Back in the misty recesses of time—2020—the Los Angeles Times announced that newly-elected President Biden would remake the United States in the image and likeness of California. The prospect is a fantasy for progressives, a nightmare for conservatives. And, as Joel Kotkin has detailed in Compact, the California model is a nightmare for many of the state’s residents. While government and government-supported jobs have grown, the private sector has shrunk. Led by politicians funded by Silicon Valley and Hollywood, California has imposed climate and energy regulations that “hammered all businesses outside the elite tech sector.” The middle class has suffered most. Climate policies create “significant income declines for individuals earning less than $100,000 annually, while boosting incomes for those above that number,” a situation one commentator described as “Green Jim Crow.” Many firms have left the state for southeastern pastures, which are greener for being less Green.
For many Christians and conservatives, California’s economic agenda is less threatening than its cultural agenda, symbolized by Hollywood, the historic heart of the entertainment industry. Hollywood funnels much of its wealth to progressive politicians, while surrounding progressive causes with a halo of glitzy glamour. Hollywood’s political bias is obvious. Executives overwhelmingly support the Democrat Party, and the starriest of movie stars have feted Biden and Harris, raising millions of dollars. There’s blackballing. There’s an overt or covert selection process that allows only those who toe liberal groupthink to rise to the top. Unlike California’s energy policies, Hollywood has already flooded the entire country. It’s hard to find a recent streaming series that doesn’t preach Woke or at least reflect an implicit, unquestioned Woke cosmic order. White men aren’t imagining things: Count the number of strong, good white men the next time you binge a Netflix series. Trust me—you’ll have fingers left over.
That’s not the whole story, of course. It never is. There are thousands of Christians in the entertainment industry, and more conservatives. The Hollywood Prayer Network is one of many Christian ministries focused on entertainment. Founded in 2001 by Karen Covell, a television producer, the network enlists believers across the world to pray for actors, producers, directors, crew members, writers, musicians. “Content won’t change until lives are changed,” announces the network’s website, adding “God is the only one who can touch the lives and hearts of the decision makers and creative community in Hollywood.” The network’s website also links to dozens of Christian ministries, arts organizations, counselors, and churches, and offers resources to help Christians “thrive in L.A.” When our youngest son moved to Los Angeles in the middle of 2020’s lockdown to pursue his dream of becoming a film composer, he rapidly got connected to young Christian artists, who introduced him to the Prayer Network.
Despite liberal dominance, Hollywood is still full of people who can tell old-fashioned Horatio Alger stories. You know the story. Plucky young guy or gal heads to the sun-drenched West where dreams are made. Through sheer persistence, he gets a menial job at one of the big studios. He sweeps the floor to perfection, all the while looking for the opportunity to demonstrate his real talent. Gotta dance! Gotta sing, gotta act! Make ‘em laugh! One day, he’s in the right place at the right time, someone doesn’t show, the frantic director looks around the room for someone he can plug into the gap, and his gaze lights on our plucky hero or heroine. A star is born. It’s the story Hollywood likes to tell itself about itself, and it’s an all-American success story.
It’s corny as hell, yes. It fills mediocrities with hopes for fame that will never be realized, sure. But it does happen. Our son secured an unpaid internship with a composer, making rent by Door Dashing. When another composer was looking for a new assistant, our son was in the right place at the right time and secured a full-time gig. When I quizzed some of his friends (an animator, a music producer, another composer) during a visit earlier this year, they agreed: Hollywood is one of the outposts of American meritocracy. What no longer happens in academia, what rarely happens in politics, still happens in Hollywood. Hard work, grit, hustle get rewarded. It’s still a place where dreams are made, enough of them to reserve at least one cheer for Hollywood.
Peter J. Leithart is president of Theopolis Institute.
First Things depends on its subscribers and supporters. Join the conversation and make a contribution today.
Click here to make a donation.
Click here to subscribe to First Things.
Image by Scott Catron, provided by Wikimedia Commons, via Creative Commons. Image cropped.
