I enjoyed the Academy Awards presentation of 2013 for most of the broadcast over 1 billion people viewed until Michelle Obama presented the award for Best Picture.  Her presence reminded me of the cozy relationship Hollywood has with the American version of communism in the Democratic Party.  Jack Nicolson who has become a Hollywood legend playing pot headed hippies, crazy people, and ghost ridden psychopaths obviously enjoyed the rub against the conservative right as he presented Michelle Obama’s bang engulfed face on a big screen television.  However, up to that Best Picture category, I enjoyed the Oscars, because I love movies.  I love all movies, liberal ones, conservative ones, and films that are about all forms of life.  Personally I was rooting for Lincoln to do well, but I also admired the work of Ben Affleck in Argo, and I really think a lot of Ang Lee as a filmmaker—so I was very excited to see Life of Pie do so well.  But there was nothing that grabbed my heart more than the live performance of Skyfall by Adele, which won an Oscar for Best Original Song.

Normally I have learned to overlook the obvious shortcomings of Hollywood which were subtly evident in Seth MacFarlane’s presentation of the Oscars.  Being a fan of Family Guy, I am used to Seth’s atheist views and tendency to lean in progressive directions, but I deeply admire his talent, so I can enjoy his work without going crazy about his politics.  He did a good job as a host of the Academy Awards, and I appreciated his satirical song about an issue I pointed out over a year ago, that Best Actresses for the Academy usually get there by showing their breasts in a film.  MacFarlane performed a very funny song titled, “We Saw Your Boobs.” From a distance it looks like Hollywood tried very hard to show that they don’t take themselves too seriously.  MacFarlane poked fun at Hollywood in typical roast fashion which is customary with jokes about cocaine trees, orgies at Jack Nicholson’s house, and references to the mythical Jewish control of Hollywood.  But less obvious was the desire to prove that all the participants were less than perfect human beings, as MacFarlane made fun of his own film Ted in 2012, and Ben Affleck discussed the need to not hold grudges.  These are the under cover elements of progressivism that have plagued Hollywood since the 1950s, and were kept very restrained until the revelation of Michelle Obama splattered the issue in front of everyone left watching at 11:30 PM on a Sunday night.

Hollywood however is not about progressive causes and much of the best of what Hollywood has to offer was not present at the Academy Awards.  Dark Knight Rises was openly snubbed most likely due to the fact that the plot line was critical to collective politics.  The villain Bane was the essence of what many on the political right fear about Obama in present day reality.  So it didn’t go unnoticed that there wasn’t a single award nomination for Warner Brothers billion dollar money-maker.  There was a slight nod to The Avengers, and the entire evening was dedicated to 50 years of James Bond.  It was during the moments of James Bond celebration that many of the Hollywood elite in the audience had glazy faces from the powerful musical performances of Adele from Skyfall and Shirley Bassey from Goldfinger.  It was great to see Shirley again, her voice has rung in my ears for many years, and I wasn’t the only one taken by her performance.  She sang with great power, but more than that, it was the thoughts of James Bond that her voice and that of Adele evoked which is what Hollywood was built on in the first place.  James Bond, like many action heroes are theatrical manifestations of the Übermensch.

 

The Übermensch (German for “Overman, Overhuman, Above-Human, Superman, Super-human”; German pronunciation: [ˈˀyːbɐmɛnʃ]) is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche posited the Übermensch as a goal for humanity to set for itself in his 1883 book Thus Spoke Zarathustra (German: Also Sprach Zarathustra).  Hollywood finds itself a kind of Doctor Jeckle and Mr. Hyde personality in that they publicly celebrate progressive causes like drug addiction, human weakness, casual sex, and openly intrusive government—which was the idea of presenting Mother Michelle Obama at the end of the broadcast.  Hollywood however makes its money off of exceptionalism, and is the soul reason that directors like Ang Lee make movies for the big studios instead of in Europe, or Asia.   Hollywood is the creation of exceptionalism and the stories are specific to American thought.  The Academy urges more progressive films to be produced to fit their ideological pursuits, but Hollywood makes its money off films like Dark Knight Rises, any Bruce Willis film, and films that have Übermensch’s as the protagonist.  Movie goers do not like weak kneed heroes, they want the Übermensch.  James Bond is super-human, he is not a man who has all the normal emotional weaknesses, which has been an issue with this new Daniel Craig Bond—until Skyfall.  Bond is a man of exception, he is the best of the best and that is why tears flowed at the end of Bassey’s performance of Goldfinger.  “Little girl, beware of his web of sin,………………….but don’t go in.”

