Hollywood's Pre-Election Anti-War Press Starting A Bit Early

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Earlier today Matthew Sheffield noted that Hollywood was "gearing up to release a bunch of anti-military movies that portray veterans of the Iraq war as deranged psychopaths, screwed up by an "unjust" war."

Unfortunately we don't have to wait to whet our whistle on the entertainment industry's full court press to gin up anti-war sentiment in preparation for next year's elections. It seems that they are delivering on that promise already as hinted by last night's 10 separate "anti-war" solos that were performed on the Fox TV reality show, So You Think You Can Dance. (see Video here)

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The solos were choreographed by occasional judge and talented choreographer Wade Robson. He put together a fine routine and all 10 dancers performed them exactly as scripted. But after 10 renditions of the exact same anti-war dance step, each performed to John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change", it seemed a bit preachy and hokey to me. I got the point after the first dance.

It's not that I don't understand that people have anti-war views, I get that. In fact I would seriously question the character of anyone who is pro-war. Nobody in their right mind wants war. It would be great if we could all just "give peace a chance" and actually have the bad guys play along. Unfortunately life is not that simple. 2,996 innocent people who were murdered on 9/11 can attest to that, as can the estimated 2 million people who died at the hands of Saddam Hussein, the more than 60 million people who died as a result or World War II, and on and on....

But the focal point of Hollywood's anti-war stance is squarely aimed at U.S. military intervention. While that focus is not confusing given Hollywood's past it is a bit of a contradiction. Many people in the Hollywood establishment and on the American left show nothing but disdain for most religions with a characteristic tendency to openly slam those rooted in Christianity and Judaism. Yet these very same people ignore the simple fact that radical Islam is a primary source of today's global strife. It is a hatred and violence born of radical religious indoctrination as opposed to being a product of U.S. military intervention. Likewise, the anti-war left doesn't seem to put a whole lot of emphasis on the dangers of rogue nations such as Iran, North Korea and Venezuela.

There is a difference between an anti-war protest and a protest against radical Islam; a difference that is not lost on the Hollywood message brokers in the least. They are vocally anti-war, i.e. anti U.S. military, but they are not anti-radical Islam or anti-despot in my view. It is almost as if they are irrationally sympathetic by their mere silence. Thus I take offense with the anti-war manifestations of Hollywood types as was my interpretation of the dance number here. (You can hear it all in Wade's explanation anyway, the allusions to not being in power is very much in line with the anti-establishment crowd).

After reading the Matthew Sheffield article I believe that this was no coincidence. I fully expect to see more of this as the election nears, and it will not be as generic as last night's performance on Fox. Only time can tell whether or not it will make a difference.

This is a shortened version of an article originally published on Webloggin earlier today.

 


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I dunno ... Am I the only

I dunno ... Am I the only one who is thinking the left is over-playing their hand here?  I mean, saturating the media (especially so early) can only bore the crap out of the viewing/voting masses and have an opposite effect and intended outcome in the election.

}}}----> No, Drill

I actually sat through this gratuitous show last night while blogging.  My wife watches it.  Each of the 100 (it seemed) participants had to do the same dance to the same song (Waiting On The World To Change).

It was almost as grating as a continuous loop of Whitney Houston (I Will Always Love You)

Dancing for peace, yo

Crap,

I inadvertently deleted Tim's comment (not quite used to the new interface!) Sorry about that - Trip

Exactly, Tim.  My wife

Exactly, Tim.  My wife watches the show and I caught it last night too.  The show's producers are undoubtedly anti-Bush and because the war is unpopular, they decided to do the "cool" thing of putting on these choreographed dances.  When it is cool denounce the war, they come out and act like they're part of the in crowd.  When it is not cool (like right after 9/11) they don't say much at all.  It's high school all over again.

Dutch

PS - I really didn't see how the dances much translated into an anti-war theme.  Seems to me they were just jumping around and twirling. 

More Fashion Than Protest

I caught the show as well because my wife was watching it and I didn’t pick up on the anti war theme either.  It just looked to me like a bunch of clueless 20 somethings who were totally detached from the era they were attempting to represent.  Devoid of any context or meaning, the whole thing came off as more of a fashion show than a political statement.  I will stay alert for the inevitable Hollywood Dixie-Chicking statements as we approach the 08 elections.

women as surrender dummies

Hey young and dumb (and female): Surrender is not peace. Once again, they're coming for the Jews, the Catholics, et al., and looking at the girl in the photo makes me think that this time they will come for the women and due to the idiocy of feminism there will be no men left to speak up. (Tsk, tsk, especially for the clip-haired lesbos when Islamic fundamentalists get ahold of them.)

