38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hollywood's Love Affair with Liberal Politics, May 3, 2004
This review is from: Tales from the Left Coast: True Stories of Hollywood Stars and Their Outrageous Politics (Hardcover)
Hollywood stars like Rob Reiner, Susan Sarandon, Alec Bladwin, Julia Roberts, Jane Fonda, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, and others can be counted on for many things. We know that, sooner or later, we will see them in a movie production or making a television appearance. We also know that, sooner or later, we will hear them voicing their concerns about any number of political issues. And we know that, more often than not, the political side they take will have a distinctly left- leaning direction.
This book takes a close look at the entertainers that make the Hollywood world go round and it discusses the background and the different events over the past 50 plus years that have led to the present "liberal" Hollywood mindset. Communist infiltration into the American way of life back during the McCarthy era, the Vietnam War, and other events were decisive in shaping Hollywood politics. These liberal views have precipitated over the years to more and more generations of Hollywood entertainers. They are shared by a large majority of Hollywood folk, in proportions that do not reflect the population as a whole.
The Hollywood elite can often be counted on to voice some wild opinions, and author James Hirsen presents some of them in this book. Quotes like Chevy Chase's comment that "Cuba has proven that socialism can work" and Sean Penn's nutty statement that he would like to "trade news personality Bill O'Reilly for Osama Bin Laden" are just a sample of some of the crazy things that have come out of the mouths of our beloved movie making friends in La La land.
I like the way Hirsen keeps this book on an entertaining and humorous level. He doesn't hit below the belt, like some other political writers are prone to doing. Rather, he keeps things lightened up and funny as he shows how biased the members of Hollywood often are in their collectivist political mindset. They almost always favor a government- intervention position (except for issues like abortion and a few others) and they often cozy up with authoritarian- type individuals, like Fidel Castro and others.
The dry humor contained in this book and the one- sidedness makes it the type that many readers will scorn. However, I think it's an entertaining read for people of all political stripes and colors. Hollywood stars are entitled to their own opinions, but what some of them say and do will surprise many readers. Hirsen includes lots of amusing quotes and stories about the bigwigs in Hollywood and others in the entertainment industry, enough to have readers simultaneously rolling their eyes and shaking their heads as they read some of the outrageousness that comes out of Tinseltown.
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68 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Funny and tragic, July 31, 2003
This review is from: Tales from the Left Coast: True Stories of Hollywood Stars and Their Outrageous Politics (Hardcover)
Some years ago I remember a distinguished actor of the old school- I don't remember who, specifically- said that actors come in two varieties: Those who see it as a craft, and those who see it as a calling. The first group approach it lke any other craft, something to be honed through work and study. The second group see it as a gift bestowed on them by chance and practiced through intuition, and this view tends to extend to other aspects of the world as well. Not having ever had to work or think to attain their lofty position, they tend to approach everything intuitively.
And so the people of Hollywood judge the word the way they judge each other- by appearance and other superficial measures. How else to explain Sean Penn presenting hiumself as an international diplomat- and the news media actually taking him seriously? JFK is still considered a saint in Hollywood, more for his boyish good looks than for anything else. Bill Clinton was a hero for his purported support of gays, even as he abandoned them when it came time to take a stand. Noam Chomsky is worshipped by people in show business who've never read a single book on economics or politics because he makes the right kind of overarching judgements.
Hirsen is a bit strident at times, but overall this is still a fun read- until you realize how much influence Hollywood has on the decisions people make. Then it's just a little tragic, too.
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81 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's Not War & Peace, but I'm still laughing...., July 8, 2003
This review is from: Tales from the Left Coast: True Stories of Hollywood Stars and Their Outrageous Politics (Hardcover)
Being an avid book collector and reader, I couldn't rate Dr. Hirsen's book a 5 for obvious reasons... but it's still one of the funniest, wittiest, most ironic books to come out in ages! It's a book that is long overdue... and, post-9/11, much needed. Everyone who is interested in what their ... movie ticket is funding should read this book because it might give them pause at the movie theatres... when we all stop to realize that some of the celebrities we've been supporting all these years truly hate America in ways most of us "Star Spangled Banner"-singing Americans could never fathom! But let's keep this light... The anecdotes in this book are shocking, but they're also hilarious. James Hirsen has written the Bible (so far) of all that is crazed about the Hollywood Leftists... and I'm not righty!!! You go, James!!!
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