Why is Hollywood primarily liberals?

[Gojirob]

I could care less about who Hollywood supports politically, but what I do care about is how conservatives and in particular Christians are portrayed in mainstream Hollywood these days. Almost always it is as liars, fools, hypocrites and villains. It paints an untrue picture and does a disservice to the political discourse.

I would love to see another Sergeant York or the like spring from Hollywood, but I have my doubts that a Christian painted in such a light will ever emerge from there.

Yeah he was a Christian, but thats not why they made a movie about him.

"Conservatives" have always been bad guys in Hollywood. Old Man Potter was no tree hugger,supporter of the poor and disenfranchised.

That's an odd movie to cite (It's a Wonderful Life), given that both Jimmy Stewart and Frank Capra were Republicans.

Despite this, both IAWL and 'A Christmas Carol' are viewed by some as anti-capitalist. IAWL got the attention of no less than J. Edgar. Each Xmas, a small cache of right-leaning pundits praise the pre-reform Scrooge and Potter, arguing that they create jobs, etc.

 

[Sci]

I'm trying to think of a Christian character on network TV right now who comes across in a positive way and I'm drawing a blank.

How long did Seventh Heaven air on the WB? The better part of ten years, and still Christians like to claim underrepresentation on network TV?

 

[Gojirob]

7th Heaven was like this twelve-year advert on why not to be a Christian, whatever its creator intended. Better than ten years of unwanted advice from Ruthie, unwanted lecturing from Lucy, unwanted interference from Annie, and dithering/posturing from Eric, unforgivably once a Captain of The Enterprise.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Father Jack on V seems like a decent sort of guy. Charlie on Lost was a good guy (and sacrificed his life for others in approved Christian fashion). Nathan Petrelli dabbled in religion for a bit before the Heroes writers forgot all about it (how unusual for them, huh?) Gemma Teller on Sons of Anarchy has also been given a religion plotline. Peggy Olson's Catholicism* has been a plot point on Mad Men, and Colin Hanks has a recurring role as a priest.

And that's just the shows I watch; I don't watch most stuff.

Both decadent Hollyweird libruls and the most out-there right wing cultural conservatives can make good fodder for fiction - Entourage and Big Love repectively. In both cases, the characters are extreme examples of their types, but not depicted in an utterly loathesome manner. In fact, both Ari Gold and Nicolette Grant are great characters that are both popular and frequent nominees during awards season because they are both extreme but also believably human and sympathetic, although if they ever met, they would probably be horrified by each other to roughly equal degree. (And come to think of it, Ari is at least nominally an observant Jew.)

*Which reminds me, Peggy Olson is supposed to be of Norwegian descent, right? Are there really that many Norwegian Catholics?

 

[Caliburn24]

Hmm, I don't watch many of those shows so I'll take your word for it. But I did watch the few episodes of V so I should have remembered that example. If V gets to stick around awhile it'll be interesting to see how that character develops. I think it is more than balanced out by the fact that apparently the rest of the church hierarchy is EVIL(mhahahah) or so it seems, hard to tell with how little of V we've seen and how fast it moves.

 

[Marc]

I'm trying to think of a Christian character on network TV right now who comes across in a positive way and I'm drawing a blank.

How long did Seventh Heaven air on the WB? The better part of ten years, and still Christians like to claim underrepresentation on network TV?

don't forget Touched By An Angel which ran for a few years.

and we shouldn't forget many of the characters from Law & Order (all series) many of them have been practicing Catholics inc Det. Kevin Bernard is featured currently on the original, Det Eliot Stabler on SVU (though he's a bit of a dick in recent years but his faith is strong element to his character) and in the past Det Rey Curtiss (Catholic and very conservative) others are lapsed Catholic (Det Robert Goren, D.A Jack McCoy). I gather Dick Wolf is Catholic hence this trait

 

[Nerys Myk]

Hmm, I don't watch many of those shows so I'll take your word for it. But I did watch the few episodes of V so I should have remembered that example. If V gets to stick around awhile it'll be interesting to see how that character develops. I think it is more than balanced out by the fact that apparently the rest of the church hierarchy is EVIL(mhahahah) or so it seems, hard to tell with how little of V we've seen and how fast it moves.

Other than the older Priest, what part of the Church's hierarchy have we seen?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Hmm, I don't watch many of those shows so I'll take your word for it. But I did watch the few episodes of V so I should have remembered that example. If V gets to stick around awhile it'll be interesting to see how that character develops. I think it is more than balanced out by the fact that apparently the rest of the church hierarchy is EVIL(mhahahah) or so it seems, hard to tell with how little of V we've seen and how fast it moves.

