USA TODAY: Hollywood ‘the best man of gay marriage?’
Being a Hollywood liberal means getting to choose which societal developments you’re responsible for. Culture of violence? Our blood-spattered shoot-em-ups are just good fun that don’t influence anyone. Growing acceptance of gay-marriage? Put our names high in the credits for that one!
Hollywood “has for decades now chipped away at a once taboo topic,” USA Today reporter Marco della Cava pointed out. The “brazen” efforts of Hollywood to push gay relationships “on screen and on stage,” he asserted, have made “same-sex unions … an entrenched part of our federal union.”
Della Cava highlighted the influence that movie and TV efforts from “the nation’s pop culture machine” had “cleared a path in pop culture” for gay relationships, making them “utterly familiar” to American audiences--”much like a cultural Trojan Horse,” he said.
In fact, Hollywood’s push for gay rights over the years became more-and-more blatant, especially when “star power” got involved. From Tom Hanks’ gay AIDS victim in Philadelphia to the kissing cowboys in Brokeback Mountain, Hollywood prides itself on films that are what Leonard Maltin hailed as “milestones on a long path to complete understanding and tolerance.”
Then gays got the TV treatment from Hollywood, producing gay-agenda favorites like NBC’s “Will and Grace,” ABC’s oh-so-gay “Modern Family,” and the recent sleazy HBO flick Behind the Candelabra, about flamboyantly gay pianist Liberace.
Gay “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy summed up how Hollywood is patting itself on the back after the Supreme Court’s pro-gay ruling. Noting Hollywood’s starring role in helping “move the country forward on the issue of marriage equality,” he hoped to credit his work: “If … my work played even a small part in that, I am humbled and reminded of the power of entertainment to enlighten as well as entertain.”
So, it appears Hollywood’s hypocrites are eager to get star billing for their favorite agenda – gay rights – while refusing to take the blame for glorifying underage sex, bashing American culture and calling for gun control while perpetuating a culture of violence and crime. No doubt their buddies in the media will be glad to help them out.
