Hollywood values

Hollywood values are characterized by decadence, narcissism, rampant drug use, premarital and extramarital sex (leading to the spread of sexually-transmitted disease), lawlessness and death. A poll by MSNBC said that 60% of Americans agree that "Hollywood's values are not in line with the rest of America and that the quality of movies has diminished in recent years."

The lack of conservative morals and values in Hollywood culture has been cited by a great many conservatives and others as a force that is destroying the fabric of American culture, particularly the family. However, although most prominent Hollywood figures accept this complacently, a handful of them have strongly opposed it. Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Stewart, Charlton Heston, Walt Disney, and many others practiced conservative values while working in Hollywood. Many Hollywood productions also reflect these values, irrespective of the star names associated with them; recent examples include The Chronicles of Narnia and Independence Day.

Hollywood values include a flagrant disrespect and disregard for:

• Marriage and abstinence.
• Patriotism.
• Religion, or at least Christianity.
• Accountability.
• Family responsibilities, like childrearing.
• The law in general.
• Commonly accepted behavioral boundaries and values of human decency.

Deaths

A disproportionate number of those practicing Hollywood values have died untimely deaths. A sampling of deaths caused by Hollywood values include:

• John Barrymore, 60, cirrhosis of the liver from heavy drinking.
• John Belushi, 33, was a repeated drug abuser who ultimately died of a lethal injection of cocaine and heroin.
• Clara Blandick, 81, suicide.
• John Bonham, 32, after too much drinking, asphyxiated on vomit.
• Elisa Bridges, 28, Playboy magazine model, drug overdose combining heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs.
• David Carradine, 72, suffocation (most likely suicide; had history of suicidal thoughts, alcohol and narcotics abuse).
• Stephen Clark, 30, Def Leppard guitarist, overdose of drugs and alcohol.
• Lana Clarkson, 40, actress and model, murdered by Phil Spector.
• Kurt Cobain, 27, lead singer from the band Nirvana, a heroin addict who committed suicide with a shotgun blast to the head.
• Ray Combs, 40, host of the TV game show Family Feud, committed suicide by hanging himself in a psychiatric ward.
• John Costelloe, 47, actor from HBO's The Sopranos known as "Johnny Cakes", shot himself in the head.
• Bob Crane, 49, bludgeoned to death as the culmination of a bizarre life of sex addiction.
• Karl Dane, 47, suicide by gunshot.
• James Dean, 24, auto accident.
• Eazy-E, 31, AIDS contracted through drug use.
• Brian Epstein, 32, overdose of sleeping pills and alcohol.
• Chris Farley, 33, overdose of morphine and cocaine.
• Judy Garland, 47, overdose of sleeping pills.
• Lucy Gordon, 28, British actress from the movie Spider-Man 3, hanged herself.
• Lee Grivas, 26, the on-again, off-again boyfriend of actress Christina Applegate, 36, an apparent drug overdose.
• Phil Hartman, 49, murdered in his million-dollar house by his third wife Brynn Hartman
• Margaux Hemingway, 42, suicide.
• Jimi Hendrix, 27, an enthusiastic abuser of illegal drugs, choked on his own vomit after overdose of sleeping pills.
• Rock Hudson, 59, AIDS.
• Michael Hutchence, 37, asphyxiated during an auto-erotic act while alone in a Sydney hotel. His wife, Paula Yates (see below), also fell victim to Hollywood Values.
• Richard Jeni, 49, suicide.
• Janis Joplin, 27, heroin overdose.
• Heath Ledger, 28, accidental drug overdose.
• Stuart Lubbock, 31, found dead in the swimming pool of popular TV entertainer Michael Barrymore, having suffered severe anal trauma, after a drug-fueled party at the star's home.
• Freddie Mercury, 45, born Farrokh Bulsara, lead singer of the band Queen, AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia.
• Sal Mineo, 37, murdered under circumstances that suggested "a homosexual motive."
• Marilyn Monroe, 36, overdosed on sleeping pills.
• Keith Moon, drummer of The Who, 32, overdose of Clomethiazole prescribed to treat his alcoholism.
• Jim Morrison, 27, apparent heroin overdose.
• Chris Penn, 40, brother of Sean Penn, "died accidentally from an enlarged heart and the effects of a mix of multiple medications," possibly also as a side effect of being overweight.
• River Phoenix, 23, overdose of cocaine and heroin.
• Dana Plato, 34, Diff'rent Strokes star, suicide by drugs overdose after posing for lesbian pornography.
• Elvis Presley, 42, large drug intake causes a cardiac arrhythmia and rumored to have suffocated on the carpet when he collapsed from a drug overdose.
• Virginia Rappe, 30, died of a ruptured bladder incurred at a party hosted by Roscoe Arbuckle.
• Brad Renfro, 25, became addicted to heroin and was found dead after a night of drinking.
• George Reeves, 45, played Superman from the series Adventures of Superman, suicide by gunshot.
• Anna Nicole Smith, 39, accidental overdose on prescription drugs
• Layne Staley, 34, found dead in apartment two weeks after a drug overdose. Layne promoted the use of hard drugs in the 1992 Alice in Chains song "Junkhead"
• Sharon Tate, 26, an actress with a hippie lifestyle who was murdered by followers of Charles Manson, a Beatles-obsessed musician wannabe; Manson's followers murdered Tate, who was pregnant and only two weeks from birth, her unborn child, her prior lover who was staying with her while her husband, movie producer Roman Polanski (see 'Crime', below) was away, and another unmarried couple staying in the house. (It is believed that Manson had actually intended his followers to kill the home's previous residents, Terry Melcher (son of Doris Day) and Candice Bergen.)
• Lou Tellegen, 52, suicide.
• Sid Vicious, 21, heroin overdose, while awaiting trial for his girlfriend's murder.
• Kenneth Williams, 62, overdose.
• Natalie Wood, 43, drowned while intoxicated.
• Paula Yates, 41, heroin overdose.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

