Hollywood’s Influence

In general, ROC tries to be respectful of different points of view.  The exception to this has to do with how we treat Hollywood.  I believe the majority of people in Hollywood are bringing more harm to our culture than any other group.  I believe that they have more than their share of dysfunctional people and what is both scary and depressing is that we are letting them define who we are in America and letting them set trends for our culture.  (See: Protest Messages).

I apologize outright for throwing everyone in Hollywood into this same bucket.  I know there are good, creative and inspiring people in Hollywood who are trying to make a difference and America appreciates you more than you probably know.  However, for the purpose of this article, I will refer to Hollywood as one entity with the same character.

Not only do I believe that Hollywood is the # 1 contributor to negative influences in our culture, but I also believe that they put new meaning to the word, hypocrisy.  I will back up my statement with example after example so you can be clear about my accusations. 

Hypocrisy #1:  The people of Hollywood often speak out about their concerns for our environment, but then they don’t care at all about dumping garbage, most of which is SMUT (Sexual Material Unacceptable to Teens) into our culture on a regular basis through their programming.  They are the #1 polluters to our youth and they could care less about what they are doing to them, as long as they are making their money.

Hypocrisy # 2:  The people in Hollywood often put down America’s influence in the world, especially in the Middle East regarding our military and economic positions.  They blame our military and economic actions for the hatred of America.  I would be willing to bet that the hatred for America doesn’t come from a concern that we would ever take over other countries, but rather from a fear that our kind of “freedom” would bring the kind of trash to their culture that Hollywood brings to ours.  I suspect that they feel that American culture is out of control, based on what they see from our News Media and from Hollywood shows and movies.  Hollywood is what is out of control and they take no responsibility for it.  It is hypocritical for the people of Hollywood to talk about cultural sensitivity so much and then not care how much they trample on so many cultures with their garbage going out to the world. 

Hypocrisy # 3:  The people of Hollywood often talk about how much we all need to save our environment and then they go ahead and leave the biggest carbon footprints with their mansions and private jet trips of any industry. The way they operate is directly the opposite from what they tell us to do. They rationalize that paying for their carbon footprint will make up for what they used up in the environment, but that only works in reducing guilt.  Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying they don’t have the right to use their money this way.  I’m simply saying that they should stop with the hypocrisy.  They are quick to criticize corporations for their carbon footprints and for paying their executives too much, as they live their lives in luxury with big footprints.  

Hypocrisy #4:  The people of Hollywood criticize America for racism and sexism and then go ahead and produce shows that tear women and men down. They reinforce racial stereotypes and reinforce racism by manipulating viewers into believing that racism is prevalent (which can move norms in the wrong direction).  They claim to care about woman and criticize many things about America, but then are silent on situations throughout the world where countries are severely mistreating women.  The same is true for countries that are mistreating different ethnic groups.  If Hollywood wants to make a positive difference in the world, how about if they would take a stand on real problems throughout the world like female mutilations, slavery in the 21st Century and powerful dictators that control and hurt their people?

Hypocrisy # 5:  The people in Hollywood often put our soldiers down and speak out about the violence that comes from America even when our soldiers are risking their lives in order to bring more freedom to other people.  For a lot of Americans, the difference between good and evil is clear and good guys fighting bad guys can easily be understood, except in Hollywood.  Hollywood likes to mix good and evil and good and bad characters for political, philosophical or creative reasons.  What is really hypocritical is the amount of violence they mix into this upside down equation.  When I see evil characters entrenched in violence being depicted by Hollywood with wonderful traits and sensationalized with attention, I wonder how many new crazies are out there that are getting ideas for their time in the limelight? 

I see Hollywood as a place with more than their share of dysfunctional people.  They have more than their share of narcissists and it goes downhill from there.  They misrepresent what America is like; they continually lower the bar and they set the negative trends with young people, which is the most damaging.  Parents are screaming for Hollywood to take more responsibility for their freedom of speech because our young people are being harmed beyond repair.  It is extremely hard to shield the SMUT from kids these days because it is everywhere.  What parents are asking for is that talented and creative people start producing great material again that is fun, inspiring and quality work, rather than being lazy or misguided by throwing sex and violence in the mix just to make up for the talent and creativity that is lacking. 

Sally Pitts
Centennial, Co