Why is Hollywood primarily liberals?

[Plomeek Broth]

This question has bothered me for a long time. I don't want this thread to turn into a Democrat-Republican argument though. What is the reason the overwhelming majority of producers, directors, and actors are all liberals? Are conservatives not capable of creative storytelling? Are they kept out because of their views? Do liberals tend to be more creative and think in ideals? Are conservatives too grounded in reality? I don't have an answer for this and wondered if anyone on here could shed some light on this. There has to be a logical answer. Not even taking sides in the matter, just wanting a detailed explanation if anyone can articulate it. Thanks

 

[T'Baio]

Because liberals have more fun?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Creative types slant more toward the left in general. That's pretty much what it boils down to.

 

[Starbreaker]

I had this discussion in a Political Parties class last year. Nobody could come up with anything substantial.

 

[Plomeek Broth]

Creative types slant more toward the left in general. That's pretty much what it boils down to.

On the surface, one would think so. However, a person who lives a conservative lifestyle could just as easily write the most "far out there" stories because they don't need to abide by the rules of reality within their imaginary story. That's the part I don't get at all. Although I do see how one with liberal personality traits would be more likely to gravitate towards that kind of environment. On another note, it's always been like that going back to the beginning of it all- liberal Hollywood. It's just our society has gotten more liberal over time and Hollywood tries to skate on that edge to maintain its progressive freshness.

 

[propita]

Creative types slant more toward the left in general. That's pretty much what it boils down to.

On the surface, one would think so. However, a person who lives a conservative lifestyle could just as easily write the most "far out there" stories because they don't need to abide by the rules of reality within their imaginary story.

Entirely possible for a person who lives a conservative lifestyle to do just that. Many have--there are a number of such actors, producers, and directors (though I've done no research)--but it's less likely due to the very constraints of conservative thought. Just like many "less-conservative" persons are not necessarily that good at writing more-typical stories, which are needed.

After all, while "out there" ideas are great, there must be a significant conservative structure to be "out there" from. You know what I mean? A solid reference is required, a basis of familiarity, some continuity. Otherwise "out there" ideas are just random things.

 

[Aragorn]

Maybe they just won't hire conservatives.

There's a documentary called "Rated R: Republicans in Hollywood" which I haven't seen but is supposed to touch on this issue.

Patricia Heaton was having dinner and conversation with a few Hollywood friends when the subject of politics came up. When the "Everybody Loves Raymond" star said she's voting for George W. Bush, the chatter turned to awkward silence. "You'd think I'd crapped in the middle of the table," the Emmy-winning actress says in "Rated R: Republicans in Hollywood," a documentary that premiered recently on AMC-TV.

Details also "outed" Mandy Moore, but her publicist issued a quip of a response, stating: "Mandy is not, nor has she ever been, a Republican."

 

[Kelso]

There is quite a bit of reading and writing involved.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Like college professors (and their students), many Hollywood denizens have never had to deal with the real world.

 

[Australis]

Two thoughts.

One, Conservatives make boring movies.

Two, for a place that's full of dreaded Libruls, why do they usually have a Republican Governor? Since 1899, there have only been 4 Democratic Governors out of 18.

 

[Capt. Vulcan]

Two thoughts.

One, Conservatives make boring movies.

Two, for a place that's full of dreaded Libruls, why do they usually have a Republican Governor? Since 1899, there have only been 4 Democratic Governors out of 18.

Outside of the movie making areas there are lots of conservative hotspots in California. To the south of La, Orange County is conservative, to the north Simi Valley is very conservative. Most of northern california is pretty conservative. Then you have the minority population in the LA area that gets turned off by the anti-religious slant of modern liberalism.

Aside from that, I'd guess liberalism is more conducive to they type of creativity needed in modern media.

 

[Nardpuncher]

Like college professors (and their students), many Hollywood denizens have never had to deal with the real world.

Good one.

I was going to say they have guilt associated with easy money.
Look at many colleges. Working class people are working, better off kids go to college (especially in the US where college is more expensive) and many but not all may hold their political views because they want to go along with the majority and may have that guilt about being relatively well off.