The intemperance in the area of sexual morality that is associated with Hollywood values has led to an incidence of sexually transmitted diseases among that population. Examples include:

• Rock Hudson died of AIDS-related complications after contracting the disease through homosexual intercourse.
• Michael Jeter, who was homosexual, also died due to AIDS-related complications.
• Freddie Mercury of the rock group Queen, notorious for his flamboyant onstage presence, also contracted AIDS through his wildly promiscuous homosexual lifestyle, and subsequently perished of the self-inflicted condition.

Crime

Hollywood values often include being arrested or convicted for a variety of crimes, though the sentences are often comparatively light due to the celebrity status of the defendants. Here are some examples:

• Sean Bean was arrested and spent the night in a cell after allegedly beating his wife.
• Todd Bridges assaulted a motorist and was repeatedly arrested for drug-related offenses.
• Gary Coleman was arrested for assaulting a woman by punching her in the face.
• Skylar Deleon, former Power Rangers actor, will have three separate trials for four murders. The first trial is set for the murder of Tom and Jackie Hawks, who were allegedly bound to the anchor of their yacht and tossed overboard. he was sentenced to death for committing murder.
• Snoop Dogg, a popular rapper, was arrested in 2006 for marijuana possession. He is a libertarian who advocates marijuana use.
• Leif Garrett, former teen actor, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance. He has a number of former arrests including heroin possession.
• Hugh Grant was arrested in 1995 when found in a car with a prostitute.
• Paris Hilton was convicted of driving while intoxicated, and then violated the terms of her probation, leading to a 45-day prison sentence.
• Stacy Keach, movie actor, was sentenced to 9 months imprisonment in the United Kingdom in 1984 after being arrested at London Heathrow Airport in possession of a large quantity of cocaine.
• Shelley Malil, 43, worked as an actor in movies and television. He is charged with causing great bodily injury to and using a deadly weapon on Kendra Beebe, a 35-year-old mother of two. He appeared on the back patio of Kendra's house and stabbed her 20 times. Now held on a $10 million dollar bond.
• George Michael was convicted of "committing a lewd act in public", having been arrested in a public restroom by a plain clothes police officer. He was found to be in possession of crack cocaine and cannabis, but merely received a caution.
• Nick Nolte was arrested for drunk driving in 2002
• George O'Dowd, musician, better known by his stage name, Boy George, has been convicted (and will likely go to prison) for handcuffing a male escort to a bed against his will and then beating him with a chain. Earlier he had been convicted of cocaine possession.
• Redmond O'Neal, son of Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal, plead guilty to possessing heroine and methamphetamine as well as driving under the influence of drugs.
• Tatum O'Neal arrested in 2008 for cocaine possession.
• Actress Lori Petty, who was featured in "Free Willy" and "A League of their Own," ran into a 14-year-old skateboarder and was arrested for felony drunk driving charges.
• Craig Phillip Robinson, the actor famous for playing Darryl Philbin on NBC's "The Office," "was arrested on June 29, 2008, on suspicion of possessing MDMA, also known as ecstasy, and methamphetamine."
• Dana Plato was arrested for armed robbery and prescription forgery.
• Roman Polanski, Polish-born film producer, is unable to return to Hollywood as he skipped bail and fled to France after being convicted in 1978 on charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with a thirteen-year old girl. However, he was arrested in Switzerland in September of 2009 and is currently jailed, awaiting extradition to the United States.
• Winona Ryder was convicted of convicted of vandalism and grand theft for stealing designer merchandise worth $5,560.40.
• Rapper DMX (Earl Simmons) was caught on camera drag racing at a speed over 110 miles on a freeway, and then a SWAT team was used to arrest him three days later on drug and animal cruelty charges. "The Maricopa County sheriff's office says the 37-year-old, whose real name is Earl Simmons, at first tried to barricade himself in his bedroom. He came out as a SWAT team entered during the early-morning raid Friday."
• O.J. Simpson is widely believed to have murdered his wife and her friend, and though he was found not guilty in his criminal trial, he was found liable in a parallel civil trial. He has since been convicted of unrelated felonies.
• Musician/Producer Phil Spector was found guilty of second-degree murder for the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson. He was convicted of second-degree murder.
• Kiefer Sutherland was given a 48-day sentence for DUI in 2007, an offense committed while still on probation following a 2004 conviction for DUI. He was also charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly head-butting a fashion designer at a nightclub.
• Elmore "Rip" Torn, actor, arrested for breaking into a bank and carrying a firearm while intoxicated. In 2009, he was given probation in a drunk-driving case.

