Paul A. Ibbetson
Hanks for the new memories: a look at the skewed mentality of Hollywood
By Paul A. Ibbetson
Some wonder how the Hollywood elite manage to make movies, build castles on prime real estate, fill their factory-sized garages with foreign sports cars, and still find the time to impress the great unwashed with their unequaled intelligence on political matters. As is often the case, sometimes it is best to stick with your day job.
With the release of the HBO military special The Pacific, Tom Hanks, while talking about his new film series, characterized World War II as a war of racism and terror and paralleled it with today's war on terror. These statements are unfortunate for two reasons. The first reason is that they create a negative wind around what may be another well-created Hanks/Spielberg production. Of course, even more heckling will come from the fact that while he is a masterful actor-producer in front of and behind the camera, Tom Hanks knows nothing of history. Worse yet, Hanks tries to create new memories for the public outside the cinematic screen of World War II, void of the most pivotal event that caused the United States to go to war with Japan, that being the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Also, Hanks fails to grasp the dynamics of what is taking place in the current war on terror. The battle that is being waged by radical Islamic extremists against the United States and its allies today is not a war on race but a confrontation of ideologies. While Hanks earns only half a star, a "thumbs down," or a low box-office rating at the brain stem for his knowledge of history, he certainly does not stand alone.
When we look to Hollywood, there is an overwhelming tendency to find great actors that have a skewed mentality of the world. Through the politically correct dialogue of today, we are urged to describe these individuals as moderates, progressives, or whatever is the smallest imposition to everyone, especially those in question. For conservatives like myself, I find the need to pitch such deceptions as one would a faulty script and call these lurid, leering, latte-loving lunatics what they really are — the modern day liberal.
In defense of Hanks, he is simply one of a long line of Hollywood liberals who have uttered nonsensical statements that have been spread throughout mainstream media. In 1988, Cheers TV star Ted Danson stated that the oceans would be dead with the rest of humanity within the following 10 years. Obviously, Danson's words of oceanic wisdom were faulty, and when it comes to facing his detractors for this environmental doomsday prediction, Danson may be slow to go where everybody knows his name.
Additionally, in a sad conga line of silly statements and character-defining actions, Hollywood liberals Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte, and most notably Sean Penn found the public spotlight at the altar of communist dictator Hugo Chavez. Penn, who served as Chavez's most utilized puppet, was reported by the Associated Press in 2007 to be present with the Venezuelan dictator in Caracas as Chavez repeatedly attacked President George Bush and the war on terror. Chavez characterized Americans as a duped populace restricted from fomenting revolution only by their ignorance of the evils of the Bush administration.
It's always a toss-up as the envelope is opened but I think the "cake taker" of liberal wackiness is still held by movie star and former bully of The View, Rosie O'Donnell. O'Donnell decided to allow her hatred of the war on terror to cause her to defy common sense as she stated that 9/11 was the first time that fire had melted steel. Besides the fact that fire is how you melt steel, Popular Mechanics' 2006 book Debunking 9/11 Myths made short work of O'Donnell's conspiracy theories on Tower 7 with scientific data on the melting point of steel and the temperature at which steel loses its (structural) strength. Oh Rosie, Rosie, Rosie.
So what gives these Hollywood elitists such a skewed, anti-American view of the world? What makes them take time from their busy and lucrative careers to seek out the vilest communist dictators to help spread propaganda against their own countrymen? What it is not is a product of their money, houses, cars, facelifts, or fancy bling-bling. The foundation behind the skewed mentality of many in Hollywood is nothing more than an elaborate, sugar-filled version of the ideology of the modern day liberal found in every place in America. For regular folks, you just have to apply a little low-budget imagination to prove this true. Think of your neighbor with the Obama 2008 rainbow sticker on their Smart Car in the driveway and the "Ration Toilet Paper for Mother Earth" sign in the yard. Deposit 20 million dollars in his or her bank account and Voila! You're living next to Tom Hanks, Rosie O'Donnell, or the equivalent.
Whether this truth makes Tom Hanks and others a little more ordinary or your liberal neighbor a little more exotic is for you to decide, but decide quickly as liberals of all tax brackets would love for you to share their skewed mentality of the world. For me, it's "Hanks, but no Hanks!" Feel free to share that with your liberal neighbor next door.