Considering that Return of the King won Best Picture just a few short years ago, it was shocking that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey didn’t have more nominations.  But for those who know the labor backlash over The Hobbit being filmed in Wellington, New Zealand it should come as no surprise. Hollywood holds grudges.  They hold them against George Lucas for his independence of the Hollywood system, they hold grudges against James Cameron for declaring that he “Was king of the world.” Hollywood holds grudges against Mel Gibson for making The Passion of the Christ.  So Ben Affleck almost let out too much when he accepted his award, and quickly composed himself on discussing grudges in Hollywood.  Big players in Hollywood know that they must play by the rule of progressivism if they want to continue working—even the biggest names.  Notice that Clint Eastwood wasn’t there this year after coming out in favor of Mitt Romney in the last election and calling President Obama “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.”  Hollywood offers a seat at the table for those who fall in line, and takes the seat away at the Oscars for those who don’t follow the party line.  True superstars like Eastwood, Bruce Willis—who just came out in favor of the Second Amendment, and Sylvester Stallone were not shown walking the red carpet this year, even though films from those actors will be watched on televisions many years into the future while films like Argo will be forgotten along with Black Hawk Down, and The Deer Hunter.

http://www.nme.com/filmandtv/news/peter-jackson-expects-the-hobbit-oscar-snub/292903

Hollywood shoots itself in the foot by aligning themselves with progressive politicians like Michelle and Barack Obama.  But Hollywood, especially above the line, loves glittery lights, and Democrats are better at presenting glitter than Republicans.  So Hollywood—at least the elite that are always present at the Oscars are in bed with Democratic politicians because they all love the pretty lights and glitter that those politicians offer.  Republicans fail because they expect to be judged on substance, but Hollywood can’t even judge the best among them correctly without politics getting in the way.

For me even bigger than Adele’s performance of Skyfall was Hal Needham the stuntman and director of films like Smokey and the Bandit and Hooper winning a special Academy Award he very well deserved.  Needham is a man I personally admire, so it was good to see him finally get an Oscar for his long career of work.  It wasn’t a surprise to me that Seth MacFarlane did a comedy skit with Sally Field at the beginning where he asked her on a date in a Trans Am and everyone instantly recognized the role that will forever define her in Smokey and the Bandit.  That film would have never happened without the effort and expert stunt work of Hal Needham.  Sally Field won’t be remembered as the mother of Forest Gump, or the wife of Lincoln or any of her other fantastic acting roles over many years—she will always be known as Frog from Smokey and the Bandit, because the Bandit was an Übermensch and society loves their overman heroes.

When I saw the mug of Michelle Obama speaking from The White House I instantly wondered why Hollywood was allowed to get away with such an audacious display of affection.  But I instantly knew the answer.  Conservatives who have a lot of money do not spend their money on film production.  They buy oil wells, real estate, and other traditional investments, but when it comes to film, they do not put their money where their mouth is, and because of it, have lost their message to investors who think progressive causes are the correct path.  That is why Hollywood is in bed with the political left.    Actors like Jack Nicholson will be anything you want them to be for the right price, and in Hollywood the money comes from progressive investors.  The relationship is so cozy that for the first time, the wife of a President announced the Best Picture at the Academy Awards.  Conservatives could have a seat at the table and compete directly with progressives if only they learned to put some of their money into film production so that they could at least play the public relations game, which they are now losing without a fight.   The boldest attempt in my opinion during 2012 was Atlas Shrugged Part II.  But not enough conservatives supported the film, leaving the producers hanging on the vine alone. 

I spend a lot of time considering the implications of the film industry because movies whether we like it or not shape our culture more than any other modern factor.  The values of our society do come out of Hollywood, and so long as the trend leans toward progressivism, conservative causes will always waver in the eyes of the public.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  All it takes is an understanding of what forces are at play, and I have put them forth here for analysis.  The world doesn’t want more art films to inspire them to political leanings.  They want more Skyfall, and more Adele.  They want more Bruce Willis and crave Clint Eastwood to tell somebody to “Make My Day.”  They want more Incredible Hulks to grab a villain by the head and fling them about like a rag doll only to utter, “Puny God.”  Worldwide film audiences want to see a woman like Sally Field play not Lincoln’s wife but to put on the wedding dress once again and run off on a high-speed adventure with a cowboy wearing Übermensch named Bandit.  Human beings crave to be more than what they currently are, and they want their movies to reflect that desire.  But such acknowledgments do not come because conservatives have lost the fight in Hollywood at their own peril or that Jack and the gang flaunted reality at the close of the program with Obama’s face to send conservatives to bed with nightmares of socialism. They come like all things in life, with understanding–he who has the gold rules, and conservatives have contributed very little gold to Hollywood and therefore find themselves ruled by liberals in entertainment and politics.  They are caught in a vice between the two, and wonder how it happened when their ideas are sounder and more statistically proficient.  But that is a situation that could change easily, if only conservatives would get the message.

Meanwhile, I’m going to go listen to Adele’s Skyfall on my iPod about 2 million more times and contemplate the importance of the Übermensch in human culture.  I will also dedicate my time, money and resources not to the orgy seekers who wanted to partake in mashed potato sex at Jack Nicholson’s house after the Academy Awards, but the Rebels With A Cause who are emerging as the new counter-culture in America.  It is there that the new heart of Hollywood resides and the fate of our country and world.  The new cool is not the Obama loving pot smoking, Che wearing actor from Beverly Hills, it is the conservative from the Midwest who walks like John Wayne, utters one liners like Clint Eastwood, and articulates an idea like Ronald Reagan.  That is where the country’s salvation resides, and the real money that Hollywood could make if they didn’t eat like pets from the hands of ultra progressives who have finally taken over the Oscars and began to hand out Best Picture awards………..and laugh about it like it’s hip.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/02/26/theblaze-magazine-special-report-conservatism-is-the-new-counterculture/

Rich Hoffman

“If they attack first………..blast em’!”

www.tailofthedragonbook.com