Falsehoods

Hollywood perpetuates a number of liberal-driven falsehoods:

Matthew Shepard fallacy

Adherents to Hollywood values "green-lighted a troika of Matthew Shepard movies after he was senselessly killed because it affirmed their gut feeling that a gay young man living in backward America is destined for death at the hands of hateful ultraconservatives. A street in West Hollywood still stands in his name despite ABC News reporting the story false: He was killed by crazed meth addicts for drugs and money -- not because he was gay. Isn't that tragic enough? Yet Shepard is still the icon of gay victims' rights, and the mistaken story of his 'fate' soon thereafter befell Jake Gyllenhaal's character in 'Brokeback Mountain.' The Oscar statuette stands as the exclamation point."

Inherit the Wind

The film Inherit the Wind is presented as an historical account in order to smear Christianity. However, the play upon which the film is based was written as an allegorical criticism of "McCarthyism" and consequently contains numerous and blatant historical inaccuracies concerning the Scopes Trial, including:

• portraying William Jennings Bryan as being ignorant, harsh and punitive, based on a false portrayal of his actions and testimony
• falsely claiming that at the end Bryan, in a senseless fit of madness, died in the courtroom amid caring and reasonable Darwinists
• portraying the Darwinists in a falsely positive light and the Christians as deceitful

In real life, Bryan and the Christians were charitable to the end, while the agnostic Darrow was deceitful in reneging on his promise to take the witness stand after Bryan did.

Recount

The 2008 HBO movie on the 2000 Presidential elections and its aftermath in Florida, which operates from the assumption that the Republicans stole the election there. Republicans are portrayed as ghoulish types who manufacture demonstrations. Warren Christopher and James Baker both contend that the film’s portrayal of Christopher is hopelessly untrue.

Winter Soldiers

The 1972 film about U.S. troops from Vietnam put on record as baby killers, human rights violators, and general disservice to America. This myth was propagated by a few anti-war activist liberal actors who either never saw combat in Vietnam or were never in the country. The initial result was to hold hearings in Congress over the matter. All allegations were proven fabrications, falsehoods, and lies.

An Inconvenient Truth

The 2006 "documentary" about man-made global warming, created and hyped by Al Gore, was found by a British court to contain at least 11 material falsehoods. The Science and Public Policy Institute has found 35 falsehoods associated with the film.

Fahrenheit 911

A Michael Moore film that was a false portrayal of why America fought a war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq. The main theme was to attack George W. Bush during wartime.

Disrespect for marriage

On account of their distorted moral outlook, many celebrities and other practitioners of Hollywood values have no respect for the sanctity of marriage - their own or anyone else's. This is manifested in a high rate of marriage breakdown, and by various other home-wrecking activities.

• Elizabeth Taylor has been married eight (8) times, including a nearly 6-year marriage to Senator John Warner (R-VA).
• Valerie Bertinelli said her divorce from Eddie Van Halen was caused by infidelity and drug use on both sides. She said she was "destroying [her] body," trying to keep up with a rock-star lifestyle.
• Zsa Zsa Gabor has been married nine (9) times.
• Mickey Rooney has been married eight (8) times, but has been with his last wife for 30 years after embracing religion and abandoning his previous lifestyle.
• Jerry Lee Lewis married six (6) times, once to his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gale Brown.
• Charlie Chaplin married four (4) times, including his marriage at the age of 54 to an 18-year-old bride.
• Johnny Carson married four (4) times, and frequently made light of his having divorced three times, as if this were something funny.
• Meredith Baxter married and divorced four (4) times; she finally admitted in 2009 that she was a homosexual.

