The Left Coast Report: A Political Look at Hollywood
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. Lady Gaga Serenades 'Judas' for Easter Hit Parade
2. Joe Biden Whispers Sweet Nothings on Internet Piracy
3. 'Hangover 2' Director Just Monkeying Around
4. Robert Redford Airs 'Sundunce' Theories
5. Obama Mines Hollywood Gold Again
1. Lady Gaga Serenades 'Judas' for Easter Hit Parade
Lady Gaga continues to tread a well-worn path in her attempts to manipulate the media and generate controversy.
Rapped for emulating Madonna and even stealing the Material Girl's songs, she's now copying Madonna's habit of using Christian symbols in an offensive and inappropriate manner.
In the video for 1989's "Like a Prayer," Madonna featured crosses engulfed in flames. She had a contract with Pepsi for television advertising, but the cola company dropped the campaign upon seeing the clip. In 2006 she performed "Live to Tell" while suspended from a giant cross wearing a crown of thorns. The concert footage was edited out of NBC's broadcast of her tour.
Gaga donned a latex nun's habit, swallowed a rosary and combined Christian images with simulated sex in the video for her hit "Alejandro." Her latest tune, "Judas," is a love song to the man who betrayed Jesus Christ. It arrives just in time for the most sacred day in the Christian calendar, Easter.
Lyrics include lines such as "Judas is the demon I cling to," and "I'm just a holy fool, oh baby he's so cruel, but I'm still in love with Judas, baby."
Gaga portrays Mary Magdalene in the song's video, which has yet to be released. She retains a creative director, Laurieann Gibson, who is reportedly responsible for the singer arriving at the Grammy Awards in a giant egg. Gibson's credits include "So You Think You Can Dance," "Making the Band" and "Skating with the Stars."
Gibson told MTV that she is a Christian. She said that people will "be very shocked to find out how huge and really groundbreaking the message is and how freeing the message is for all the right reasons." She ended with a statement that reveals what Lady Gaga's so-called art is really all about.
"It's really going to shock the world," Gibson said.
2. Joe Biden Whispers Sweet Nothings on Internet Piracy
If there's one subject that gives entertainment execs a lift, it's tough talk on Internet piracy from the Obama regime. In a recent interview with the entertainment trade newspaper, Variety, Joe Biden said exactly what Hollywood longs to hear.
The vice president expressed anger over the illegal file sharing and downloading that has demolished the music business and is threatening the movie biz as well.
"People are out there blatantly stealing from Americans," the veep said, "stealing their ideas and robbing us of America's creative energies."
Biden had to say the right things to a Hollywood trade publication in order to keep the Left Coast campaign contributions rolling in. He advised execs to "come up with an intelligent, original and effective public education campaign targeting this issue. To be honest, I am not certain they have dedicated the appropriate resources to this, and I hope they will."
During a recent economic speech by Obama, Biden's Rip Van Winkle impression, which unfortunately for him and the prez was caught on camera, had some in Hollywood quipping that the veep may leave his current post and go for a job as an air traffic controller.
3. 'Hangover 2' Director Just Monkeying Around
Director Todd Phillips had claimed that animal rights groups were targeting him for his treatment of an animal that appears in "Hangover 2" after "revealing" he caused the capuchin's cigarette addiction.
"I wanted the monkey to smoke so we had to train her to," Phillips explained to Total Film magazine. "Now I have PETA [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals] after me because the monkey's become addicted to cigarettes. She was just shooting Cameron Crowe's movie 'We Bought a Zoo.' And the monkey won't stop smoking."
With Hollywood's hand-wringing over smoking scenes in movies, it was understandable that the story would be picked up by entertainment media sources.
As it turned out, though, Phillips was only joking.
Incidentally, neither Phillips, the media nor PETA expressed concern about a trailer for "Hangover 2" that featured the aforementioned primate simulating a sex act.
The Motion Picture Association of America abruptly pulled the preview. Warner Bros. issued the following statement: "In our haste to meet the placement schedule for this trailer, we failed to properly vet the final version with the MPAA. We acted immediately to correct the mistake and removed the trailer from screens."
4. Robert Redford Airs 'Sundunce' Theories
While out promoting his historically inaccurate flick, "The Conspirator," Robert Redford took some time off to give a short seminar on his political theories.
In an interview with PopEater, Redford explained that unlike John Edwards' notion that there are "two Americas," he believes there are actually three: "traditionalists, cultural creative people and the moderns."
"The moderns are the hi-tech Silicon Valley people. The traditionalists on the lower end of it are the people who don't want change, they're afraid of change, therefore they have anger. The fear card is a very big powerful card and when you have people afraid of change, they'll do anything to prevent it. They're doing it because they're limited, frightened of people who are not as limited."
The actor, director and wizard behind the Sundance Film Festival obviously fancies himself as part of the cultural creative category. However, according to Redford, the real problem in the country is the "traditionalists."
Despite his effort to demonize traditionalists and implicitly the tea party, Redford instead ended up describing to a T the left; that is, those who use fear to thwart any changes in economic and entitlement policies. The left does its level best to preserve a corrupting status quo, even if it means creating an unsustainable future for our children and bankrupting our great nation.
Redford, of course, went on to engage in some predictable Sarah Palin bashing, saying, "I think Sarah Palin, part of her strength is how limited she is."
Redford might consider showing some "strength" by limiting what comes out of his own mouth.
5. Obama Mines Hollywood Gold Again
President Barack Obama recently announced that his 2012 campaign had officially kicked off.
What this means for the incumbent pol is that his primary activity will be that of seeking money to fill his campaign coffers.
As Newsmax reported, officials at the Federal Election Commission are investigating Obama's unprecedented fundraising during the 2008 election season. This will in no way stop the Obama campaign from tapping one of its favorite money sources — Hollywood.
The Obama entourage will arrive in Los Angeles for a series of events to pull the bucks out of corporate types in Tinseltown.
One hot Hollywood ticket is for a fund fest at the Sony Pictures studio, which is sure to raise mountains of moolah. Ticket prices range from $100 to $2,500.
Although he claims to be a friend of the working class, the prez will grace a more extravagant event that includes dinner, with a price tag of $35,800 per plate. With that kind of tab, expectations are that the Hollywood executive elite will attend, including Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen of Dreamworks and Michael Lynton of Sony.
Proceeds will reportedly be split, with $5,000 going to the Obama campaign and $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee.
It is rather startling that execs, who have a duty to try to make a profit for their respective companies, will nevertheless support an administration that implements policies that are decimating the American economy. Political agendas seem to be at play and are evidently trumping corporate ethics.
On another front, the Obama campaign is turning to an additional Left Coast ally for help in shoring up the rank and file. The president and first lady reportedly will make an appearance on one of the final episodes of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." The Obamas are set to record an Oprah episode in late April to air on May 2. The viewing audience is expected to be humongous.
The couple appeared on Oprah's show in 2006, and Obama secured the unprecedented endorsement of Winfrey in 2007 during the Democratic primary campaign against Hillary Clinton.
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