The peace symbol has been perverted.

Do these stupid libs understand what those two fingers in the air mean?  V for VICTORY!  You don't get victory by huddling in a corner waiting to be attacked again.

What the MSSM doesn't report can kill you.

Six String

Six string spiff: You are correct to a point. When Winston Churchill flashed the 'V' sign, it meant victory.

My generation ( the baby boomers) usurped it to mean 'peace' during the Vietnam war.

Sorry about that.

But we did have the Beatles!

Keep the Beatles

 You can keep the Beatles, I prefer Megadeth.

 

Texas has a population of nearly 21 million people, all of whom are ashamed to be from the same state as the Dixie Chicks. (IMAO.us)

Hey, sunandsteel

If there were no blues, no doo-wop, no Elvis and no Beatles. . .in other words, if my generation did not exist, there would be no Megadeth.

Got it whippersnapper?

Pish posh

I'll take John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, B B King, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Led Zeppelin,Pink Floyd, Stones, The Who, Elvis, Buddy Holly and all the rest, I just think the Beatles are kind of overrated.

 

Texas has a population of nearly 21 million people, all of whom are ashamed to be from the same state as the Dixie Chicks. (IMAO.us)

opps

opps

Vietnam

We soldiers who came home from Vietnam were treated like dog s**t.  We need to band together to insure that todays service men and women don't get the same treatment.

I fully expect to see more

I fully expect to see more of this as the election nears, and it will not be as generic as last night's performance on Fox. Only time can tell whether or not it will make a difference.

   The election hinges on who the Republicans nominate.  The dems have already painted themselves into the cut and run corner which they cannot get out of after all they've said.  Richard Nixon defeated McGovern in a landslide in much worse conditions than this.  For those of you who weren't there Nixon was a strong leader and those qualities were contrasted against McGovern's rather weak persona.  Americans may not like war but they want a leader who can manage one when it's necessary.  Obama, Clinton or Edwards can be easily defeated by a real leader.  'The New Tone' better be tossed out the window.  It's time for real political war.

MA - AMEN! To all you've

MA -

AMEN! To all you've just said.

Also, while I wasn't old enough to vote then, I do recall the venom and vitriol aimed at Nixon from the antiwar crowd and the MSM ... yet, everyone seemed surprised Nixon not only won the election, but in the landslide. 

I saw the show, and most of

I saw the show, and most of the dancers got feedback that there wasn't enough emotion ( could it be because they did it as a job? ie they didn't believe the message too much? )

I could use a history lesson though...why the chicken foot? Ever heard of cock fights? And why the two fingers...doesn't that mean V for victory...which means someone is conquered?

Peace only happens when the good guys win, or are all dead.

Avoiding war is easy,

Avoiding war is easy, just surrender...

mattm...

How French of you?

merci

merci

mattm

you're Roy Orbison.

It is actually one of the

It is actually one of the few shows I will watch.I am waiting for the twist to come back in style.It really ticks me off and alot of folks on their forums were teed off also.I dont watch it so someone can push their political views.I watch it to see people dance.Next thing you know Iron Chef will have pure vegatarian meals.I watch very little tv because of garbage like this.Well I guess I just have to wait for football season.

Just thought I'd post this link.Got it from my brother.

http://www.iwo.com/heroes.htm

well99,

Next thing you know Iron Chef will have pure vegatarian meals.

Nahh, Mario Batali would never, ever go for that.

Help Fred defeat everybody.

I hope not.Mario is Good but

I hope not.Mario is Good but I like Bobby because he likes adding hot spices to food.Jalepenos rule.Football season is still a few weeks away from pre season.I have to watch something.Well besides news and such.

Next we'll have the

Next we'll have the contestants who win big on "Deal or No Deal" being forced to "redistribute" their earnings to the "economically inequal."

I think it's William F.

I think it's William F. Buckley who said it best:

"All civilized men want peace. And all truly civilized men must despise pacifism." 

 

It seems they were quick to

It seems they were quick to apologize tonight for last night