Richard Gere is a harmless, if irritating, little Buddhist. I have yet to meet anyone who takes his political drivel seriously. I am convinced - make that hope - that very few people base their political decisions on what celebrities have to say. I have only one celebrity boycott: Jane Fonda, from the beginning and until she is done rotting in hell.
Holllywood is beginning to court Republicans.
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Lights! Cameras! Lobbying!
Hollywood's top gun in Washington woos the GOP
By Tamara Lipper
NewsweekFeb. 28 issue - Dan Glickman isn't exactly the Hollywood type. More comfortable in pinstripes than Prada, he's a former Clinton Agriculture secretary, Kansas congressman and president of the Witchita school board—and nothing like the flashy, debonair Jack Valenti, the legendary head of the Motion Picture Association of America. After 38 years at the MPAA, Valenti has become a celebrity in his own right, landing his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But as Glickman heads toward his first Academy Awards since taking over for Valenti as the industry's chief lobbyist, he's the one schmoozing Hollywood directors and cozying up to the stars he'd once admired from the back row of the movie theater. As he mingled at a glitzy party after the Golden Globe Awards, the self-effacing Glickman sidled up to actress Christine Lahti, who starred in one of his favorite flicks, "Running on Empty." "I'm the new Jack Valenti," he joked.
Glickman arrives just as Hollywood finds itself caught in the crossfire between Red and Blue America. George W. Bush mocked the industry's liberal values in last year's campaign. This Sunday, when stars step out of their limos at the Oscars, they'll be greeted by a billboard from the conservative group Citizens United. It pictures Bush with Michael Moore, Whoopi Goldberg and Barbra Streisand and the ironic message: W. STILL PRESIDENT. THANK YOU HOLLYWOOD! Not only did celebrities campaign against Bush, but they've come under fire for movies (Clint Eastwood's euthanasia plot in "Million Dollar Baby") and television broadcasts (Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction) that offend conservative sensibilities. Now Tinseltown must come to terms with the new political landscape: Republicans have tightened their grip on Washington just as Hollywood's need for help in fighting illegal movie downloads is rising. "I've got some bridge building to do," Glickman, a lifelong Democrat, admits.
The studio heads Glickman represents are pitching in, too: they're wooing Republicans with campaign cash. A group including Disney's Robert Iger plans to raise $150,000 at a Wilshire Boulevard breakfast this week with House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Glickman will be there, too—a move that could help boost his standing with skeptical Republicans.
To build credibility, Glickman has hired two respected GOP aides—Stacy Carlson, a veteran of the Bush campaign, and John Feehery, longtime spokes-man for Hastert. Glickman recently invited Republicans to screen Oscar-nominated films at the MPAA's plush private theater. (Instead of previews, the audience got Glickman's pitch against movie piracy, which costs the industry an estimated $3 billion a year. He ratcheted up the MPAA's rhetoric by threatening to sue online movie swappers.) Glickman generally tries to avoid plunging into the culture wars, but admits that last year's Bush-bashing by Hollywood celebs made him "cringe." At the same time, he dismisses the conservative backlash against movies like "Million Dollar Baby." "An awful lot of people of people need to lighten up a bit," Glickman says. That's the kind of evenhanded Kansas style that could some day win him rave reviews.
© 2005 Newsweek, Inc. |
