Big Hollywood Is on the Intertubes

Conservative writer Andrew Breitbart has launched a new group blog called Big Hollywood. It's kind of an answer to the Huffington Post (which Breitbart helped develop) and here is Breitbart's capsule description of his new site's goals:

Big Hollywood's modest objective: to change the entertainment industry. To make Hollywood something we can believe in—again. In order to give millions of Americans hope.

Until conservatives, libertarians and Republicans—who will be the lion's share of Big Hollywood's contributors—recognize that (pop) culture is the big prize and that politics is secondary, there will be no victory in this important battle.

More on that here.

Currently up at the site: A cogitation by Fox News' Red Eye Host Greg Gutfeld about free markets and rock ("'If only Kurt Cobain had chased the almighty dollar instead of the dragon, he'd be alive today,' Steve Albini might have said, if he wasn't so busy reading Hayek."); an explication of The Beatles' "Dear Prudence" by GOP Rep. Thaddeus G. McCotter ("Our majority was emaciated by electoral liposuction; our bold re-branding initiative put speed freaks to sleep"); and a well-headlined bit by The New Republic's Jamie Kirchick ("Listening To Annie Lennox's Gaza Commentary is Like Walking on Broken Glass"). All that and a bit by orgone enthusiast Orson Bean.

While there are plenty of areas of disagreement between Reason and Breitbart—his love for the Popeye-elbowed and out-of-wedlock-fathering baseball near-great Steve Garvey is only the most obvious one—he is certainly right that culture is the prize and that, as Matt Welch and I have argued in various places (including Politics magazine), politics is indeed a lagging indicator of change in American society. Given that, several of us at Reason will be participating at Big Hollywood, so look for us to bring a libertarian perspective to the site, one that is surely less down on the entertainment industry's lack of patriotism and more about the absurdity of all the combatants in the culture wars, especially idiots such as these.

Bonus Reason.tv footage: Breitbart and Gutfeld talk about not getting jobs back at Reason magazine when they might have still turned their lives around.

Comments

[dhex]

jesus, gutfield, at least try once in a while.

[hugo]

I did not know people look for hope in Hollywood movies.

[Alan Vanneman]

Well, any site that brings me more of Jamie Kirchick is, um, well, a disaster. Jamie makes Stevie look good!

[SugarFree]

That paragraph summing up the current content of that site actually hurts to read. Kudos, Nick. You perfectly replicated the experience of reading the site itself.

[James Ard]

Reason was already pop-cultured out. I don't see how playing this game with Breibart is going to help anything. The idea that Hollywood is the leading mover of society makes my stomach turn. If loud explosions, blood, guts and childish sexual innuendo is what our culture is made of, I want out.

[LurkerBold]

Hollywood treats women like trash. Is Reason proud of that?

[Reinmoose]

I'm sorry, but if this sight thinks it can win the culture war with humor from Red Eye or any kind of "see, greed is good" line, then they're sadly mistaken and ready to repeat the late 1990s. What they need are more cosmotarians. Folk in their late 20s-early 30s with tatoos who are slightly avant-garde writers and musicians and shit. People whose libertarian tendencies come from a place of love instead of a place of selfishness or leave-me-aloneism, or even hate of liberals. Peace, love, harmony, and most of all, HopeChange are what we need.

[The Angry Optimist]

Given that, several of us at Reason will be participating at Big Hollywood, so look for us to bring a libertarian perspective to the site, one that is surely less down on the entertainment industry's lack of patriotism and more about the absurdity of all the combatants in the culture wars

What??! That is some hard-to-penetrate prose right there.

[ClubMedSux]

Just briefly glancing through Big Hollywood, it seems it falls victim to the same mistake conservatives have been making for years now... You're not going to attract people to the conservative movement (however you want to define it) by simply taking something you think is popular and putting a conservative spin on it. It might amuse people who are already conservative, but who's gonna read that site and suddenly decide, "You know, I guess it's hip to be conservative after all!"?

[Ringo Starr]

Peace, love, harmony, and most of all, HopeChange are what we need.

Oh, and NO MORE FAN MAIL! Peace and love. Peace and love.

[Neu Mejican]

So, from memory, I will reproduce Kurt Cobain's comment on "chasing the almighty dollar" related to the band's album "Nevermind."