Offensive behavior

• Practitioners of Hollywood values frequently trash hotel rooms. Many examples of this can be seen on the Internet.
• Mel Gibson was arrested after being stopped for driving at 84 mph in a 45 mph zone on a notoriously dangerous road in Malibu, California. A breathalyzer test confirmed he was drunk and next to him was an open bottle of Tequila; after being arrested he hurled anti-Semitic abuse at a Jewish police officer.
• The parents of Miley Cyrus, just 15 years old, allowed Annie Liebowitz to pose the starlet without a shirt or bra (nominally "topless") and with just a sheet covering her front for Vanity Fair magazine. "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed," Cyrus said Sunday in a statement through her publicist. "I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about." "[A] situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines," a network statement said.
• Many Hollywood stars who have purposely sought fame have then turned upon photographers and fans. Sean Penn is well known to lash out at photographers.
• The parents of 16-year old Jamie Lynn Spears allowing her unwed pregnancy to be publicly portrayed as a normal act even though she is a role model for millions of underage teenagers. Carolyn Kirk, the mayor of Gloucester, Massachusetts, recently blamed the glamorizing of teen pregnancy by Jamie Lynn Spears for the 17 high school teenagers that got pregnant at the same time.
• Ellen DeGeneres proudly displays her lesbianism for all to see. On August 16, 2008, DeGeneres "married" Portia de Rossi in a small ceremony in Beverly Hills. Fox News called it "the biggest celebrity union since California legalized same-sex marriage."
• Rapper Kanye West and bodyguard attacked the paparazzi at LAX airport and allegedly smashed a camera on the floor valued at $10,000. The pair were arrested for felony vandalism.
• Heather Locklear was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of a controlled substance. The officer noticed Locklear's car parked on a state highway and blocking a lane in Montecito, Ca.
• Charlie Sheen was arrested on Christmas Day for domestic abuse of his wife, Brooke. He was booked for second-degree assault, menacing, and criminal mischief. Sheen has a history that includes assaults against girlfriends and his former wife.
• Kourtney Kardashian gave a risque lingerie shoot while pregnant with her boyfriend's child. After birth, Mom and baby adorned magazine covers, highlighting the modern acceptance of single motherhood. The cover reads "Baby Mason will bring our family together," obscuring the traditional meaning of family.
• Comedian Andy Dick was arrested for groping an employee and a patron of a nightclub in West Virginia.
• Woody Allen seduced and took pornographic photographs of his wife-to-be, Soon-Yi Previn, the youthful daughter of his then-girlfriend Mia Farrow.
• James Dean displayed an unhealthy interest in a twelve-year-old boy. His former director Elia Kazan later commented: "I've known many actors who have been twisted up in their sex lives, but never anybody as sick and unhealthy as Dean was."
• Helen Mirren, who played Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, admits she used to use cocaine and was date-raped as a result of her poor life choices as a younger woman.

Rehab

Hollywood values often result in celebrities going into rehab. Here are some examples:

• Kirsten Dunst was reported to have checked into the Cirque Lodge treatment facility in Utah after a week of hard partying at the Sundance Film Festival, according to a source at the lodge, although the lodge's director of operations denies this.

The following all checked into the above facility seeking treatment for various psychological problems:

• Lindsay Lohan
• Eva Mendes
• Mary-Kate Olsen
• Robert Downey Jr.
• Courtney Love
• Heather Locklear
• David Duchovny, having boosted Hollywood Values through his role in a decadent television series, now finds himself trapped by the depravity that he promoted, and has had to enter rehab for his addiction to unchastity.

Hypocrisy

Hollywood personalities often propose legislation such as outlawing private gun ownership, or speak out against things such as anti-gun laws, but have at the same time acted in movies that promote different messages.

• George Clooney, on hearing that fellow actor Charlton Heston suffered from Alzheimer's disease, said: "I don't care. Charlton Heston is the head of the National Rifle Association. He deserves whatever anyone says about him." Clooney starred in the film The Peacemaker, in which he played an American military man defending the country from a nuclear attack; scenes in the film showed him using a gun to defend himself and others.
• Mark Wahlberg, upon meeting Charlton Heston on the set of the remake of Planet of the Apes, rudely told him, "It was very disturbing meeting you." Later, Wahlberg would have this to say at the MTV Movie Awards: "I believe Charlton Heston is America's best villain because he loves guns so much. Maybe he should get the award for being president of the National Rifle Association." Wahlberg's character in Planet of the Apes uses a gun to defend himself and other humans from the apes who would rule over them.
• Chad Allen, a gay actor, played a dual role as missionaries Nate and Steve Saint (both opposed to homosexuality) in the Christian film End of the Spear.

