By Lee Pfeiffer
The dreaded days of Senator Joseph McCarthy's crusade against "anti-Americans" in the film business represents a dark chapter of Hollywood history. However, according to British journalist Michael Freedland, the movie industry is presently in the midst of another defacto blacklist - this one based on ostracizing those who dare to express messages that don't conform to political correctness. Freedland cites examples of a monolithic approach to presenting minorities in films and on TV as almost always virtuous characters for fear of offending someone. Similar sentiments have been raised by members of the gay community, that homosexual characters are generally relegated to being the eccentric, over-the-top next door neighbor but are rarely seen as complex individuals. Ironically, some liberal actors also have cited being affected. In his later years, ultra liberal Gregory Peck complained of being shut out of films because, to the new Hollywood, even he was too mainstream.Â
Whether a new blacklist exists or not remains to be debated. What is clear is that, from a political standpoint, both liberals and conservatives chronically whine that they can't get their message out and that "the media" is stacked against them. For the liberals, the rant rings hollow, as Democrats control the Presidency, the Congress and the Senate. For conservatives, the premise that they can't get their message out because of a media conspiracy is equally nutty: the top cable news network is right-leaning Fox News and right wing hosts have a virtual monopoly on talk radio. Whether the notion of a new Hollywood blacklist is legitimate or just another symptom of America's obsession with "victimization" is up to the reader to decide. Click here to readÂ