“I would do anything for love… but I won’t do that.” - Meatloaf A few weeks ago a little-noticed football-themed movie called 80 FOR BRADY rode Super Bowl mania to something like a $13 million opening weekend. Not a ton of money in the grand scheme of things, but then Hollywood is struggling these days, struggling so badly that even Marvel, DC and Star Wars movies seem to be underperforming. There is a panic settling into Studio commisaries throughout greater Los Angeles. Every smart person in Hollywood, and even some of the dumb ones, are trying to figure out how to get people back into movie theaters after what turns out to have been a wholly unnecessary shutdown over a virus of middling lethality. And so it should be no surprise that a $13 million opening made an enormous splash in executive hallways across Hollywood.
Mar 1, 2023·edited Mar 1, 2023Liked by George MF Washington
Here’s my feeble-minded /outsider’s attempt to summarize and make sense of what’s happening.….Maybe, those fringe conservative content providers today will grow to become the alternative to Hollywood….maybe Hollywood needs to die in order to be born again using a better model/mindset. Like we’re seeing all over the place…things are changing. I am hopeful that our Nation is on the road to recovery…..people are seeing and feeling the harmful effects of what has been and is being done to our kids in school, our economy, and our global standing….all brought on by these radical progressive leaders and their crippling policies and laws. I am hopeful that the number of conservatives is growing and that the left’s battle cry of “Equity, diversity, and inclusion” is falling on more and more deaf ears because their true intent is not to make things better….rather, it is to remove personal freedoms, remove history, create division based on often immutable characteristics…and most importantly….to ensure they are the only ones in charge of everything….Power is what they want….and popularity….Right now, (and since its inception) Hollywood does want to be seen as virtuous….popular…and powerful….or at least associated with the powerful. Before making it to “the big time” I imagine most of them were members of the drama club in high school…their own little club….while not always the rule, I would guess that not many of them were sitting with those who were perceived to be the jocks/popular/cool kids in the cafeteria….and they probably weren’t getting invited to the bitchin’ kegger at the jock’s house when his parents were out of town. They (“Hollywood types”) feel like ever since they left high school that their mission would be to stand up for the outcast (as they see themselves) and stick it to those high school assholes….the problem may be that so many of the former “jocks/popular/“cool kids” grew up and went on to do something other than work in the entertainment industry…these people, after having been force-fed the left’s narrative for several years now have little/no desire to go to Hollywood’s virtue signaling parties (movies/late night snooze fests)…the tides are turning.
I’ll add one more parting shot: despite terrible weather this past weekend, people who did choose to go to the movies made “Jesus Revolution” the 3rd highest rating for the weekend….it was the movie’s debut weekend…we live in a fallen world and all of these things are earthly problems. We need another Jesus Revolution and for more people to walk with Him.
It's a conscious choice. The success of the Yellowstone universe is staring them in the face, too. They'd rather lose money than emulate it ... and they sure as hell won't honor it from a critical or awards standpoint. And it's not even like that stuff is particularly conservative in viewpoint, it just acknowledges that conservative people exist (alongside other people).
Jeremy Clarkson's show about "How to Lose MASSIVE Amounts Of Money On A Farm" is a run-away smash in both the UK and US. It's charming the older rural audience, and along the way making fun of the DEI bosses at "Amazon". (Also, a thumb in the eye of the BBC cancel culture who tried to cast Clarkson into the darkness. )
It's like a reality-TV version of Green Acres. There's the fish out of water Jeremy == Oliver Wendel Douglas There's Lisa Hogan the former supermodel == LISA Douglas (?) Kaleb (Kale- EB) == hired hand EB Dawson. It couldn't be a bigger "homage" unless it was a direct remake. CBS television made zillions of dollars with shows like Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, Beverly Hillbillies, Mayberry RFD etc ... and flushed it away to make more "relevant" shows in the 1970s.
One thing that seems to be missing in this article and the comments is Hollywood's abandonment of its traditional American audience. In their twisted version of good business sense, execs and the higher ups in Tinsel Town made a conscious decision a couple of decades ago that they had to get away from the good 'ole red, white and blue, mom and apple pie movies so that they could expand their markets into Europe and increasingly, China. 10-15 years ago, China was seen as the great untapped market for American products, especially entertainment. You certainly don't want to appeal to those patriotic, country-loving Americans when the're milliions of Chinese to appeal to. Go to Netflix right now and I would guess that probably 1/3 of the offerings there are Chinese/Korean language. Another large chunk are Indian. It seems like it's almost daily where we hear about entertainment companies that are capitulating to the latest demands by our Chicom compadres to cut this scene or edit certain dialogue so as to not offend their communist sensibilities. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next decade or so as the Chinese market implodes through demographic collapse and economic troubles. Being a Hollywood mogul is hard!