Using appearances to political ends

• Rapper Kanye West infamously went far off script during a live benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina, criticizing the media's treatment of images of black and white people and saying President George W. Bush "doesn't care about black people."
• During the live broadcast of the 2007 Emmy Awards, actress Sally Field went on a sputtering anti-war rant, eventually concluding by saying, "If the mothers ruled the world, there would be no g**d*** war in the first place." She received thunderous applause from the Hollywood audience for her vulgar remark.
• Michael Moore surprised no one by criticizing President Bush during his 2003 Oscar acceptance speech for "Bowling for Columbine," saying, "We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man who's sending us to war for fictitious reasons, whether it's the fiction of duct tape or the fiction of orange alerts. We are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush. Shame on you."
• Actress Jessica Lange verbally attacked President Bush and the Iraq War during a 2008 commencement speech at Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, New York, stating, "We are living in an America that, in the last seven and a half years, has waged an unnecessary war, established prison camps, condoned torture, employed corporate armies, eliminated the right of habeas corpus, practiced extraordinary rendition, and believe me, this is only a partial list."
• Actress Megan Fox was recently quoted by MSN in a piece entitled "The Wit and Wisdom of Megan Fox" discussing her new movie Transformers 2. She said "why not just take out all of the white trash, hillbilly, anti-gay, super bible-beating people in Middle America?”

Vanity and Idol Worship

Hollywood places a value on appearance; this is driven into the minds of those who seek profits and adulation there, and such is the need to be rich and famous that anything goes, such as indecent exposure to audiences, deliberately inviting scandal for the sake of headlines, and attending ego-boosting ceremonies where fans breathlessly await the "stars'" arrival.

The culture around these celebrities has developed into somewhat of a hero-cult, minus the heroic behavior; this negatively affects the celebrities' fans, especially women, who tend to feel less worthy when exposed more to celebrity culture. Penn State's Media Research found the following regarding Women's magazines, "Past research indicates that exposure to thin models results in lower self-esteem and decreased weight satisfaction, and to increased depression, guilt, shame, stress, insecurity and body dissatisfaction."

Award Shows

Fans of Hollywood are served copious amounts of vanity and glamor as celebrities are greeted on the red-carpet attending award events. Paparazzi snap pictures and the stars are rated for their appearance in various tabloids and entertainment television. Once the celebrities have arrived at the awards, television cameras capture for the masses acceptance speeches of their beloved stars. Although the awards ceremonies were once limited to a couple of banquets such as the Emmys or Golden Globes, now some two-dozen award shows are vying for exposure, including the Golden Raspberry Awards, or "Razzies," created to honor the worst in film. Here are some examples of the behavior of stars at award shows:

• A notoriously self-serving Kayne West jumped onstage at the MTV Video Awards to interrupt an acceptance speech by Taylor Swift.
• Mariah Carey attended the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Her acceptance speech was made while completely drunk.
• Miley Cyrus performed at the Teen Choice Awards in August 2009. The 16-year old was dancing around on a stripper pole.
• Actor Jack Black opened the 2009 MTV Video Awards by leading everyone in a prayer to Satan.
• Adam Lambert’s American Music Awards performance received over 1500 complaints for flipping off the audience, kissed a male keyboard player and fondled several of his backup dancers.

Preying on Underage Stars

Debbie Gibson said, reflecting on her life as a sixteen-year-old teenage pop star and her exposure to the very sinister side of show business, "It is very disheartening that there are so many older men that prey on young performers." This refers not only to predatory fans, but to older male record executives who took her to adult parties and attempted to seduce her with the aid of alcohol.

Productions

The poor morals rampant in the Hollywood entertainment industry tend to show through in many of that industry's products: motion pictures and television programs that forsake actual content in favor of plumbing a cess-pit of debauchery, etc. Some recent examples include the television series Desperate Housewives and the TV series/movie Sex and the City.

Books

• Hollywood Against America
• Hollywood Babylon (1965) by Kenneth Anger (US edition)
• Hollywood Babylon II (1984) by Kenneth Anger

See also

• Supermodels
• Gallery of American Heroes
• World Famous Pictures

External Links

• Bush attacks 'Hollywood values', AFP, Oct 1, 2007
• Mug-shots of arrested Hollywood stars