From The Guardian:
China continues to exert damaging influence on Hollywood, report finds
A study from Pen America warns of the long-term effects of studios censoring content to appease the Chinese government
A new report has found that the Chinese government’s influence on Hollywood is posing a serious threat to free expression.
The 94-page study, from the literary and human rights group Pen America, details the many ways that studios and film-makers continue to change “cast, plot, dialogue and settings” in an “effort to avoid antagonising Chinese officials” in films including Iron Man 3, World War Z and the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick.
“The Chinese Communist party is increasingly shaping what global audiences see,” said James Tager, deputy director of free expression research and policy at Pen America, also a lead author of the report. “While we are all well aware of the strict controls that China’s government maintains over dissent, independent thought and creativity within its own borders, the long arm of Chinese censorship – powered by vast economic incentives – has also reached deep into Hollywood, shaping perceptions, inculcating sensitivities and reshaping the bounds of what can be shown, said and told.”
To put it bluntly, there are only 330 million Americans and 1.3 billion Chinese.
Hollywood knows on what side its bread is buttered in terms of numbers of ticket sales so would rather make movies that the CCP approves of than make movies that Americans really want to see.
The release of the report comes after the US government has openly criticised Hollywood for kowtowing to Chinese intervention, also blaming the studios for pre-emptively censoring or canning potentially difficult projects.
“Many more scripts never see the light of day because writers and producers know not to test the limits,” the attorney general, William Barr, said in July. “Chinese government censors don’t need to say a word because Hollywood is doing their work for them. This is a massive propaganda coup for the Chinese Communist party.”
This is nothing new. Miguel wrote a fantastic post about Hollywood’s alignment with Hitler before WWII.
During the Cold War, Hollywood was filled with useful idiots for the Soviet Union.
That is covered exceedingly well by one of my favorite YouTube channels, Rageaholic.
Today, it’s Communist China that Hollywood seeks to appease.
I don’t know what it is about Hollywood, but it attracts people who hate this country and our freedoms and makes them exceedingly rich by taking advantage of our freedoms to appease dictators and tyrants overseas who hate this country.
First the Nazis, then the Soviets, now it is the Chinese that are turning America’s movies into generic shit.
“I don’t know what it is about Hollywood, but it attracts people who hate this country and our freedoms and makes them exceedingly rich by taking advantage of our freedoms to appease dictators and tyrants overseas who hate this country.”
I have a theory.
Laziness, combined with greed, further combined with the mental attitude of a toddler.
People are lazy. And, lazy people would want to get a job where they get paid a lot to look good and say words written by other people. (greed). It takes very little physical effort to write something. It takes very little physical effort to stand in front of a camera and deliver lines. Is it any wonder that people want to be actors? Same with the news media, and any other organization filled with leftists.
Now… add the toddler aspect.
Actors, producers, etc… are for the most part, rather rich. At least in Hollywood. SAG rates, royalties, etc… they get paid a TON of money for little real efforts. And, they actually think that everyone else is essentially in the same boat. If socialism shows up, their pay is not likely to drop significantly (or so they think), therefore, no one’s pay will drop significantly. If costs go up, not a biggie, they are making enough to cover it, therefore, everyone is making enough to cover it.
Lazy people, who get a lot of money for doing nothing, and they actually believe that everyone else is in the same situation, yeah…. communism sounds good.