Is Hollywood suddenly getting based? Well, probably not, at least in the macro. Hollywood is still stuck in a morass of politically correct failure thanks to the cadre of unmarriageable females, militant minorities, and gender-weird diversity hires left over from Woke I who dominate the scene. That the industry is drowning is no surprise. At one time, Tinseltown was focused solely on making money, and the way you made money was to make things the audience enjoyed. Now, for the most part, we are condemned to endure the personal psychodramas and fetishes of a bunch of people trying to work out their daddy issues on our screens. No thanks. But there’s an exception to every rule, and he’s making hundreds of millions of dollars, proving that there is a market for entertainment that doesn’t hate its patriotic, normal audience.
That exception is Taylor Sheridan, the guy behind such smash hits as "Yellowstone," "Landman," and now "Lioness." He was once an actor who got sick of taking other people’s orders, so he started writing things himself. He wrote the movie "Sicario," which is about as politically incorrect as you can get, and it was a miracle it ever made it onto the big screen. That led to him being responsible for about 50 percent of what’s on your TV screen now, or at least 50 percent of the stuff you might consider watching.
Look, he’s not perfect. I find some of his characters annoying when he clearly thinks they are highly amusing. But hey, this is a guy who doesn’t seem to hate his audience. That gets you a long way in a world where, for example, the girl power gang decided the highest and best use of the "Star Wars" franchise was emphasizing to fans of the "Star Wars" franchise how much they suck.
"Yellowstone" was his first big success, and there were some problems with it. There was lots of stuff about Indians that was frankly tiresome. Yeah, these days people go out of their way to mess with the indigenous people. Nope. And the noble savage stuff, along with the girl boss stuff, got real old real quick. But the thing about "Yellowstone" is that it wasn’t for sissies. People didn’t always just use their words; a lot of times they used their AR-15s and .45s. The theme underlying "Yellowstone," once you get past the fact that the heroes were a bunch of criminals, was that there are things worth fighting for. It was pro-masculinity, and that, in this day and age, is revolutionary.
"Landman" was another step forward, with less of the proto-woke stuff you felt shoehorned into "Yellowstone." The viral Billy Bob Thornton monologue about oil and civilization was glorious. When did we ever hear anything like that? When did we ever hear, in recent times, an articulate explanation of a position that almost no one in Hollywood holds? Never. That’s because the people in Hollywood, by and large, don’t believe in the possibility of counterarguments. It’s never occurred to them that somebody might feel differently. That explains the ubiquity of leftist propaganda entertainment.
But Taylor Sheridan somehow managed to blow that all up. Because he’s such a powerhouse, producing a whole bunch of shows besides those listed above, and he’s making studios an ungodly amount of money, he now has the freedom to tell the executives exactly what they can do with their notes. And executives, looking at the balance sheets, take those notes and stuff them exactly where he suggests.
Another thing that Taylor Sheridan does is celebrate straight-up normal sexuality. Remember when Hollywood stars were attractive? It’s been a while. Again, Taylor Sheridan goes against the grain. He has a lot of pretty women in his shows, and they’re often scantily clad or not clad at all. According to women and gay men I know, the dudes in the show are pretty studly too. Remember how the bizarre notion that Hollywood had a solemn duty to punish us for liking attractive people led to the horrific attempt to make stars out of Lena Dunham and Amy Schumer? We’re still seeing the fallout with Zendaya. But Taylor Sheridan doesn’t buy that paradigm. He thinks pretty should be pretty, and I can’t wait for heads to explode when Sydney Sweeney headlines some future project. That would be some sort of singularity of traditional heterosexuality.
And now comes "Lioness," which recently dropped its third season on Paramount+. I’ll tell you flat out that I didn’t think much of the first or second season; I thought it was a little girl bossy. But boy, Taylor Sheridan has been totally unleashed in this third season. Basically, it’s a show about CIA special operations types mowing down scores of America’s enemies. Oh, and it doesn’t play politically correct footsie with the Islamists. If the people of Michigan are dumb enough to elect Abdul El-Sayed, he’ll probably sponsor a bill to make this show illegal.
It’s exciting, well done, and action-packed, and it reflects Taylor Sheridan's deep respect and affection for American fighting forces. Is Taylor Sheridan a secret Republican? Even MAGA? I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. But what’s remarkable is that he turns out quality entertainment from a major studio that makes no excuses for, or bogus equivocations about, the use of American power to defeat our enemies. Over the season, we get several long and awesome monologues about the bad people out there, what they want to do to us, and what we need to do to them first. You listen to this stuff, and it could be written by any of your favorite right-wing pundits. That it’s actually on our television sets coming from a regular Hollywood studio is mind-boggling.
The "Lioness" of the title is played by Zoe Saldana, a female, and a person of color. She’s also straight up badass in a realistic way — she takes on the bad guys and sometimes shoots them. She also gets the crap beat out of her. She’s not a girl boss. She’s a boss who happens to be a girl, the exact opposite of the tiresome, fake stuff we object to. Sure, a couple of the women on her team are lesbians, which has nothing to do with the plot except providing the opportunity to watch some lesbians make out, but there’s no talk of oppression or any of that crap. The operators are all skilled and, well, normal-looking. They look like normal Americans. They act like normal Americans. It’s a nice welcome change.
One thing that’s particularly hilarious is how the Lioness’s civilian husband is essentially a Chardonnay-swilling wine woman. He’s weak and pathetic, but not in a way that attacks all men like the goofy dad stereotype. He’s embarrassing because he refuses to touch guns, for instance, even to defend his family — a problem his wife certainly doesn’t have. He’s not a role model but a cautionary example. One of the few things that rings false in the show is why the Lioness would ever be with such an invertebrate femboy. He’s like Thom Tillis, but with slightly more testosterone.
That’s a minor quibble. "Lioness," now that Taylor Sheridan is a juggernaut that can’t be stopped by the mincing ankle biters of Hollywood, is flat-out and unapologetically pro-American. And it’s not just pro-American — it’s pro-heartland America. That’s why his shows are huge. That’s why he’s huge, and will no doubt get huger. This is a guy who clearly loves his country and his countrymen, and who wants to make great patriotic entertainment. Who ever thought we’d see that from Hollywood again?
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