global warming problem, -thats why he got singled out in the movie. And it was richly deserved. When you put your own personal interests ahead of global interests, you deserve to get portrayed as an dumbass. BTW, I liked the message, but I didn't like the movie.

And for the Record, Democrats get nailed too. If you remember The Godfather II, the corrupt senator Pat Geary was a very obvious reference to Harry Reid. D-NV.

God Father II (1974) - That was then, this is now. Besides, one example or exception to the rule, out of how many in total to date, does not maketh a case.
 
Well there are not that many 'rules' to begin with. I don't recall that many references to film mocking sitting politicians, to begin with, be they GOP or Dem. The film might be 1974, but Harry Reid is still a US Senator today.

I dont really get what the big fuss is anyway. The Dems have their corporate sponsors, so do the Republicans. The Dems have Hollywood, the GOP controls most of American TV and Radio. I don't hear anybody here complaining about the conservative bias on the airwaves.

And the Republicans corporate sponsors are much larger have much deeper pockets than those of Hollywood.
 
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I'm not really familiar with the movie God Father II or the senator you quoted. I have heard the name but not much about his politics. I would be interested to read evidence of a link between the GF II character and the real senator. The movie may, if there is a link, be critical of something about Sen. Reid other than his left-wing ideology and if so this does not count as a Hollywood example of attacking a ideologically liberal public figure.
 
I'm not really familiar with the movie God Father II or the senator you quoted. I have heard the name but not much about his politics. I would be interested to read evidence of a link between the GF II character and the real senator. The movie may, if there is a link, be critical of something about Sen. Reid other than his left-wing ideology and if so this does not count as a Hollywood example of attacking a ideologically liberal public figure.

Made a small mistake, it wasnt GFII, it was the movie Casino (mixed-up my Italian mafia movies). Although GFII does take place in Nevada too

From Wikipedia...

Reid then served as Nevada state gaming commissioner from 1977 to 1981, a post which subjected him to death threats. Reid's wife once found a bomb attached to one of their cars. A character in the film Casino played by Dick Smothers is based, in part, on Reid. Jack Gordon, the manager and future husband of singer LaToya Jackson, once tried to bribe Reid. Reid allowed the FBI to tape Gordon's attempt to bribe him with $12,000, at which point Reid attempted (unsuccessfully) to strangle Gordon, saying "You son of a *****, you tried to bribe me!"[3]

What wikipedia didn't mention was that while Reid was Neveda Gaming Commisioner he was possibly involved in some rather shady deals. Nothing that could be proven, but the fact that he is referenced in CASINO is not a coincidence.

Hollywood is liberal, with a few exceptions. Its not bias against conservatives ideology per se, but it will go against certain members that are conservatives if it pertains to the subject at hand. For example, its very hard to anti-Iraq war movie without criticizing Bush, just like it very hard to do a global warming movie with criticizing the heads of the Energy industry, which happens to be the vice-president. That isn't bias thats a fact.
 
I suppose when I really reflect on the heart of this topic, it's that I don't like the idea of elected officials feeling or actually being beholden, indebted to or owned by shady, rich, superficial, egomaniacs, who's interest and investment in the candidate/politician is to have them owe them favours - after all Geffen felt Clinton owed him a favour and called it in for a friend who wanted a Presidential pardon.

I concede that the Republicans are probably snuggling in with other unsavory groups too, but the Democrat's "masters," benefactors," etc, are on the big screen (trying & deliberately) advertising and influencing tens of millions under the guise of unbiased entertainment or informative documentaries.
 
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