BREITBART: A million stories to tell

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

On Tuesday, I launch Big Hollywood (bighollywood.breitbart .com), a big group blog that will feature hundreds of the big minds from the fields of politics, journalism, entertainment and culture.

Big Hollywood is not a “celebrity” gabfest or a gossip outpost - it is a continuous politics and culture posting board for those who think something has gone drastically wrong and that Hollywood should return to its patriotic roots.

Big Hollywood’s modest objective: to change the entertainment industry. To make Hollywood something we can believe in - again. In order to give millions of Americans hope.

Until conservatives, libertarians and Republicans - who will be the lion’s share of Big Hollywood’s contributors - recognize that (pop) culture is the big prize and that politics is secondary, there will be no victory in this important battle.

Hollywood is no longer an American industry. And it took a prolonged war in which the studios and most of the stars didn’t show up to fight for America to draw attention to this hard truth.

American corporations, the FBI, the CIA and elected U.S. officials are the bad guys in flicks these days. Radical Islamists are seldom vilified while the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines are smeared too often.

Film production - and countless jobs - have been steadily shipped abroad for cost-cutting purposes. Standing ovations at Cannes and Golden Globes - not American popular opinion - determine who wins the Oscar. And homegrown actors are hailed as First Amendment heroes for speaking out against the United States.

The anti-hero rules this celluloid world. Nihilism is packaged as edginess. And there’s zero sense that anyone’s watching out for quality control. Even the respected awards are often given to the most outlandish and gratuitously deplorable.

In 2003, Meryl Streep told the Wall Street Journal: “We export the crap. And then we wonder why everybody hates us and has a distorted picture of what Americans are.”

In the period since Sept. 11, 2001, international box office receipts have steadily exceeded domestic numbers. Film financing now usually begins with international investors and creative decisions are crafted to geopolitical sensibilities rarely simpatico with our own.

Big Hollywood box office analyst Steve Mason will explore these trends and be the first national reporter to crunch the movie numbers throughout the week. Politicians need to pay attention to the results as close as studio executives. Or elections beware.

Globalization explains a good portion of the Hollywood leftward lurch but alienated and demoralized Americans turning off and tuning out further undermines the case for inserting proud Western ideals into entertainment product. We are now giving the world what we think it wants as we turn our heads in disgust. That’s not a good formula for a civilization to survive.

Most heartbroken by this cultural and financial sea change are those who ply in the powerful trade of make-believe, who got into show business, for among other reasons, to carry on Hollywood’s patriotic mission. It’s hard to believe, but not everyone in the business thinks Sean Penn is a gonzo genius.

Hidden amid the “dissent is patriotic” glitterati are thousands of deeply concerned artists and industry players who have mostly privately and sadly watched Hollywood reflect ideals that are not their own.

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