 

[Count Zero]

Well, most jobs mentioned in the OP don't really fit the Conservative world view, I guess. They're not respectable and secure professions.

As for the awkward silence that actress got when she said she'd vote for Bush, I'd say she got off easy. I'd questioned her reason. It's quite a mystery to me how he got elected twice, given the air of incompetence and ignorance about the world he had, even while camapaigning in 2000. So, I don't think that's a proof for anything.

 

[Australis]

^ And there's a TNZ thread in the making!

 

[stj]

For the same reason(s) all the gays take drama in high school, obviously.

Of course, the absurdity of the idea that all gays take drama should clue you in.

There is no reason to think "Hollywood" is particularly liberal. Being a Democrat is not being a leftist. That is simplistic thinking at best. Usually it's just mindless partisan slander. At worst, there is a vein of antiSemitism, where Hollywood's ecumenical approach is misread as antireligious, attributed to the Jewish element.

Sexual libertinism and/or proud amorality are not leftism, although they are common amongst the rich, who can afford their antisocial hobbies, and amongst the poor (which temporarily includes Bohemians like struggling young artists) who have nothing to lose. On the other hand, real leftism includes trades unionism. The producers, the real "Hollywood," are as right wing, by and large, as any reactionary could wish. Selling celluloid sex is just business as usual. And business is conservative.

 

[Christopher]

Hollywood isn't primarily liberals. Hollywood is an industry town. The studios are owned and run by ultra-rich corporate moguls, and they tend to be conservative. The people in Hollywood who get more public attention, the actors and writers and directors and creative types, tend to be liberal on the whole, though there are plenty of noted conservative actors, from Chuck Norris, Sylvester Stallone, and Clint Eastwood to Tony Danza, Angie Harmon, and Sarah Michelle Gellar. But the people they work for, the ones who aren't in the news so often? Well, they're running a business and their priority is making a profit. And liberals and conservatives both pay to see movies and watch cable TV. So it's not really a town driven by ideology -- except for the ideology that everyone's money is good.

 

[Amaris]

This question has bothered me for a long time. I don't want this thread to turn into a Democrat-Republican argument though. What is the reason the overwhelming majority of producers, directors, and actors are all liberals? Are conservatives not capable of creative storytelling? Are they kept out because of their views? Do liberals tend to be more creative and think in ideals? Are conservatives too grounded in reality? I don't have an answer for this and wondered if anyone on here could shed some light on this. There has to be a logical answer. Not even taking sides in the matter, just wanting a detailed explanation if anyone can articulate it. Thanks

I have no idea. I gave the matter some thought, and couldn't really come up with anything that would indicate why Hollywood would be primarily liberal, save for the idea that liberals want (and this is running off a stereotype but I'm just thinking) free speech and to push the envelope on said free speech, and so tend to congregate in areas where they are allowed to do so, insulating themselves within a certain ideology.

J.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Creative types tend toward being rather open-minded and Bohemian, almost by definition, which is anathema to the Right Wing personality and ideology. Right Wingers tend more toward editorializing and propagandizing than creativity.

 

[Christopher]

Creative types tend toward being rather open-minded and Bohemian, almost by definition, which is anathema to the Right Wing personality and ideology. Right Wingers tend more toward editorializing and propagandizing than creativity.

That's true only of the extremist fringe who in the past couple of decades have dominated the right and driven out all other conservative voices. They claim to speak for all conservatives, but most rank-and-file conservatives would disagree to at least some extent, if they could only get a word in over the screaming voices of the pundits.

There are certainly plenty of creative people who are conservative. There are a number of writers who are outright libertarian, from Ayn Rand to Robert A. Heinlein to Star Trek novelist Diane Carey (who has run for political office on a far-right platform).

 

[sidious618]

Hollywood isn't that liberal. They've kept actors and actresses in the closet for years. If you're talking about just the actors then, yes, they tend to be more liberal. But this idea that conservative actors don't get jobs is hilarious and probably just an excuse for the fact that someone can't act.