The Culture Wars: Conservatives, Patriots Need to Be There
How do we become engaged with Hollywood and grab our part of the culture. I am not talking about half Michael Moore, Quentin Tarentino versus The Waltons, Pa Ingalls and Father Knows Best. That won’t work because it won’t sell since it is too corn ball. The culture has changed.
But I am saying support actors and film makers who are in the business. I could name many conservatives in Hollywood that are successful. Gary Sinese, Kelsey Grammer, Angie Harmon, Tom Selleck, Patty Heaton, Nick Searcy, Jim Caveziel, Gary Graham to name a few actors off the top of my head. Find out what they’re up to and be there. Money fuels the business. If Spielberg, and the gang of cynical leftists see conservative films, or at least pro-America films or pro-traditional family films, making tons of money, they’ll notice. It is not the politics, it’s the money. Give them a reason to reach out to us.
We don’t have to have in your face conservatism either to be successful. Restrained story telling is a better way to go. A movie like the new one coming out based on Marcus Luttrell’s book Lone Survivor can be a huge monster success if we all go. It can be the next Zero Dark Thirty. Zero Dark Thirty was a flag- waver, regardless of how the film makers felt politically.
The fact is, if we took a book written by Brad Thor, or Vince Flynn, and made a movie it would be hard to pin them down as conservative, but they are wildly pro-American and pro-fundamental American values. It’s the task of a good writer not only to mask his own voice but also present his voice and his message in a way that the reader doesn’t recognize it for what it is. Both above mentioned writers are, or were, masters at this and that’s what makes a great novel and great film.
If we conservatives truly want to be there and make a difference, we have to stop ignoring the culture. It’s the biggest and most important battle ground out there. Movies can persuade in subtle ways that a speech cannot. Supporting novelists to get their best sellers into film production is also another way to get the message out. It is up to us, we’ve spoken with our feet and we’ve been ignored.
If we start supporting conservative projects then Hollywood will listen. Producers and studios have to see how lucrative a market the US is. We’re dying for heroes on the big screen and stories that mean something to us and, in Hollywood, money trumps politics.
Image: 050628-N-0000X-001 United States Navy file photo of Navy SEALs operating in Afghanistan. From left to right, Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class Matthew G. Axelson, of Cupertino, Calif; Senior Chief Information Systems Technician Daniel R. Healy, of Exeter, N.H.; Quartermaster 2nd Class James Suh, of Deerfield Beach, Fla.; Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Marcus Luttrell; Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Eric S. Patton, of Boulder City, Nev.; and Lt. Michael P. Murphy, of Patchogue, N.Y. With the exception of Luttrell, all were killed June 28, 2005, by enemy forces while supporting Operation Red Wings; Source: U.S. Navy photo