Kobain: I invested all of my money and energy into this album because I knew that the music was great and would have enough mass appeal to make us rich and famous.

(inaccurate wording, but that's the gist).

[Pro Libertate]

Hey, now! Steve Garvey went to my high school. Along with Lauren Hutton, who is a better power hitter, in my opinion.

[Episiarch]

You can't get hip people to your side when you are tragically unhip. Even if they were sympathetic to your ideas, just being associated with you demolishes their hipness, so they won't go near you.

I have no solution for Breitbart, but I don't really think I give a shit anyway.

[SugarFree]

off-topic, kids...

Neu,

There you are! Excellent. Per the troll/spoofer argument I missed out on last night, I'd like to introduce you to the term that Edward/Lefiti/concerned observer/Neil actually represent. It just hasn't made it to this corner of the intarweb.

Griefer
A griefer is a player who plays a game simply to aggravate and harass other players.

Using this would sidestep intent and focus on results.

[MAX HATS]

We need to change the political orientation of an industry we have nothing to do with. Quick, someone start a blog!

[dhex]

"I have no solution for Breitbart, but I don't really think I give a shit anyway."

stay away from comedy. that would be my solution.

at least libertarianism has a sort of punk rock, big old billboard style shirt reading "who owns you?" type ethos to pull from.

but conservative art? thomas kinkade?

[Barbara Bach]

Ringo is clearly the greatest Beatle.

[kinnath]

In other news, Apple announces it is dropping DRM on 80% of its library.

[Kolohe]

The only thing worse than having Gutfeld on your show is not having Gutfeld on his show. I watched redeye last night for the first time in a while, and I guess Gutfeld called in sick at the last minute. Whatshisface makes a great sidekick but a terrible host. And Levy was a little too far out of his comfort zone as well - plus the dude from Maxim was just godawful. (otoh, when they have that woman on that's the head writer for best week ever guest host, she does quite well)

[Conservative strategist]

Hey guys, I heard about this thing a while ago and I think it could really help us with the kids. You know, they're always using the World Wide Web to get to America On-Line and blogging. Maybe if we could make a cool web site that tells them all about the benefits of abstinence and how cool it is to obey your parents and subscribe to cultural norms...

[joshua corning]

so look for us to bring a libertarian perspective to the site, one that is surely less down on the entertainment industry's lack of patriotism and more about the absurdity of all the combatants in the culture wars, especially idiots such as these.

Don't really care about either...what about Hollywood's inability to make fun of Obama?

Hell i can think of about 10 robot chicken sketches making fun of him right off the top of my head, but if one were to ask any of the writers on the show to come up with one they would give the lame excuse that "there is nothing funny about Obama" WTF??

[The Rambler]

As a right-leaning Libertarian I often feel misunderstood (and even slighted) by other Libertarians. I took the time to check out Big Hollywood and really enjoyed what they have going on there. I really do feel that true Conservatism (small government and strong individual rights) is much closer to Libertarianism than Liberalism is. I am glad to see that the guys from Reason will be the Libertarian standard bearers at Big Hollywood...hope it all goes well!

[Pat Hickey]

Art that reflects enduring values ( 'who's to say?' is naturally next - that would be me and other persons who find the empty and cheap Art that is Hollywood offensive or at worst dull) should be the motivating factor in an industry that purports to promote Art.

Super Hero epics/Teen epics/BushHate epics are the starvation diet with and occasional sugar gorge on adult fantasy romance ( witness Dustin Hoffman's latest mule-muffin). Great work Mr. Breitbart and best of luck . . .to all of us.

[bruce]

the steve garvey pic brought back memories of my youth in los angeles. late in his dodger career there were intimations that he would go into politics, until several women in rapid succession announced that they were pregnant by him, giving rise to the classic bumper sticker...

"honk if you're carrying steve garvey's baby!"

[Bonnie_]

I've been following Nick Nolte at Dirty Harry's Place for quite some time, and I've been very happy to have him help guide my sore eyeballs and ears toward good movies and television and away from bad ones.

Conservatives have children, and we're interested in making sure our offspring don't absorb the poison that is our current popular culture. If you don't think we have an impact on the box office, go try and find a "Golden Compass" toy to play with.

