You may believe Hollywood touts a strong pro-choice bias. And according to a recent poll, most Americans would agree with you.
Rewind to January 2017 – a politically fraught month, with the Women’s March and March for Life scheduled back-to-back, not to mention President Trump’s Inauguration. Twenty million viewers were watching Meryl Streep vent about politics and call Hollywood and the press “the most vilified segments in American society right now.” She also lauded Hollywood’s impressive cultural diversity.
Yet cultural and intellectual diversity aren’t quite as pervasive as Streep seems to think. According to a poll from the Barna Group, a majority believes Hollywood is pushing a one-sided agenda.
Twenty-nine percent of Americans believe Hollywood films increasingly send pro-choice messages (compared to 14 percent, who claim recent films send no messages at all, or 25 percent, who claim Hollywood sends primarily pro-life messages). Paul Bond of The Hollywood Reporter noted the filmmakers behind the new independent film, Because of Gracia (to be released this September) commissioned the poll.
The American Enterprise Institute issued a 2017 study on American attitudes toward abortion, which revealed “substantial numbers of people tell pollsters that abortion is an act of murder” but should still be “a personal choice.” Some 54 percent favor legal abortion under certain circumstances, compared to just 21 percent who favor abortion in all circumstances. A recent Gallup poll revealed a total split between “pro-choice” and “pro-life” Americans. Clearly, Americans are divided on the issue.
Yet Hollywood does not represent this evenly split attitude toward abortion issues. In October 2016, MRC’s Callista Ring cited 100 celebrities who have given public accolades to the 253 million dollar abortion provider Planned Parenthood. Julianne Moore, Elizabeth Banks, Ariana Grande, Scarlett Johansson, Miley Cyrus, and Gwyneth Paltrow were among the myriad celebrities named.
It’s more than evident Hollywood – and stardom in general – doesn’t represent the deeply split American consensus on abortion. And Americans are aware.
