The only way I heard about a new “Superman” movie was because some people on X said it was woke. Is it woke? I don’t know, because I won't be seeing it. It’s just not my thing, but once upon a time, everybody would’ve known about it. That’s how movies worked. That’s how television worked, too. They were collective events, not niche events. And it’s hard to be more out of the niche than a conservative, patriotic guy in his sixth decade.
Now, comparable women complain about the same thing. Apparently, we’re an unwanted demographic, although statistics suggest we’re the wealthiest demographic—and one I hope will decide to spend some of their kids’ inheritance on a Townhall VIP cruise next year – let us know at the email below if you are interested. The funny thing is, we grew up watching TV. We grew up going to the movies every week. There was a time when we had newspapers, and we went to the entertainment section, and we read the reviews for whatever was coming out that week and decided what we were going to see. Then we went out and saw them.
Now, that time is over. When you look at TV, it’s all streaming services. It’s older people than me who still watch episodic television shows, like the 52 “NCIS” spin-offs - did we really need “NCIS Bumfudge, Egypt?” And as for movies, there’s just nothing there for us. Well, that’s not entirely true. There’s just very little. If Tom Cruise comes out with something, I go see it. If there’s a new “Dune,” I'll go see it – I liked “Dune 2” better on the second viewing because it’s pretty clear that Paul is basically telling his tiresome and not-hot girlboss girlfriend to talk to the hand instead of submitting to her incessant nagging.
But that’s about it. There’s a dearth of shows and movies that I’m interested in. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m pickier than I was – actually, I certainly am pickier than when we had three channels. If I sit down to watch something on the streaming services, it’s 20 minutes before I find something that maybe I’m interested in. The situation is not as bad as it was at peak woke, where everything is about some transsexual or some oppressed minority overcoming the cartoonish villainy of people who look like me - the villains always looked like me. It's still dull, though, very female-coded and very blah. Here’s a story of some women who want to talk about their feelings. Here’s another story about some men who want to talk about their feelings. And, of course, you’ve got six hours of show stuffed into 10 episodes, so there are plenty of feelings to be discussed.
Hard pass.
But I would like to spend my money on entertainment. I would like shows that are at least interesting. Moreover, I would like shows that don’t hate me. It’s not just that they don’t make movies for me anymore. It’s like they make shows that are against me. And I don’t understand. Again, I have money to spend. You have money to spend. I know people have money to spend because they’re buying my new novel, American Apocalypse: The Second Civil War, and they bought hundreds of thousands of copies of my Kelly Turnbull/“People’s Republic” novels. Now, that’s not just a shameless plug – though you should go buy all my books – but it illustrates something. I have followed the Andrew Breitbart philosophy and bypassed the gatekeepers of traditional publishing, despite having the number one political agent in America, who has secured me multiple traditional deals. But you can’t sell action fiction to traditional publishing houses anymore, with very few exceptions, like Jack Carr. I do it directly by outsourcing the actual product production, and that works for the books. People have asked me if I’ve approached anyone about making them into movies, which I humbly think would be an incredible idea, and the answer is that I have been approached. But you need money and distribution, and while the IP is solid, no standard Hollywood production house is ever going to produce them, despite a solid track record of sales. Until someone writes a check, you got nothing.
But there’s a market for it, and I don’t understand people who don’t want to pick up money that’s just lying there. Admittedly, I was a trial lawyer, so I’m always looking to pick up money, but it strikes me as weird that if you are in the business of selling and you are not eager to produce something that’s essentially pre-sold. Since I am baffled, I consulted a resource – real-life Hollywood player, the great @gmfwashington, who is so real he needs to use a pseudonym, but I know who he is, and he is the real deal (go subscribe to his Substack – I do). Here’s what he says:
“Hollywood is made up of a lot of individuals, all trying to make the kinds of movies they themselves want to see. But the movie business is overwhelmingly politically progressive, and so what you often get are stories, characters, and themes which are more finely tuned towards progressive audiences because that’s the audience Hollywood execs and creatives understand best.”
In other words, the lack of the kind of conservative action fiction that people are looking for, and that they don’t get, is not the result of economics. There are other things that play, like culture. The kind of people who make movies simply can’t conceive of the kind of movies we want to see. Such possibilities never enter into their heads, and if they ever did, there’s incredible social pressure not to be associated with this sort of product. As Drew Matich, a veteran television executive, Idaho realtor, and conservative sommelier, says, “They make things to impress each other, and if it happens to entertain the public, that’s an unintended consequence.”
So, conservative-coded content is not going to impress the guys down at the Hollywood night spots, and there's no outsider conservative Roger Corman who will fill the needs of people Hollywood looks down on – yet. I’m convinced that technology is going to change things. As barriers to the production of novels have disappeared, we now see “hidden” bestsellers like my books (a traditional book is considered successful if it sells 5,000 copies; I did that in the first week). We will also see the barriers to producing video products fall, with people able to create competent CGI productions on their home computers. In the meantime, as conservative movie star Matthew Marsden always observes, we could have conservative rich guys step up. A good conservative movie would do more for the cause than a thousand of the obnoxious white papers they subsidize at think tanks like the Forum for Families, Flags, Eagles, and Forums. The movies could also make some money, but the money guys have yet to take the initiative to take the cash.
Oh well. If I can’t find content I want to read or watch, I suppose I’ll have to create it. And I greatly appreciate you guys who support the content that I’ve made so far. Let's keep in mind that this isn’t just about entertainment. If we conservatives don’t participate in popular culture, we’re going to lose the fight to make America great again. Remember what the great Andrew Breitbart said – “Politics is downstream from culture,” and we need to keep being the salmon.
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