Hollywood vs. Everyone Else
I had the pleasure of watching a fantastic movie on Turner Classic Movies last night: “Stage Door Canteen” from 1943. It was a good look at famous film and stage stars serving what could very likely be the last meal in the States for a lot of servicemen and women before heading overseas. The movie was set in New York and followed an Army dog nicknamed “Dakota” as he wooed a very minor starlet whose last stage appearance consisted of four whole lines.
The story was pretty korny to say the least, but that’s not why I stayed up to watch it. The underlying message went way beyond the pale ghost of a plot, and one needn’t be a rocket scientist to get it. The crux of the tale was that actors and actresses, producers, directors, and even stage hands volunteered their time, which was often at a premium, to give one last little bit of comfort to those who were on their way to do a very serious and dangerous job. Everyone was well aware that the face of the soldier, airman, Marine, or sailor might never make it back to these shores when all the poop stopped hitting the fan. There was a genuine respect for those servicemen, and you could tell by watching the movie that respect went far beyond the acting portrayed on celluloid.
Watch some of the old newsreels; you can tell that stars gave their time freely and happily because they knew they were doing something nice for someone who might not make it home. Bob Hope led the USO overseas, sometimes even within range of German and Japanese guns (the big ones, mind you, not the standard field variety) to bring some little spark of home to those folks. Sure the movies touted their success with films like “Stage Door Canteen” and others, but you won’t find a serviceman today who wasn’t damned glad to see them, who knew that those stars were WAY out of their comfort zone all to bring some little bit of comfort to them.
So what happened? No, not in “Stage Door Canteen,” I mean with Hollywood. There were plenty of stars back in the 1940’s who didn’t agree with our involvement in World War II, but at least they didn’t speak out against our efforts to win it, as opposed to today.
Today it seems Hollywood can’t wait to get out there and torpedo our efforts. I’m not talking about abrogating one’s right to freedom of speech; if you disagree with what’s being done you have the right to say so, but for God’s sake, don’t crawl up on a soap box and for all intents and purposes encourage the enemy, Streisand, Clooney, Dixie Chicks, Sarandon, Garafalo, Moore, etc.
Every time someone goes on the news and lambasts Bush, Rumsfeld, the military, or the war effort, the Bad Guys hear it. In this day and age, information goes to all corners of the world and in seconds. Back in the 1940’s, the Bad Guys had to rely on watching the same newsreels and radio programs that everyone else did, and those were edited, prepped, and censored to give one message: the People of the United States are united in kicking your measly, fascist asses and handing them to you.
So why can’t we at least unite and get that message across, if not to ourselves, then to the Bad Guys who are listening in? Our servicemen and women are just as determined to find the terrorists of the world and hand them their collective Islamo-fascist asses as we were back in 1943, but you’d never know it to listen to Hollywood.
Thanks to the Jane Fondas of the world, Hollywood seems to think it’s not only harmless but laudable to stand up and send a message of divisiveness to the world. They don’t seem to understand that although one has the right to say what one wishes, responsible thought should tell you that it isn’t always prudent to do so.
As such, I shall withhold my good, Yankee dollars from such ingrates: I do not own a single CD by the Dixie Chicks. I will never purchase another George Clooney DVD, Sean Penn DVD, anything with Martin Sheen in it, or go to any movie with said irresponsible and unappreciative shitbirds starring in it, at least until they grow up and realize that verbal tantrums don't help their respective political platform so much as they’re getting my brothers and sisters in arms killed.
Semper Fi,
The Almighty Mattski
The story was pretty korny to say the least, but that’s not why I stayed up to watch it. The underlying message went way beyond the pale ghost of a plot, and one needn’t be a rocket scientist to get it. The crux of the tale was that actors and actresses, producers, directors, and even stage hands volunteered their time, which was often at a premium, to give one last little bit of comfort to those who were on their way to do a very serious and dangerous job. Everyone was well aware that the face of the soldier, airman, Marine, or sailor might never make it back to these shores when all the poop stopped hitting the fan. There was a genuine respect for those servicemen, and you could tell by watching the movie that respect went far beyond the acting portrayed on celluloid.
Watch some of the old newsreels; you can tell that stars gave their time freely and happily because they knew they were doing something nice for someone who might not make it home. Bob Hope led the USO overseas, sometimes even within range of German and Japanese guns (the big ones, mind you, not the standard field variety) to bring some little spark of home to those folks. Sure the movies touted their success with films like “Stage Door Canteen” and others, but you won’t find a serviceman today who wasn’t damned glad to see them, who knew that those stars were WAY out of their comfort zone all to bring some little bit of comfort to them.
So what happened? No, not in “Stage Door Canteen,” I mean with Hollywood. There were plenty of stars back in the 1940’s who didn’t agree with our involvement in World War II, but at least they didn’t speak out against our efforts to win it, as opposed to today.
Today it seems Hollywood can’t wait to get out there and torpedo our efforts. I’m not talking about abrogating one’s right to freedom of speech; if you disagree with what’s being done you have the right to say so, but for God’s sake, don’t crawl up on a soap box and for all intents and purposes encourage the enemy, Streisand, Clooney, Dixie Chicks, Sarandon, Garafalo, Moore, etc.
Every time someone goes on the news and lambasts Bush, Rumsfeld, the military, or the war effort, the Bad Guys hear it. In this day and age, information goes to all corners of the world and in seconds. Back in the 1940’s, the Bad Guys had to rely on watching the same newsreels and radio programs that everyone else did, and those were edited, prepped, and censored to give one message: the People of the United States are united in kicking your measly, fascist asses and handing them to you.
So why can’t we at least unite and get that message across, if not to ourselves, then to the Bad Guys who are listening in? Our servicemen and women are just as determined to find the terrorists of the world and hand them their collective Islamo-fascist asses as we were back in 1943, but you’d never know it to listen to Hollywood.
Thanks to the Jane Fondas of the world, Hollywood seems to think it’s not only harmless but laudable to stand up and send a message of divisiveness to the world. They don’t seem to understand that although one has the right to say what one wishes, responsible thought should tell you that it isn’t always prudent to do so.
As such, I shall withhold my good, Yankee dollars from such ingrates: I do not own a single CD by the Dixie Chicks. I will never purchase another George Clooney DVD, Sean Penn DVD, anything with Martin Sheen in it, or go to any movie with said irresponsible and unappreciative shitbirds starring in it, at least until they grow up and realize that verbal tantrums don't help their respective political platform so much as they’re getting my brothers and sisters in arms killed.
Semper Fi,
The Almighty Mattski
posted by The Almighty Mattski | 13:33
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