Last week, Hollywood screen legend Clint Eastwood made headlines by telling the media that he will be voting for Donald Trump instead of Hillary Clinton in November, citing today's "pussy generation," created by the rapidly-growing influence of political correctness in American culture, as his reason. The 86-year-old also took a step into the realm of silliness when he said that some of the things that we call racist today wouldn't have been called racist when he was growing up.
Obviously, this sparked controversy throughout the media, and most of the public response was in the form of negative backlash toward Eastwood. His image is transitioning from that of a respected actor and director to that of a crotchety, racist old man. Yet, all I could think when he said this was, "Huh... I never see a Hollywood actor, or any celebrity, for that matter, say anything remotely right-wing." I mean, I can't go five minutes on the Internet without reading a headline about some celebrity speaking out for a liberal cause. It seems that these days, I can't watch a TV drama or a late-night talk show without being preached to about liberal values. Is it just that there are no conservatives in Hollywood? Does the left-wing agenda prevent conservatives from having work in Hollywood? While it may seem that way, that's not actually the case.
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Ironically, Hollywood is actually full of actors, TV personalities, and recording artists who support conservative measures. They include household-names like Vince Vaughn, Drew Carey, Adam Sandler, Bruce Willis, Mindy Kaling, Rob Schneider, and even the person whom many might call the match that lit the transgender rights movement, Caitlyn Jenner. The first thing I notice about this list of people is that I never hear these people speak out about their beliefs (except, of course, for Caitlyn Jenner, but I'll get back to that). As Eastwood stated in his speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention, "There's a lot of conservatives [in Hollywood]... They just don't go around hot-doggin' it." But why don't they "hot-dog" (whatever that means) their political views like their Democratic co-stars? Unfortunately, the reason this is the case is that preaching conservative ideas as a celebrity is basically a form of saying, "I think it's time for me to destroy my career and make America hate me."
Being a conservative in Hollywood is kind of like being a foreign spy in America. You can probably get in if you conceal your identity, but if anyone finds out who you really are... Game over. Even comedian Drew Carey stated in a 2010 interview that, "In Hollywood, you can pretty much get away with being a libertarian, but if you're a conservative you're kind of doomed." The whole reason that conservatives can't be too vocal is that the press is extremely scrutinizing toward celebrities, while the majority of the mainstream media is run by left-wingers (think of MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, The New York Times, The Washington Post, every late night talk show, the writing in TV shows like "American Horror Story," "Saturday Night Live," "Family Guy," "The West Wing," I can go on forever...). Meanwhile, the only media outlet that Republicans really have is Fox News, which most people see as a joke of a news network, hence the bashing it receives on a daily basis. Therefore, celebrities should be extremely careful not to let their words cross any party lines, unless he or she wants to be painted as a monster by the media.
Take Caitlyn Jenner as an example. In fact, take her as the perfect example of what it means to speak out for conservative values as a celebrity. As we all know, last summer was highlighted by the unveiling of Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner. Many were outraged, but the media and the entire Democratic Party proclaimed her a hero. (I will admit, I was on the "He's/She's not a hero" train for a bit, but I've since been educated about how difficult life for trans people can be, and therefore, have come to admire her for her courage and contribution to the trans rights movement.) One would never, in a million years, guess that Caitlyn Jenner is actually a Republican. Well, surprise, surprise: she recently gained infamy for admitting this truth, and even more infamy for expressing support for Donald Trump (she has since scaled back her public support for Trump, but that still left a month-and-a-half-long window where she was known to the public as a Trump supporter). In a June interview, she joked, "It was easy to come out as trans. It was hard to come out as a Republican." This was her tragic flaw; almost immediately after the news of her political views spread, her public image began to rot. All of the biggest Twitter accounts denounced her status as a friend of the LGBTQ community; some of the most "successful" tweets were captioned with her pro-Trump quotes paired with a GIF of someone rolling their eyes or shaking their head; she was called names by thousands of people, and she ultimately lost all credibility as a fighter for LGBTQ rights.
While I am not a supporter of Donald Trump, I do believe that no one, Republican or Democrat, should be afraid to be open about who they support. This was not right.
Another one of the most notable stories on this subject that comes to my mind is the story of Carrie Prejean. Carrie Prejean was contestant in the 2009 Miss USA pageant, in which far-left writer and TV personality Perez Hilton was a judge. The question-and-answer portion of the competition brought Hilton to asking Prejean whether or not she believed in same-sex marriage. When she respectfully answered that she believed that marriage should be between a man and a woman, controversy ensued. Perez Hilton even admitted afterward that she lost the competition entirely because of her answer to the question. If she had answered that she believed in same-sex marriage, she would have won the contest.
Though she is not exactly a Hollywood celebrity, she was in a national spotlight, and Perez Hilton is a very active member of the liberal media.
I am a supporter of LGBTQ rights. But I also respect the opinions of those who disagree with me, including Carrie Prejean. She wasn't campaigning against gay rights. She wasn't openly supporting anti-LGBTQ laws or endorsing candidates who supported such laws. She was asked a simple question and she gave an honest answer. And for the reason of nothing more than her opinion, which would have been kept private had she not been asked such a question, she had to kiss her dreams of being Miss USA goodbye.
There are also many notable Hollywood movie stars who have felt the cold hand of abandonment after expressing conservative viewpoints. Remember Stacey Dash? For those who don't, Stacey Dash was a famous actress who first achieved fame with the 1995 movie "Clueless" and its TV show spin-off. She started her political life off as an Obama-supporting Democrat who had a lot of Hollywood work under her belt. However, in 2012, she switched parties to openly speak against the Obama Administration and to support Republican nominee Mitt Romney in the presidential race. Since then, she has been heavily criticized by the public for her views, and has been given little acting work. In fact, the only possible way for any millennial to recognize the name "Stacey Dash" is if he or she has seen the Fox News talk show "Outnumbered," for which she is now a co-host. A job on Fox News was probably the only way for her to stay on any screen after coming out as a conservative. Stacey Dash is one of a long list of celebrities (including Kirk Cameron, Patricia Heaton, James Woods, and even Chuck Norris) who have gotten the boot because of their displays of conservatism.
Up until now, Clint Eastwood has been the exception. His recent comments didn't mark the first time he has publicly displayed conservatism. As mentioned before, he even spoke at the 2012 Republican National Convention. I believe the reason he has been able to maintain such a solid public image is that his career began in the 1960s and has only progressed since then. He has been able to acquire a legendary status as a symbol of American film over the decades, giving him the privilege of having a little bit of leeway with what he can say in the realm of politics- something that most conservative celebrities don't have. Unfortunately for him, his recent comments on Donald Trump and racism might turn out to be the straw that breaks the camel's back. In the current world where the media is at everyone's fingertips, and where the tightening grasp that political correctness has on the media, as well as on everyday life, is turning politics into a conservative-witch-hunt, the things Clint Eastwood said could spell the end of his respected image.
So, basically, the moral of the story is this: if you're a celebrity, it's totally fine to be a conservative. Just keep your mouth shut. It may be tempting to speak up while everyone else in Hollywood is out voicing their opinions, but the best thing for you to do is just sit back and shut up. Your reputation and possibly your career depend on it.