© Paul A. Ibbetson
March 25, 2010
Some wonder how the Hollywood elite manage to make movies, build castles on prime real estate, fill their factory-sized garages with foreign sports cars, and still find the time to impress the great unwashed with their unequaled intelligence on political matters. As is often the case, sometimes it is best to stick with your day job.
With the release of the HBO military special The Pacific, Tom Hanks, while talking about his new film series, characterized World War II as a war of racism and terror and paralleled it with today's war on terror. These statements are unfortunate for two reasons. The first reason is that they create a negative wind around what may be another well-created Hanks/Spielberg production. Of course, even more heckling will come from the fact that while he is a masterful actor-producer in front of and behind the camera, Tom Hanks knows nothing of history. Worse yet, Hanks tries to create new memories for the public outside the cinematic screen of World War II, void of the most pivotal event that caused the United States to go to war with Japan, that being the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Also, Hanks fails to grasp the dynamics of what is taking place in the current war on terror. The battle that is being waged by radical Islamic extremists against the United States and its allies today is not a war on race but a confrontation of ideologies. While Hanks earns only half a star, a "thumbs down," or a low box-office rating at the brain stem for his knowledge of history, he certainly does not stand alone.
When we look to Hollywood, there is an overwhelming tendency to find great actors that have a skewed mentality of the world. Through the politically correct dialogue of today, we are urged to describe these individuals as moderates, progressives, or whatever is the smallest imposition to everyone, especially those in question. For conservatives like myself, I find the need to pitch such deceptions as one would a faulty script and call these lurid, leering, latte-loving lunatics what they really are — the modern day liberal.
In defense of Hanks, he is simply one of a long line of Hollywood liberals who have uttered nonsensical statements that have been spread throughout mainstream media. In 1988, Cheers TV star Ted Danson stated that the oceans would be dead with the rest of humanity within the following 10 years. Obviously, Danson's words of oceanic wisdom were faulty, and when it comes to facing his detractors for this environmental doomsday prediction, Danson may be slow to go where everybody knows his name.
Additionally, in a sad conga line of silly statements and character-defining actions, Hollywood liberals Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte, and most notably Sean Penn found the public spotlight at the altar of communist dictator Hugo Chavez. Penn, who served as Chavez's most utilized puppet, was reported by the Associated Press in 2007 to be present with the Venezuelan dictator in Caracas as Chavez repeatedly attacked President George Bush and the war on terror. Chavez characterized Americans as a duped populace restricted from fomenting revolution only by their ignorance of the evils of the Bush administration.
It's always a toss-up as the envelope is opened but I think the "cake taker" of liberal wackiness is still held by movie star and former bully of The View, Rosie O'Donnell. O'Donnell decided to allow her hatred of the war on terror to cause her to defy common sense as she stated that 9/11 was the first time that fire had melted steel. Besides the fact that fire is how you melt steel, Popular Mechanics' 2006 book Debunking 9/11 Myths made short work of O'Donnell's conspiracy theories on Tower 7 with scientific data on the melting point of steel and the temperature at which steel loses its (structural) strength. Oh Rosie, Rosie, Rosie.
So what gives these Hollywood elitists such a skewed, anti-American view of the world? What makes them take time from their busy and lucrative careers to seek out the vilest communist dictators to help spread propaganda against their own countrymen? What it is not is a product of their money, houses, cars, facelifts, or fancy bling-bling. The foundation behind the skewed mentality of many in Hollywood is nothing more than an elaborate, sugar-filled version of the ideology of the modern day liberal found in every place in America. For regular folks, you just have to apply a little low-budget imagination to prove this true. Think of your neighbor with the Obama 2008 rainbow sticker on their Smart Car in the driveway and the "Ration Toilet Paper for Mother Earth" sign in the yard. Deposit 20 million dollars in his or her bank account and Voila! You're living next to Tom Hanks, Rosie O'Donnell, or the equivalent.
Whether this truth makes Tom Hanks and others a little more ordinary or your liberal neighbor a little more exotic is for you to decide, but decide quickly as liberals of all tax brackets would love for you to share their skewed mentality of the world. For me, it's "Hanks, but no Hanks!" Feel free to share that with your liberal neighbor next door.
© Paul A. Ibbetson
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