Aren't you assuming that the market Hollywood is aiming at is the United States? That's less and less true as time goes on. The Chinese market is more profitable, but it absolutely has no interest in 'conservative' style movies. How many Chinese went to see, say, MIDWAY where the Americans defeat Orientals,, for example?
Top Gun Maverick was as close to a John Wayne movie as you can get. Good job!
Here’s my feeble-minded /outsider’s attempt to summarize and make sense of what’s happening.….Maybe, those fringe conservative content providers today will grow to become the alternative to Hollywood….maybe Hollywood needs to die in order to be born again using a better model/mindset. Like we’re seeing all over the place…things are changing. I am hopeful that our Nation is on the road to recovery…..people are seeing and feeling the harmful effects of what has been and is being done to our kids in school, our economy, and our global standing….all brought on by these radical progressive leaders and their crippling policies and laws. I am hopeful that the number of conservatives is growing and that the left’s battle cry of “Equity, diversity, and inclusion” is falling on more and more deaf ears because their true intent is not to make things better….rather, it is to remove personal freedoms, remove history, create division based on often immutable characteristics…and most importantly….to ensure they are the only ones in charge of everything….Power is what they want….and popularity….Right now, (and since its inception) Hollywood does want to be seen as virtuous….popular…and powerful….or at least associated with the powerful. Before making it to “the big time” I imagine most of them were members of the drama club in high school…their own little club….while not always the rule, I would guess that not many of them were sitting with those who were perceived to be the jocks/popular/cool kids in the cafeteria….and they probably weren’t getting invited to the bitchin’ kegger at the jock’s house when his parents were out of town. They (“Hollywood types”) feel like ever since they left high school that their mission would be to stand up for the outcast (as they see themselves) and stick it to those high school assholes….the problem may be that so many of the former “jocks/popular/“cool kids” grew up and went on to do something other than work in the entertainment industry…these people, after having been force-fed the left’s narrative for several years now have little/no desire to go to Hollywood’s virtue signaling parties (movies/late night snooze fests)…the tides are turning.
I’ll add one more parting shot: despite terrible weather this past weekend, people who did choose to go to the movies made “Jesus Revolution” the 3rd highest rating for the weekend….it was the movie’s debut weekend…we live in a fallen world and all of these things are earthly problems. We need another Jesus Revolution and for more people to walk with Him.
It's a conscious choice. The success of the Yellowstone universe is staring them in the face, too. They'd rather lose money than emulate it ... and they sure as hell won't honor it from a critical or awards standpoint. And it's not even like that stuff is particularly conservative in viewpoint, it just acknowledges that conservative people exist (alongside other people).
Thank goodness for crime dramas on British television
Yeah that Top Gun was top notch. Do they hate making money?
Jeremy Clarkson's show about "How to Lose MASSIVE Amounts Of Money On A Farm" is a run-away smash in both the UK and US. It's charming the older rural audience, and along the way making fun of the DEI bosses at "Amazon". (Also, a thumb in the eye of the BBC cancel culture who tried to cast Clarkson into the darkness. )
It's like a reality-TV version of Green Acres. There's the fish out of water Jeremy == Oliver Wendel Douglas There's Lisa Hogan the former supermodel == LISA Douglas (?) Kaleb (Kale- EB) == hired hand EB Dawson. It couldn't be a bigger "homage" unless it was a direct remake. CBS television made zillions of dollars with shows like Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, Beverly Hillbillies, Mayberry RFD etc ... and flushed it away to make more "relevant" shows in the 1970s.
One thing that seems to be missing in this article and the comments is Hollywood's abandonment of its traditional American audience. In their twisted version of good business sense, execs and the higher ups in Tinsel Town made a conscious decision a couple of decades ago that they had to get away from the good 'ole red, white and blue, mom and apple pie movies so that they could expand their markets into Europe and increasingly, China. 10-15 years ago, China was seen as the great untapped market for American products, especially entertainment. You certainly don't want to appeal to those patriotic, country-loving Americans when the're milliions of Chinese to appeal to. Go to Netflix right now and I would guess that probably 1/3 of the offerings there are Chinese/Korean language. Another large chunk are Indian. It seems like it's almost daily where we hear about entertainment companies that are capitulating to the latest demands by our Chicom compadres to cut this scene or edit certain dialogue so as to not offend their communist sensibilities. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next decade or so as the Chinese market implodes through demographic collapse and economic troubles. Being a Hollywood mogul is hard!
Aren't you assuming that the market Hollywood is aiming at is the United States? That's less and less true as time goes on. The Chinese market is more profitable, but it absolutely has no interest in 'conservative' style movies. How many Chinese went to see, say, MIDWAY where the Americans defeat Orientals,, for example?