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BACK: When Hollywood celebrates free speech


Aaron Sorkin was one of Hollywood’s most gifted scribes.

The mind behind “The West Wing,” “A Few Good Men” and more recently “Being the Ricardos” writes witty, clever quotes that make even the most trivial moments stand out.

And he has an Oscar and four Emmys to show for it.

He’s also one of the most partisan figures in the industry, free op-eds and screenplays brimming with progressive perspectives.

It’s fascinating to look back at one of his scripts from the ’90s to see how far Hollywood has fallen when it comes to free speech.

Sorkin collaborates with the director Rob Reineranother staunch leftist, on 1995’s “The American President”. Michael Douglas plays a lone Commander-in-Chief who falls in love with a lobbyist (Annette Bening).

It’s a traditional rom-com inside the Beltway. “The American President” allows Reiner and Sorkin to celebrate progressive perspectives and classic film stories. Rotten Tomatoes for movie one 91 percent “fresh” score from critics.

The film’s third act features a memorable speech by President Shepherd (Douglas), a speech intended to arrest the pro-Democracy faction while summarizing key plot points. The president stood for his new flame, ravaged his political opponents and pushed for a bill to tackle global warming.

NOTE: That’s what environmental activists used to call climate change.

Sorkin’s speech was pure, eloquent and passionate. Except it plays differently when listening today.

Yes, Democrats are still on the environmental side, seeing their consistent acceptance of the Green New Deal. What is the difference? Consider this passage and it must be obvious.

America is not easy. America is an advanced citizen. You have to want it badly, because it will cause a war. It will say, “You want freedom of speech? Watch you admit to a man whose words make your blood boil, who is standing in the center of the stage and supporting at the bottom of his lungs. that you will spend your whole life fighting against.” You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country cannot be just a flag. The emblem must also be one of its citizens exercising the right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me it, defend it, celebrate it in your classroom. Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free.

Freedom of speech is currently an issue for much of the Left. Today’s progress cheering for GOP officials kicked out of social media. They punish conservatives for sharing their views on political campuses.

ACLU, the name was checked in Chairman Shepherd’s speech, no longer fighting for freedom of speech like it used to do.

And, worst of all, from Hollywood’s point of view, libertarian stars rarely speak out in defense of their liberties – their shares in the trade. Some just suggest some actors can play certain parts. Others are willing to remove fellow stars if they hold “wrong” political views.

Oh, there are exceptions.

  • Dave Chappelle
  • Ricky Gervais
  • Adam Carolla
  • Nick Searcy

The vast majority of Hollywood players are always interested in this topic. Some actively promote the restriction of sober voices, such as comedians Dan Aykroyd, Marc Maron and Stephen Colbert. The biggest names – think Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Will Smith, Tom Hanks and more – can’t be bothered to defend creative expression.

Will Sorkin write that speech today? Did Reiner feel comfortable directing it?

Are film critics cheering for that right to free speech? They fully endorsed the “American President” in general during the 1990s. Modern film critics are open-minded. Many bash projects celebrate freedom of expression.

They ravaged “No Safe Space”, For example. And most critics now steer clear of projects that don’t fit their worldview, lest they over-publish them. Thoughts react to “What is a woman?” a Daily Wire documentary that critics actively avoid.

Sorkin’s “President of the United States” speech has aged beautifully. The film’s creative duo as well as today’s Hollywood stars might disagree.



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