The only aspect of the church hierarchy we've seen is Father Jack's boss, who I halfway suspect of being a V - I hope not, because it would be too obvious - but maybe the guy is just a I-welcome-our-alien-overlords weasel and it has nothing to do with religion.

 

[Gojirob]

There are recent (post-60's ) examples of positive clergy, though not a lot. One I always remember, for my love of the film and the recent death of Gene Barry, is the Reverend from 1953's War Of The Worlds. He honestly wanted to believe that such advanced beings could not be hostile, and turned HGW's depiction of a cleric on its head.

MASH had Father Mulcahy, prolly the finest TV padre ever. Little House had Reverend Alden, a man who stepped down when he thought his congregation no longer needed him and who left the shouting to Mrs. Oleson.

 

[Marc]

MASH had Father Mulcahy, prolly the finest TV padre ever.

Seconded.

Also willing to support reguardless of one's beliefs, different beliefs (I can remember him acting as mohel one time), or plain old no beliefs and no afraid to stand up for what he considered a good cause whether it's knocking some-one out, tearing a strip of Hawkeye or engaging in the black market.

 

[Dusty Ayres]

How long did Seventh Heaven air on the WB? The better part of ten years, and still Christians like to claim underrepresentation on network TV?

Let's also not forget Touched By An Angel and the short-lived Christy. Not to also forget Sue Thomas, F.B. Eye which had something of a Christian fundie slant to it as well.

If you truly believe that conservative values aren't being treated fairly on TV, I have another view to offer you:

Commentators who actually believe we have a “liberal media” ignore not only the underlying truth that our media companies are all controlled by wealthy conservatives, but that there have always been popular television shows which espouse a semi-overt, pro-religious agenda. This is just as true today (this decade’s Joan of Arcadia was especially obnoxious) as it was in the era of Wagon Train. And then there’s the “new” Battlestar: Galactica. Watching the series’ finale this year, I was bemused to discover that the answer to many of that show’s long-running mysteries was, in essence: God(s) did it.

Link

 

[Marc]

How long did Seventh Heaven air on the WB? The better part of ten years, and still Christians like to claim underrepresentation on network TV?

Let's also not forget Touched By An Angel and the short-lived Christy. Not to also forget Sue Thomas, F.B. Eyewhich had something of a Christian fundie slant to it as well.

If you truly believe that conservative values aren't being treated fairly on TV, I have another view to offer you:

Commentators who actually believe we have a “liberal media” ignore not only the underlying truth that our media companies are all controlled by wealthy conservatives, but that there have always been popular television shows which espouse a semi-overt, pro-religious agenda. This is just as true today (this decade’s Joan of Arcadia was especially obnoxious) as it was in the era of Wagon Train. And then there’s the “new” Battlestar: Galactica. Watching the series’ finale this year, I was bemused to discover that the answer to many of that show’s long-running mysteries was, in essence: God(s) did it.

Link

Never under estimate for the ablity for some conservative groups to find the slightest reason to say tv is all liberal or some such bullshit.

I remember reading the wiki for the TV series JAG and there was a reference in that one of the reasons why it never did spectacularly in the ratings was "liberal bias". That it ran 10 years which is damn good run by anyone's standards (well maybe not Dick Wolfe's for a fairly formulaic show (if Rabb was defending the accused would be found not guility, prosecuting and the reverse applied) and Bud Roberts was the only character who ever showed development over the run of series.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

How long did Seventh Heaven air on the WB? The better part of ten years, and still Christians like to claim underrepresentation on network TV?

Let's also not forget Touched By An Angel and the short-lived Christy. Not to also forget Sue Thomas, F.B. Eye which had something of a Christian fundie slant to it as well.

If you truly believe that conservative values aren't being treated fairly on TV, I have another view to offer you:

Commentators who actually believe we have a “liberal media” ignore not only the underlying truth that our media companies are all controlled by wealthy conservatives, but that there have always been popular television shows which espouse a semi-overt, pro-religious agenda. This is just as true today (this decade’s Joan of Arcadia was especially obnoxious) as it was in the era of Wagon Train. And then there’s the “new” Battlestar: Galactica. Watching the series’ finale this year, I was bemused to discover that the answer to many of that show’s long-running mysteries was, in essence: God(s) did it.

Link

BSG's gods-awful ending cured me of any lingering wish to see more religion on TV, at least in terms of deus ex plotting.