{"id":1589315,"date":"2022-08-04T15:02:09","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T19:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1589315"},"modified":"2022-08-04T15:02:27","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T19:02:27","slug":"five-times-hollywood-defended-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/five-times-hollywood-defended-free-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Times Hollywood Defended Free Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffive-times-hollywood-defended-free-speech%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1589315&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Hollywood\u2019s love affair with free speech ended some time after Donald Trump took the oath of office.<\/p>\n<p>Slowly but surely the industry pulled back on the issue it once clung to like a statue on Oscar night. Industry players pled allegiance to the woke state, canceled problematic art (and each other), and demanded that a sitting president get bounced from social media.<\/p>\n<p>Late night comics even chuckled as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/news\/dr-seuss-stephen-colbert-late-show-racist-b1811462.html\">beloved authors like Dr. Seuss<\/a> got the cultural boot.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t always this way.<\/p>\n<p>Hollywood once championed free speech on a variety of platforms. The industry understood the vital role speech plays in both the country at large and for their craft. Let\u2019s look back at five times Hollywood embraced free speech and hope Tinsel Town comes to its senses and renews its love affair with free expression.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe American President\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 1995 rom com imagined a single U.S. leader falling in love with a lobbyist (Annette Bening). That novel twist combined with the impressive pairing of director Rob Reiner (\u201cThis Is Spinal Tap\u201d) and writer Aaron Sorkin (\u201cA Few Good Men\u201d) earned raves from critics.<\/p>\n<p>The film\u2019s emotional finale used free speech as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanrhetoric.com\/MovieSpeeches\/moviespeechtheamericanpresident.html\">a cudgel against the protagonist\u2019s political opponent.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the record, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU, but the more important question is \u201cWhy aren\u2019t you, Bob?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2026America isn\u2019t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You\u2019ve gotta want it bad, \u2019cause it\u2019s gonna put up a fight. It\u2019s gonna say, You want free speech? Let\u2019s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who\u2019s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Reiner and Sorkin were, and remain, two of Hollywood\u2019s most outspoken liberals. Would they pool their talents for a message like that today? That\u2019s rhetorical, since Reiner was one of many <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/robreiner\/status\/1400875366047043585?lang=bg\">cheering President Donald Trump\u2019s social media banishment.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Guess we won\u2019t be seeing \u201cThe American President 2\u201d anytime soon.<\/p>\n<p>Neil Young\u2019s 2006 \u201cFreedom of Speech\u201d Tour<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s an understatement to say that veteran rocker Neil Young was <a href=\"https:\/\/genius.com\/3351240\">no fan<\/a> of President George W. Bush during the Iraq War days And he had plenty of A-list company. Young similarly rebelled against efforts to silence the president\u2019s critics during a time of war.<\/p>\n<p>Toward that end, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ny1.com\/nyc\/all-boroughs\/news\/2022\/02\/02\/crosby-stills-nash-young-csny-spotify-boycott-joe-rogan\">Young rejoined<\/a> David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash to promote free speech and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/flashback-neil-young-participated-freedom-of-speech-tour-censorship-joe-rogan\">reaffirm his right to protest as he saw fit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose who feel the way we do had some hope and those who don\u2019t feel the way we do were angry that the change happened. And those people have got a voice, and they have a reason for feeling the way they do. They strongly believe in the convictions. They believe in the military \u2026 they believe that we\u2019re doing the right thing for the world, and they have every reason to be respected for their beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Flash forward to 2022 and Young is leading an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/just-in-spotify-to-pull-neil-young-music-after-ultimatum-letter-demanding-rogan-be-removed\">unsuccessful charge to silence<\/a> Spotify superstar Joe Rogan for sharing pandemic information that didn\u2019t mirror government-approved narratives.<\/p>\n<p>Tim Robbins versus Dubya<\/p>\n<p>Young wasn\u2019t the only liberal rallying for free speech during that era. Actor Tim Robbins similarly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/entertainment\/article\/Tim-Robbins-pours-his-anger-into-an-anti-war-play-2510013.php\">protested<\/a> Bush\u2019s war efforts, a move that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/mlb\/news\/2003\/0409\/1536711.html\">cost<\/a> him an appearance at a \u201cBull Durham\u201d reunion.<\/p>\n<p>The 1988 baseball romance cast Robbins as \u201cNuke\u201d LaLoosh, a flame-throwing pitcher struggling to get his mental approach in line with his talents. His anti-war comments, along with those of his co-star Susan Sarandon (Robbins\u2019 partner at the time), convinced the Baseball Hall of Fame to <a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/article\/2003\/04\/10\/cooperstown-disinvites-antiwar-sarandon-robbins\/\">disinvite the duo from its 15th anniversary celebration<\/a> for the film.<\/p>\n<p>Robbins teamed up with the ACLU, an organization which once stood proudly on behalf of free speech rights, to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nyclu.org\/en\/letter-baseball-hall-fame-over-cancellation-bull-durham-movie-anniversary-celebration\">blast the decision<\/a>. The move \u201creflects a disregard for the value of dissent in a free society. Indeed, you offer a vision of free speech that is deeply incompatible with the concept of \u2018uninhibited, robust and wide open\u2019 debate \u2013 a concept that is basic to our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Comedy Post 9\/11<\/p>\n<p>Comedians played an important role in the days and weeks after the September 11 attacks. \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d and \u201cThe Late Show with David Letterman\u201d gently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.today.com\/popculture\/how-late-night-tv-reacted-9-11-impact-it-has-t229754\">brought humor back <\/a>into our lives after the shocking terrorist attacks. They made it acceptable to laugh again after so much heartache and pain.<\/p>\n<p>Other comics didn\u2019t tread so carefully. They pushed comedy conventions much harder, understanding that free speech doesn\u2019t evaporate in times of extreme duress. Hollywood even made a documentary on the subject \u2013 \u201cToo Soon: Comedy After 9\/11.\u201d Comedians from that era shared how they processed their grief and rage, and why they didn\u2019t pull punches when it came to material intersecting with the tragedy.<\/p>\n<p>They were right.<\/p>\n<p>The extreme irony? Some of the comedians featured in the documentary are now part of the current cancel culture brigade <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wtfpod.com\/podcast\/episode-1278-canceled-comedy-w-kliph-nesteroff-and-david-bianculli\">(Marc Maron<\/a>) or pretend cancel culture\u00a0 doesn\u2019t exist (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/jon-stewart-cancel-culture-myth\/\">Jon Stewart<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe People<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hollywood\u2019s love affair with free speech ended some time after Donald Trump took the oath of office. Slowly but surely the industry pulled back on the issue it once clung to like a statue on Oscar night. Industry players pled allegiance to the woke state, canceled problematic art (and each other), and demanded that a &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1589418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1589315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1589315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1589418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1589315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1589315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1589315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}