Oh, and you libertarians need to put down the weed and actually get something done once in a while. Sitting around and complaining about other people's work seems to be your main profession. Every chance I get, I point at a pot smoker and explain to my kids how stupid the weed makes you, and how it rots you until you're nothing more than a useless idiot. Case in point: Reason used to be a great magazine.

[Davebo]

Say what you will about big Hollywood, but they seem pretty proficient at turning a profit.

As for Reason... the free markets seem to have spoken.

[Pro Libertate]

Steve, like all males who attended my high school, was fecund.

Now that I think about it, we had a Playboy model/actress in my class, and a TV actress (now on CSI) a couple of years later. Regular Hollywood High, I guess.

Bonnie_,

I'm a libertarian, and I don't use drugs and don't even drink much. I rather suspect that our inability to accomplish libertarian goals has more to do with the majority wanting something else, and the ruling class being more than happy to grant them their desires.

[P Brooks]

If Steve Garvey would whack Jamie Kirchik with one or more of those bats, I would laugh.

[Jesse Walker]

Sitting around and complaining about other people's work seems to be your main profession.

This would pack more punch if six-sevenths of your comment didn't consist of complaints about other people's work.

[David]

Don't really care about either...what about Hollywood's inability to make fun of Obama?

Hell i can think of about 10 robot chicken sketches making fun of him right off the top of my head, but if one were to ask any of the writers on the show to come up with one they would give the lame excuse that "there is nothing funny about Obama" WTF??

Obama, for what it's worth, has successfully avoided doing the kinds of things that can be easily caricatured. That, more than any scary liberal Hollywood bias, is why there hasn't been much Obama-based comedy yet. Unless you're looking for minstrel show level humor.

[SugarFree]

If only Bonnie had managed to throw in "libertards" the cliche would have be complete.

[MattXIV]

Big Hollywood's modest objective: to change the entertainment industry. To make Hollywood something we can believe in-again. In order to give millions of Americans hope.

I was excited until I realized that this was the preamble to the founding of yet another conservative cultural project and not a declaration of intent to assasinate Michael Bay.

[Pro Libertate]

I find Obama eminently mockable. Once the Martin Sheen has worn off, others will join me. After all, anyone with his mixture of inexperience and perceived godhood is asking for mockery. As is, incidentally, his fan club.

[Citizen Nothing]

Sounds like Bonnie hasn't had her afternoon martinis yet.

[spur]

The vast majority of the best actors, writers, directors in Hollywood are left/liberal leaning -- I'm not sure what snide remarks from Nick and Guttfield are going to do to change that -- I love Drew Carey but I don't think Sean Penn/John Cusack is losing any sleep about losing roles to him anytime soon.

[David]

Conservatives have children, and we're interested in making sure our offspring don't absorb the poison that is our current popular culture. If you don't think we have an impact on the box office, go try and find a "Golden Compass" toy to play with.

Easy enough. They're in the same clearance bin as the Prince Caspian figures.

[Xeones]

I second MattXIV. That bastard needs to go down.

[phalkor as xeones]

Yo, fuck Michael Bay!

[R C Dean]

Obama, for what it's worth, has successfully avoided doing the kinds of things that can be easily caricatured.

Oh, please. He's a dry stick with an "umm" problem. If you can't caricature that, you shouldn't be in the comedy biz.

[capelza]

Oh fur feck's sake...when will Conservatives learn they are not, as a rule, intentionally anyway, funny.

As was noted above, Conservatives take liberal formats and try to bend them to their own POV. It doesn't work. It's like Latin vs. Greek, PC vs. Apple, Folgers vs. Peets. The two make look similar, but there's a world of difference.

Bonnie...good grief. You should sit down, because this is going to come as a huge shock to you...Liberals have children, too! Amazing isn't it? Even Libertarians spawn!

Libertarians are a different story, I must hasten to add. Pretty funny.

Oh, and I am also completely sick of Conservatives whining about lack of representation in "Hollywood". If "conservative films" sold, that's where the funding would go. Do what the Mormons do, make your own movies..but please no more of those cheesy quasi-sci-fi Rapture films...the qualty of production and the "acting"...no wonder "Hollywood" ain't buying.

[joshua corning]

Unless you're looking for minstrel show level humor.

