Weary Of The Culture Wars? It Will Only Get Worse
21.04.2022 - 17:59
/ deadline.com
Does it ever feel like those of us in and around Hollywood are at war with the world?
We’re certainly fighting with Florida, over gender education—you heard all about it from the Oscar hosts, on Disney-owned ABC.
And we’re battling Texas, over abortion. Reese Witherspoon and another hundred stars planted the flag in that one.
In Georgia, it’s a beef over voting rights/ballot integrity. I’m so old, I can remember when Will Smith was a hero for leading the charge there, alongside Antoine Fuqua.
Then Bette Midler took on West Virginia. The issue was Joe Manchin, or the filibuster, or something.
Indeed, the movie business is in almost as many political and moral fights as the City and County of San Francisco, which, at last tally, had banned official travel to 28 states with policies that were deemed unacceptable to a once-freewheeling town known as Baghdad by the Bay. (Plus, we’re mad at Russia. But almost everyone is, so that doesn’t count.)
In short form, we’re mired in the culture wars. Following the lead of activist filmmakers and stars—who ran especially hot on social media during the long months of Covid lockdown—the industry has clearly aligned itself with progressive positions on inclusion, racial equity, gender and transgender rights, gun control, border enforcement, abortion, and any other issue guaranteed to divide both the polity and the audience.
When Disney chief executive Bob Chapek was pushed from public neutrality to open opposition toward Florida’s new education laws—“Don’t Say Gay” to those who oppose, “Anti-Grooming” to those who support—the battle lines were finally drawn. The middle ground disappeared. Even Disney wasn’t big enough to straddle the divide. Florida and its governor, Ron DeSantis, fought back,