I have always believed in the right of free expression. People
should be able to express an opinion without being punished for
it. The exceptions to that rule are using an opinion to defame
without cause, slander someone or attack their ethnicity. That
goes far beyond the fair expression of an opinion. Could the
current slump in movie ticket sales be the result of Hollywood's
war against traditional values? Have liberal actors gone too far
in their political expressions to remain marketable?

Many of this year"s films feature some of Hollywood"s most
liberal and outspoken actors. Most of the plots, it can be
argued, have a decidedly liberal and even anti-conservative
slant. It may be that liberals were encouraged with the
financial success of Michael Moore"s film, Fahrenheit 9/11.
However, that was during an election year when people were
hungry to hear both sides of the issue. That hunger, it seems,
has subsided.

Can be it that the liberals in Hollywood have become so
philosophically disconnected from the average American that they
no longer care about what their audiences really want to see?
Almost every film released features characters that are
divorced, separated or single with children. Traditional
mothers, fathers and couples are portrayed as bored, worn out,
soulless people who live meaningless lives. Today"s villains are
the CEOs of greedy corporations. Didn"t anyone in Tinsel Town
notice the popularity of The Apprentice?

I have been on this Earth for forty some years. During that
time, many things have changed. The one thing that has not is
that people go to the movies to escape. They don"t want their
superheroes trying to teach them a series of liberal social
values. They do not want The Godfather trying to save the
whales. They don"t want every coming of age film to
automatically include a gay or lesbian character. They want to
be entertained. When films become dreary morality lessons and
cease to entertain, people stop going to the movies.

With America going in a decidedly conservative direction, it
does not seem unreasonable to ask for more films where people
who don"t leave, get a sex change operation or reveal they are
gay get some credit. There are a lot of moms and dads out there
working very hard to keep their family together. Many of them do
not see their lives are empty, wasted or meaningless. Not all
teenagers are joyriding, smoking pot or having relations with
everything that moves. Some actually have some respect for
themselves and know better.

There was a time when many Americans allowed Hollywood liberals
to tell them how to think. They made the films and we were
expected to simply show up at theaters because entertainment
choices were limited. That"s no longer the case. With a zillion
cable channels, an ever-growing volume of independent
conservative films and portable media that fits in our pocket,
we can now select our own entertainment.

One would have thought that this year"s lackluster ratings for
The Academy Awards television broadcast would have sent a strong
message to liberal filmmakers. With the vast majority of
nominations having gone to dreary films that extol the perceived
benefits of a liberal utopia, millions of viewers tuned out.
They just didn"t watch. Now, it seems, the same thing is
happening at the box office. People aren"t watching by the
millions. Those who do can"t stomach the morality lessons enough
for a second viewing.

Apart from liberal themes, there are the liberal actors. Sean
Penn recently traveled to Iran to observe and report on the
elections there for a major American Newspaper. One wonders why?
Perhaps he hoped to find another dictatorial utopia for America
to leave alone? He and many of his liberal friends seemed to
feel that Saddam Hussein had created some sort of socialist
Muslim heaven on earth that America had no right to disturb.

Liberal actors, musicians and artists all joined together in the
past couple of years for what they were sure would be a
successful effort to prevent the War with Iraq and keep
President Bush from serving a second term. Most were devastated
when these efforts failed miserably. Perhaps they felt that what
they were doing was akin to the Hollywood Canteen and War Bond
drives of World War II fame? If that"s the case, they were wrong.

Bad mouthing the President and trashing our troops is not the
way to win the hearts and minds of most Americans. Holding
tyrannical dictators like Castro and Saddam up as socialist
miracle workers is crazy. Creating entertainments that trash
values held dear by any faction of Americans is wrong, counter
productive and irritating. People don"t go to the movies to be
irritated.

What will it all come to? King Kong gets a non-traditional
marriage to Godzilla and adopts Mothra who saves the whales from
Republican Fishermen? Liberals have every right to share their
vision of what America should be. It"s no crime and never should
be for them to express their frustration at prejudice faced by
those living in non-traditional situations. It"s also just as
fair for those who beg to differ with their views to avoid
entertainment venues that extol liberal values.

About the author:
A native New Yorker now living in Arizona, Bill Knell is a
forty-something guy with a wealth of knowledge and experience.
He's written hundreds of articles offer advice on a wide variety
of subjects.

Author : Bill Knell
Site : www.goarticles.com

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