The 2012 Emmy Awards were this past Sunday. It was a star-studded event where Hollywood
once again honored great achievements in the medium of television. It was sometimes funny, sometimes boring, but
it was no better or worse than most Emmy shows.
But I was struck by once sentiment that came from a
particular set of winners. The movie Game
Change won 4 Emmys including Best Movie/Miniseries, Best Directing, Best
Writing, and Best Actress. For those
unfamiliar with the movie, it’s based on the 2008 Presidential election and
focused on VP Candidate Sarah Palin. In Game
Change, Palin is portrayed as ignorant, selfish, and unpredictably
emotional. The intent was not to present
a balanced view but a negative view of her.
This is evidenced by Julianne Moore’s (the actress who played Palin)
acceptance speech reveling in the fact that she made Palin look bad. Now, you may agree that this assessment of
Palin mirrors reality or you may not. I
am not here to argue whether or not Palin deserves ridicule. Regardless, this is the portrayal of the
former governor of Alaska.
When writer Danny Strong accepted his award, he thanked HBO
for having the “courage” to make this movie.
When director Jay Roach got his Emmy, he thanked Julianne Moore for
taking a huge chance on this part. All I
kept thinking though was: What?
I don’t understand how it takes any courage to make a movie
in Hollywood that trashes a conservative.
It’s about the same amount of courage that it takes for a politician to
trash President Obama at a Tea Party Rally.
How is telling people what they want to hear courageous?
Strong, Roach, and Moore put together a movie in a short
amount of time. Any major movie like
this takes a great deal of effort, talent, and skill to pull off. I congratulate them all on their earned
awards. But it didn’t take any real
courage.
What is courage?
Courage is the virtue that helps you overcome fear so you can act. Courage is only laudable when it is used for
a good end. We admire the courage of a
soldier who defends his friends from gunfire, but we don’t admire the courage
of a criminal who breaks into a house knowing that there is a guard dog.
And courage must have a real fear to overcome. It must come at a price. Courage only means something if it costs you.
Courage, like all other virtues, is only of value when tied
to a good end. Did the makers of Game
Change have a good intention? I’ll
leave that up to your judgment, dear reader.
But did it require them to overcome great fear? I’m not sure how.
The movie got top funding from Tom Hanks’ and Rita Wilson’s
production company. HBO Green lit the
project quickly. It was hailed by TV
critics all over the country. Entertainment
Weekly fawned over Moore’s portrayal of Palin.
Wow! Look at all the
obstacles they had to overcome. I’d be
scared too.
Perhaps I am being unfair.
They did receive a backlash from talk radio and conservative blogs. But since when has that been a huge influence
in Hollywood?
Among their peers in the industry, those who would have a
direct effect on the future of their careers, do you think that making Game
Change would help or hurt their future?
Maybe it wouldn’t help, but I cannot see how it would hurt.
What would be brave?
When George Clooney won his Oscar for Syriana, he said And finally, I would say that, you know, we are a little bit out
of touch in Hollywood every once in a while. I think it's probably a good
thing. We're the ones who talk about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and
we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular. And we, you know,
we bring up subjects. This Academy, this group of people gave Hattie McDaniel
an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I'm
proud to be a part of this Academy. Proud to be part of this community, and
proud to be out of touch. And I thank you so much for this."
Ignoring the
fact that blacks weren’t sent to back of theaters and the fact that Hollywood
also engaged in the stereotypes that he says they fought against, you get
Clooney’s point. He lays out the role of
courage in the film industry. It is
about addressing difficult subjects and leading the moral charge by changing
the culture for the better even when it’s not popular.
If that is his
definition of Hollywood Courage, then I couldn’t agree more. Except that the culture that needs to change
is inside of Hollywood, not outside of it.
So… who is
challenging the Hollywood Culture in any significant way?
Certainly not
Roach, Strong, and Moore.
Who in
Hollywood is promoting a culture of life?
Who in
Hollywood is supports respect for Christianity?
Who in
Hollywood is defending free speech?
I don’t mean these
questions as cudgels, but as true interrogatives. I would like to know who is doing this, so
they I can honor them with my esteem.
Take the first topic: Culture of Life.
Movies that are explicitly pro-choice get Oscar nominations
like The Cider House Rules and Vera Drake. Movies that are explicitly pro-life like Bella
and October Baby are ignored. I’m
not saying that these last two movies should have been nominated, but which do
you think took more courage to produce in the film industry?
Take the middle topic: respect for Christianity.
Last spring ABC made a show called Good Christian B***es. Insert any other religion into that title and
could you imagine it getting even close to being made? I’m not appealing to any kind of censorship,
but to basic tolerance for religions. I
don’t want to see Good Muslim B***es or Good Jewish B***es, but
who is leading the charge in Hollywood to have respect for Christianity?
Let’s take the last topic: free speech.
A few weeks ago a person with an axe to grind
against Islam released a horribly produced attack on the religion. The US government absurdly blamed him for
riots by Islamists around the world on 9/11 that led to the death of Americans,
including one of our ambassadors. In
response, the government sent law enforcement to round this director up from
his home. Supposedly it was because of
some supposed parole violations. But in
reality it was so that he could be paraded in front of cameras so the Muslim
world could see that the US is investigating him.
Does this not chill you to your core?
You could argue that this man had courage because of the
potential fatwa that would be headed his way.
But I don’t believe that it served a good end, so I don’t think he
should be lauded.
I hate when South Park mocks my Jesus or my Blessed
Mother. If I was a Muslim I would hate
that this man insulted my Prophet. But
it never occurred to me to have the government handcuff Matt Stone and Trey Parker
because they offended me. Why is it
acceptable to do it to the guy who made the stupid Muslim video?
And I don’t hear anyone in Hollywood leading the moral
charge against this infringement of the First Amendment rights (except maybe Robert Davi, but he is a bit of a Hollywood outsider). Again, I’ll be more than happy to take correction
and say so on this blog. But where are those
who fight for the right to free expression even if you disagree?
This is an excellent time to show courage, to stand up to
government bullies.
Anyone?
Anyone?
Look, you can say that Sunday night the academy awarded a
movie of top-notch quality in writing, directing and acting in Game Change and I have no
problem with your assessment.
Just don’t tell me that it was courageous.
