Ask just about anyone who writes about film and culture, or who exists in the insulated bubble that much of our culture has become, whether Hollywood has a problem. They usually know that it does, but they refuse to name the problem. If they’re comfortable—they get paid, they have access, they are invited to see movies for free—they will never want to rock the boat, much less stand up in it and tip it over, as I have done.
What they won’t say is the truth: that something is wrong now with Hollywood and storytelling. It’s been like this for a long time. It’s a bottleneck. Nothing can get in and nothing can get out. Well, thankfully, there is a thing called a billionaire, and sometimes that is what is required to save a society, or a culture, or Hollywood. That is exactly what just happened when the final hurdle was cleared and the Paramount-Skydance merger with Warner Bros. Discovery was born.
With unapologetic references to Harry Potter and Top Gun Maverick, Hollywood is back, baby.
Somebody had to save Hollywood and honestly, only a billionaire has the fuck-you money to get the dirty job done. I can’t wait to see what dreams may come. Now that David Fincher’s contract is up at Netflix, you know, just saying!
I understand that to those who have had complete control of the MESSAGE and Hollywood, this is coming as quite a shock. They mistakenly believe it’s a move toward censorship and oppression. Nothing could be further from the truth. That’s what Hollywood has been enduring for what, 15 years as politics and culture fused leaving the storytellers no freedom to tell stories?
What we’ve gotten instead is the same story, told over and over again. Call it the Woke Origin Story or the Progressive Bible. What it means is that the MESSAGE must always be consistent across the board. We in Hollywood are responsible for fixing and correcting our broken world. They believe this because once Obama was elected, Hollywood believed itself to be part of his Royal Court. I wish I were kidding. I am not.
Take it from me. I’ve been covering Hollywood and the Oscars for 26 years. Day in and day out, almost no days off, here I sit, in front of my screen, writing for you fine people. That is all I’ve done, and I’ve done it for almost half of my life and the entirety of my daughter’s life. I always believed in Hollywood, in art, in movies but what I’ve seen happen is that Hollywood got religion. That destroyed their ability to tell stories. Too many topics are protected, too many rules are in place, and too many one-sided films play to a public that has long since tuned them out.
It should never have happened that my voting a different way should mean the end of my career, or that the things I say on X or on this site should punish me and my business. That is how you know things got bad in Hollywood. If they are that scared of free thought and speech, to the point where the blacklists are real, something has got to give, and that something is coming soon to a theater near you, and not a moment too soon.
Somebody had to save Hollywood, and honestly, only a billionaire has the fuck-you money to get the dirty job done. I can’t wait to see what dreams may come. Now that David Fincher’s contract is up at Netflix—you know, just saying!
I understand that, to those who have had complete control of the MESSAGE and Hollywood, this is quite a shock. They mistakenly believe it’s a move toward censorship and oppression. Nothing could be further from the truth. That’s what Hollywood has been enduring for what, 15 years, as politics and culture fused, leaving the storytellers no freedom to tell stories?
What we’ve gotten instead is the same story, told over and over again. Call it the Woke Origin Story or the Progressive Bible. It means the MESSAGE must always be consistent across the board. We in Hollywood are responsible for fixing and correcting our broken world. They believe this because once Obama was elected, Hollywood believed itself to be part of his Royal Court. I wish I were kidding. I am not.
Take it from me. I’ve been covering Hollywood and the Oscars for 26 years. Day in and day out, almost no days off, here I sit, in front of my screen, writing for you fine people. That is all I’ve done, and I’ve done it for almost half of my life and the entirety of my daughter’s life. I always believed in Hollywood, in art, in movies, but what I’ve seen happen is that Hollywood got religion. That destroyed its ability to tell stories. Too many topics are protected, too many rules are in place, and too many one-sided films play to a public that has long since tuned them out.
We’re living through one of the most exciting times in American history, with great stories sprouting up nearly every day and we do not have a Hollywood currently that can keep up with any of it. They know there is a long list of the stories they can’t tell. All you need to know about what is broken in Hollywood is the Emmys shutting out Landman and The Madison just because they were made by Paramount. That, my friends, is wrong. It punishes the audience and rewards the ideological monopoly.
It should never have been that voting a different way meant the end of my career, or that what I say on X or on this site would punish me and my business. That is how you know things got bad in Hollywood. If they are that scared of free thought and speech, to the point where the blacklists are real, something has got to give, and that something is coming soon to a theater near you—and not a moment too soon.
Congratulations to all and I look forward to what comes next.
