Intimate enemy

Republicans love Hollywood. They say they hate it, but they don8217;t. They love hating it. If every studio was nuked tomorrow they8217;d ...

Republicans love Hollywood. They say they hate it, but they don8217;t. They love hating it. If every studio was nuked tomorrow they8217;d cry themselves to sleep for months. It8217;s complicated. But nothing puts the roses in their cheeks, and nothing riles the born-again bigots quite like a splenetic rant, in Congress or on the stump, against Hollywood and all its perceived moral and spiritual degeneracy8230;

So, given the Republican party8217;s marked distaste for all things Hollywood, it was something of a novelty to see a bona fide Tinseltown movie star speaking from the podium at primetime during the party8217;s convention in September. No, not Arnold 8212; he8217;s not an actor any more, he8217;s a perfect storm of empty-suit politics, vacuous celebrity and dazzling special effects 8212; but Ron Silver, star of Reversal Of Fortune and Blue Steel. OK, so he8217;s a character actor more than he8217;s a movie star, but the 8220;Grand Old Party8221; will settle for whatever Hollywood apostates it can get8230;

If you8217;re of the opposing temperament, it might have tickled your fancy to watch Ben Affleck a month earlier at the Democratic convention in Boston 8211; where celebs were largely kept under wraps, much as the barking, ululating Texas Talibangelical tendency would be in New York8230; On the loudmouth political blab-fests 8211; CNN8217;s Crossfire, MSNBC8217;s Hardball with Chris Matthews 8211; it was as if Affleck was attending some political punditry fantasy camp, and having the time of his life8230;

Now that extreme patriotism and vehement political dissent are both back in fashion we8217;re getting a clearer glimpse of who8217;s left and who8217;s right in Hollywood. On the left the usual suspects are brightly arrayed: Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins are a two-pronged lightning-rod for Hollywood-haters8230;

By and large the Hollywood right isn8217;t as vocal as the left. That8217;s because there8217;s no percentage in speaking up. For all I know, Russell, Willis and Selleck may well share all the retrograde fundamentalist sentiments of the average midwest Bush voter, but speaking out won8217;t make them friends in flyover America. Out in the boonies, hatred for Hollywood trumps everything8230;

Excerpted from an article by John Patterson on October 16, in 8216;The Guardian8217;