I do believe I used Robot chicken as an example.

Which only proves my point...comedy mocking Obama does not exist on any level.

To believe that is only because "Obama avoids caricature" is delusional.

[The Angry Samoans]

Well, like, Cynthia an Steve Garvey are sitting on their waterbed, and Steve says "c'mon baby, suck my dick." And she says "You fuckin' piece of shit! You aimed you ball at the ground, you want ground balls on Friday night! You throw ball games! You're not worth fifty dollars a week! You god damned turkey, you don't even get your uniform dirty! You want me to suck your dick? Baby, you're just too..."

[joshua corning]

Robot chicken script

Aquaman, a rabbi, catholic priest and Obama are standing on a sinking ship.

Rabbi: there is only one raft what should we do?

Aquaman: Save the children!

Rabbi: screw the children!

Catholic Prest: Do you think there is time?

Obama: umm i have campaigned (pause) in 57 states to become president of the umm United States (pause) of America and ummm I have discovered (pause) that I do not exist.

Obama then jumps on the raft and from out side the screen enters Santa Clause, the Easter bunny and Kwanzaa Kangaroo who then jump on the the raft which then immediately capsizes and sinks.

end scene.

[Boston]

Golden Compass

Read the book. Then tell me what it is about.

[David]

I hope you're not leading off with your "A" material.

[joshua corning]

I hope you're not leading off with your "A" material.

I am beginning to suspect sir that you have never even seen Robot Chicken

[dhex]

give robot chicken time.

besides, bush fighting abe lincoln was pretty nifty.

[David]

I do believe I used Robot chicken as an example.

Which only proves my point...comedy mocking Obama does not exist on any level.

To believe that is only because "Obama avoids caricature" is delusional.

I suppose it's possible that "Obama is kind of boring" is less likely explanation than liberal bias for the dearth of Obama jokes on a 12 minute show that uses stop motion action figures in spoofs on early 80's culture.

[Pro Libertate]

You know, with all of the Clinton retreads, Obama is starting to remind me of that kid who isn't prepared for a quiz who wants to copy my work. Only he's copying Bill Clinton, not me.

[ed]

(pop) culture is the big prize and... politics is secondary

I thought they were one in the same. That's the impression I was left with at the conclusion of the last election cycle. How many ugly women are on FOX News? That's right.

[Greta Van Susteren]

How many ugly women are on FOX News?

Thats too easy: One

[MattXIV]

I hope you're not leading off with your "A" material.

If anybody's "A" material is what's on Robot Chicken, I offer my sincere condolences for their humor-related disability.

[Telly]

"Obama, for what it's worth, has successfully avoided doing the kinds of things that can be easily caricatured."

Sort of like the way he avoided having a congressional voting record too. However, that in itself makes him an easy target.

"Present!"

[Bingo]

As far as I'm concerned Let's Paint! TV is the most influential libertarian program out there!

[joshua corning]

If anybody's "A" material is what's on Robot Chicken, I offer my sincere condolences for their humor-related disability.

Yeah but regrettably the world has moved past the Bob Newheart Show.

Seriously though if Robot Chicken is not among the pinnacle of comedy in today's culture then what is? SNL? The Tonight Show? South Park? The Office?

[Episiarch]

Seriously though if Robot Chicken is not among the pinnacle of comedy in today's culture then what is? SNL? The Tonight Show? South Park? The Office?

90210.

[dhex]

"Seriously though if Robot Chicken is not among the pinnacle of comedy in today's culture then what is?"

venture bros. too.

[Mari Dupont]

Back to Big Hollywood...its just as dreary as I feared. A bunch of geezers whining and preaching. Plus the articles are way too long. They need more gay guys writing, plus funnier and shorter posts. I give it 6 months...

[Rob]

The best takedowns of the right-wing whinging about Hollywood that I've read are over at John Roger's [Transformers, Leverage] blog Kung Fu Monkey.

Here - http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2005/07/i-wish-hollywood-was-that-organized.html

http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2006/02/just-stay-down.html

http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2006/09/path-to-911.html

Well worth a read.

[Metal Messiah]

Christ on a badger... are conservatives and libertarians still trying to court each other?

