Indeed, the Hollywood response to the Polanski affair suggests that, in Hollywood’s estimation, artists enjoy a sort of droit de seigneur by virtue of their talent, or at least their acclaim.
It’s easy to see why an industry founded on the casting couch might feel that way, but it’s surprising to see such alleged experts in communication state their position so bluntly. In the words of Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, “It’s poor salesmanship.”
So will this blow over? Hollywood has faced scandals before, going all the way back to Fatty Arbuckle, and it has survived and even flourished. But those were the old days. Hollywood controlled the press’s access to stars, and by doing so also controlled the press to a large degree.
And the press controlled people’s means of communicating their views about Hollywood. That made it easy for them to float a story line — like the “it was a long time ago, and besides, he’s suffered enough” line being pitched for Polanski — and have it control the public discussion.
Now, thanks to the alternative media, not so much.
The new Hollywood takes that love for granted, as narcissists generally do. Yet the audiences today have more alternatives than they had in Arbuckle’s day, from video games (already outperforming motion pictures on a dollar basis) to the Internet, to movies they make themselves at home and post on YouTube.
Oh, please, do go over and read the whole piece. Reynolds nails Hollywood – or at least a large, large part of it – spot on. These moral cretins presume to dictate to America and the world how their famous persons are to be regarded by the peons.
Polanski was allowed to plea down to a ridiculously low-level crime in light of what he actually did. That isn’t enough for the Illuminati of Hollywood. They want a free pass – a get out of jail free card – because the “artist” Polanski made a bunch of crappy films and a few somewhat decent ones.
Polanski, by his own admission, preys on underage girls or has done so in the past.
Fine, give him a slap on the wrist that he thought he was entitled to for raping a child.
Then nail his sorry, child raping ass for his flight from justice for all these years. Max his jail sentence out for that crime against society.
Send a message to the shimmering cesspool of Hollywood that they are not above the law, not above justice, not the moral superiors that they profess to be.
Clean out the cesspool. It is past time to send that message.
Via Memeorandum.
And the idiots in charge of that petition to give Polanski a pass claim that Hollywood is superior to us plebes because “we have more compassion”. Not enough compassion to want to protect 13 year old girls from being anally raped but more than us. In my whole lifetime I’ve never anally raped any thirteen year olds, or any other age but they claim superiority. Then they wonder why every year their piece of America shrinks.
If it were up to me we’d put a humongus fence around all of them and let them rape each other.
Simply consider the source–a bunch of fools. You can best protest the idiots support of this child rapiet by not paying to see their movies. I don’t…
America will eventually be liberated when Americans collectively pull their head out of Kingdom Hollywood’s collective anal cavity; when Bill Maher is ridiculed and mocked for the foolishly impotent celebrity he represents then enlightenment will return.
Funny thing, and I have never really seen this idea explored anywhere, is that I think it is astonishing how much of a pass the great and good people of flyover country ARE willing to give these people.
They CAN live in mansions with servants and daily massages while we cannot. They CAN collect 100 antique autos while we struggle to fix the antique that gets us to work each day. They CAN marry, divorce, marry, divorce, not marry, eff like jackrabbits, etc etc while we occasionally get to dream about that Playboy bunny, and then get on with the reality of our lives. They CAN live in a fantasy world, essetially playing cowboy and soldier and superhero in $100 million dollar sandboxes…. and get paid zillions to do so. They can do ALL of this more, and we won’t even resent them for it. Life ain’t fair, they won a lottery of sorts, I didn’t, that’s the deal. (Maybe my child will win a similar lottery, or achieve similar greatness on their own. That’s worth tolerating, and even fighting for.)
Oh, yes they CAN do it, and we will even be happy for them for it. And give them our money for just the privilege of a chance to peek through the fence once in a while. And we won’t complain. That is life.
And we ask one thing from them. One tiny little thing…. in return. Just one.
Do NOT treat us with contempt. Our lives, our spirituality, our values, our mores, our history, that which makes us what we are, down to our core.
Do NOT treat us with the rabid, drooling, unceasing, caustic contempt of Marie Antoinette when you look at us, we who literally pay for your cars, mansions, toys, and supermodels.
Treat us respectfully, and if you disagree, disagree. We can live with that. That is all we ask.
But just do NOT treat us with the contempt we are all now all too familiar with. Do not. That is ALL we ask of you.
And you know what? That is apparently too much to ask from Hollywood in the 21st century. It is just too much. They have to have their cars, mansions, toys, absolute sexual liscense, all of it…. AND they must repeatedly shout from the rooftops just how loathsome the rest of us are, and do so on a daily basis. For them not do so is just too much of a sacrifice for us, the proles, to ask of them.
And so we must turn our backs to them. And we are.
http://www.newser.com/story/67427/stars-bomb-at-the-box-office.html?utm_source=syn&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tag
And I am certain the eternally brilliant lot of them have not the foggiest clue why.
People in Hollywood operate in a — probably inevitable — hierarchy in their professional lives. This fosters groupthink and rewards instant obedience. Once a few loud voices begin to be heard over libertinism and anti-Americanism, the poor dears will take to their beds with the vapors. With a little luck, this will result in a rush to emergency rooms and rehab.