The morning after the November 6, 2012 election, Sharon Waxman wrote on a Hollywood industry website The Wrap, "Hollywood should be euphoric today."
She said, "The entertainment industry woke up to election results that reflect a country a lot more like the fictional place they've been depicting on screens large and small for decades."
"The election," she said, "delivered the most stunning rebuke to supposedly conservative values, and by consequence the most vibrant affirmation of the liberal values for which Hollywood is often stereotyped in more than a decade."
It was generally believed in the industry that if they could get enough "entertainment" in the homes and big screens of the theater that confirmed their agenda, and more importantly Barack Obama's progressive social agenda, he would be re-elected.
She wrote, "We've had gay, married parents on "Modern Family" to lead the way to the election results in Maine, Washington and Maryland. We've had gay teenagers in love on "Glee."
It was indeed a gleeful moment for those who are working to "remake America."
But sometimes things are not as they seem. Yes Obama was re-elected. And yes, Washington and other states redefined marriage, but at some point, Hollywood and the entertainment industry must deal with the realities of viewership--- those pesky little people scattered across the plains and valleys of the country, the ones who own guns and cling to their Bibles and hold "supposedly conservative values."
A lot of those folks don't hold the same "values" as the people in Westwood and Hollywood, and they don't watch TV shows just because they are on the air.
And the folks don't always believe what the media tells them to believe.
Unfortunately we cannot say entertainment doesn't influence the culture. It does.
But here's what has happened between that euphoric morning in November and now.
Brent Bozell at Media Research Center has written an excellent article on this matter.
Television has canceled 11 shows that regularly featured homosexual characters, including its most highly promoted one.
Apparently nobody but the industry liked the shows.
Slate.com posted a story last week complaining that "TV Will Be A Lot Less Gay Next Year."
CBS's gay sitcom "Partners" lasted only 6 episodes and was canceled just after the election.
NBC's "Smash," which featured 4 regular homosexual characters, is canceled. Not enough viewers.
NBC's "The New Normal" was the most promoted of all its new shows. They said it was destined to be a new high watermark for the evolving culture in America. It was hyper promoted by NBC, the entertainment industry in general and the press. The press even wrote advocacy stories under the guise of "news" stories.
The show was so super hyped that Ryan Murphy, the show's creator and producer and his "fiancee" David Miller held a high profile $25,000 per plate fundraiser in Hollywood for President Obama as the show made its debut. The event included Julia Roberts, Reese Whitherspoon and "Glee" star Jane Lynch.
Murphy has consistently credited his bosses Robert Greenblatt and Jennifer Salke at NBC for making the program possible and allowing his dream of producing the show to come true, by approving it, funding it and airing it.
In fact a scene in the pilot show had two men in bed together and tested so controversial with focus groups that even Murphy was going to edit out the scene but says, "Bob and Jennifer both said to me 'Forget about it, it's a beautiful scene. It will change people's hearts and minds, so keep it in.' "
None of that mattered. In the end, America and the entertainment industry were not on the same page.
The industry watched, celebrated, congratulated and recorded each episode, while America skipped the show.
However, the entertainment industry will not grow weary in their task. They will regroup and keep sending these kinds of shows to your home.
Not only is the entertainment industry committed to "changing hearts and minds," but the news media is as well.
The press follows the same plan because it works.
Here is a recent example of a featured story in the Seattle Times.
The Times headline: "LGBT Students Get $600,000 In Scholarships From 2 Groups".
The subhead says, "Over the next two weeks, 133 gay lesbian bisexual and transgender students and allies---many of them rejected by their families after coming out---will be awarded more than $600,000 in scholarships from two Seattle organizations."
The 2 organizations are the Greater Seattle Business Association, and the Seattle based Pride Foundation, both homosexual advocacy organizations.
But the story is really about Daniel Cords from Issaquah, how he was bullied at Liberty High School, how his conservative parents, who are deeply religious, reacted with hurt and shame when he told them he was a homosexual, how they sent him to a counselor who "used the Bible mostly to condemn him," how his mother then sent him to another "Christian" counselor who helped his mother understand "that her son's homosexuality wasn't something that could be fixed."
The Times testifies that by becoming involved in the Seattle Men's Chorus, a homosexual choir, Daniel has been "born again."
This kind of narrative by the press has also helped legalize euthanasia and marijuana.
I'll be talking more about this story on my live radio broadcast this morning at 9 AM PDT and re-broadcast at 7:30 PM PDT. You may listen on these ACN stations in Washington State, on your computer, or anywhere with this free app for your phone.
When the top brass at NBC approved "The New Normal," they ordered a full season, which is not typical for a new show.
It became apparent by October 2, after only 4 episodes had aired, the ratings were poor---and failing.
With the election safely behind them, the NBC execs took a deep breath, canceled the show and hoped no one would notice.
The homosexual community noticed and set off the "diversity alarm" with a statement directed at television in general and NBC in particular, "These cancellations mean networks have to make a concentrated effort to ensure the 2013-2014 season truly reflects the diversity of their audience."
The networks won't let them down, but the programming, for the most part won't really reflect in proper proportion the viewing audience. New programs will be introduced with the same old theme and the uninformed will believe that 40%, not 3%, of Americans are homosexual, its normal and if you don't affirm it, you're a bigot.
Anthony Romers, head of the ACLU says, "The freedom to marry [code for redefining marriage] is being advanced in American living rooms as much as in courtrooms. As we wait for the Supreme Court to rule, we want to keep this issue on the minds and screens of Americans everywhere."
All this while Hollywood continues to tell the American people their programming and films have no influence on the coarsening and decline of our culture.
Brent Bozell says, "They can't play dumb any better than President Obama is doing right now."
Agreed.
Be Informed. Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Blessed.