Have the last eight years taught us nothing? Aside from guns and money-grubbing, they have nothing in common. The problem with Bush isn't that he wasn't conservative enough; the problem with Bush is that he was the ultimate conservative.

We libertarians are half conservative and half liberal, and until we can learn to triangulate between the politicians of both ideologies, we aint' gonna get shit done.

[eah]

Stryper v. Motley Crue round II...

[Johnny Cosmos]

I read a story about this on Fox News. While I don't care for media with obvious liberal bias, I don't really give a fuck about reading a bunch of Hollywood douchebags giving the conservative perspective either.

In the story there was some lame-ass Bush-sucking Hollywood Producer who said that his turning point was when some "Anti-American" movies about war were made. He was outraged that anyone could criticize a war in the time of war. To dipshits like this, any expression of an opinion is "un-American." At least if Gutfeld said it, maybe we could take it as a joke. But I don't think this idiot was joking. Hollywood Liberals have some fucked up opinions, but are these "conservatives" any better? Fuck No. And on balance at least some of the liberals manage to be fun or interesting. And I don't mean like Kelsey Grammer coked-up.

When "conservative" is defined as "pro-war, anti-liberty, Bush partisan"- is there really any point?

Is that a viewpoint we have really been MISSING the last several years?

[Metal Messiah]

And Obama just isn't that funny.

There's nothing to latch onto. He's even-tempered, well-spoken, and has a good family.

Clinton was a sleazeball. Al Gore was stiff. Bob Dole was a grumpy old coot. W was an idiot. Kerry was aloof. McCain was senile. And Palin... my God...

Even Joe "gaffe machine" Biden hasn't delivered the goods.

[MattXIV]

jc,

Any of the shows listed above handily beat Robot Chicken. Even the melanges of played-out stereotypes, attempts at "edginess" so desparate you can taste the flop sweat, and good old fashion bad writing that Comedy Central airs briefly then cancels monthly are normally funnier than it.

Family Guy had already strip-mined 80s pop culture references exhaustively and with better writing and it was only ever funny about half the time when they did it. Almost all of Robot Chicken's content is just characters from 80s pop culture (normally a cartoon or toy) placed in some incongruous situation (such as "real life" or when they're really creative, another, different pop culture reference!), normally involving farting or masturbating. Hil-fucking-arious.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm worried about anyone who views Obama as too serious for or "above" mockery. He is fodder for the humor mill, and I've seen him quite handily mocked. The problem is that people who have faith in the Democratic party also tend to lack any humor in regards to that faith. Just like with any religion. At least the stupid Republicans are smart enough not to worship people. Whatever your metaphysics, we aren't to be trusted.

[dhex]

"At least the stupid Republicans are smart enough not to worship people."

are you sure about that?

speaking of stop motion, moral orel is pretty fucked up.

[Mad Max]

SNL should hire this guy. He's a thousand times funnier than the awful Fred Armisen.

I think comedians are having a problem making fun of Obama because he's not as easily mocked (not to mention relatively new to the scene). Making fun of Bush or Clinton is like picking tech stocks in 1999, anyone can look like a genius. You basically reuse old moron or sex jokes for new subjects. John McCain jokes are Bob Dole jokes, minus the 3rd person references. Sarah Palin jokes are a new generation of blonde jokes. John Kerry and Al Gore jokes are also similar, except Kerry has a New England patrician spin on it. A calm, collected dude that "ums" and "uhhhs" isn't exactly well worn turf for comedy.

Sunny is about a million times funnier than Robot Chicken.

[Mo]

Curses. That same thing stuck from yesterday. Sorry again Max.

[David]

I just realized that Steve Garvey isn't wearing a long sleeved shirt in that pic. He has wookiee arms.

[joshua corning]

Almost all of Robot Chicken's content is just characters from 80s pop culture (normally a cartoon or toy) placed in some incongruous situation (such as "real life" or when they're really creative, another, different pop culture reference!), normally involving farting or masturbating. Hil-fucking-arious.

I am not talking about what is "good" comedy or "bad" comedy. I guess in simple terms i am talking about comedy that is popular and in our societies consciousness. Obviously you are allowed to critique shows how ever you like...but know that this has nothing to do with my point. That Comedy today has a severe blind spot when it comes to mocking Obama and the excuse that he is somehow "unmockable" really does not cut it.