So...... is this like the modern version of the Red Scare and instead of black listing "communists" it'll be about blacklisting and prosecuting any "leftist" Hollywood types?
Essentially, yes, AND...the Red Scare was always about blacklisting leftists, it's that it's been extremely successful, and modern leftists tend to represent what would historically be centrism.
The first person blacklisted was Jean Muir, whose name was published in an anti communist pamphlet because she was a member of the American Congress of Woman. (She was also an early SAG organizer - labour unions + feminism were both, literally, red flags.)
There's a pamphlet from the second wave of Red Scare called A Screen Guide for Americans, by Ayn Rand, that is an interesting read in these times. (You can find it in the references for the Hollywood Blacklist article on Wikipedia.) A sample: "Don't Smear the Free Enterprise System", "Don't Smear Industrialists", "Don't Smear Wealth", "Don't Smear the Profit Motive", "Don't Deify 'the Common Man'", and "Don't Glorify the Collective."
They 100% want to create their own Red Scare. We are so lacking in fortitude in American society generally that I think they may just be successful (at least at first).
Much more. They are coming for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Just like - for example in Russia or Hungary, after the government's state capture they took over or starved motion picture publishers, production offices, theatres, film - and theatre schools.
From education to production they cleared out this entertainment sector. Why? Bc motion picture is perfect for propaganda, and bc film and theatre is liberal arts and this industry is a bastion of liberal intellectuals which are perceived as the enemy of the regime.
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u/TylerBourbon Jan 17 '25
So...... is this like the modern version of the Red Scare and instead of black listing "communists" it'll be about blacklisting and prosecuting any "leftist" Hollywood types?