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Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics
In Hollywood Left and Right, Steven J. Ross tells a story that has escaped public attention: the emergence of Hollywood as a vital center of political life and the important role that movie stars have played in shaping the course of American politics.
Ever since the film industry relocated to Hollywood early in the twentieth century, it has had an outsized influence on American politics. Through compelling larger-than-life figures in American cinema--Charlie Chaplin, Louis B. Mayer, Edward G. Robinson, George Murphy, Ronald Reagan, Harry Belafonte, Jane Fonda, Charlton Heston, Warren Beatty, and Arnold Schwarzenegger--Hollywood Left and Right reveals how the film industry's engagement in politics has been longer, deeper, and more varied than most people would imagine. As shown in alternating chapters, the Left and the Right each gained ascendancy in Tinseltown at different times. From Chaplin, whose movies almost always displayed his leftist convictions, to Schwarzenegger's nearly seamless transition from action blockbusters to the California governor's mansion, Steven J. Ross traces the intersection of Hollywood and political activism from the early twentieth century to the present.
Hollywood Left and Right challenges the commonly held belief that Hollywood has always been a bastion of liberalism. The real story, as Ross shows in this passionate and entertaining work, is far more complicated. First, Hollywood has a longer history of conservatism than liberalism. Second, and most surprising, while the Hollywood Left was usually more vocal and visible, the Right had a greater impact on American political life, capturing a senate seat (Murphy), a governorship (Schwarzenegger), and the ultimate achievement, the Presidency (Reagan).
Ever since the film industry relocated to Hollywood early in the twentieth century, it has had an outsized influence on American politics. Through compelling larger-than-life figures in American cinema--Charlie Chaplin, Louis B. Mayer, Edward G. Robinson, George Murphy, Ronald Reagan, Harry Belafonte, Jane Fonda, Charlton Heston, Warren Beatty, and Arnold Schwarzenegger--Hollywood Left and Right reveals how the film industry's engagement in politics has been longer, deeper, and more varied than most people would imagine. As shown in alternating chapters, the Left and the Right each gained ascendancy in Tinseltown at different times. From Chaplin, whose movies almost always displayed his leftist convictions, to Schwarzenegger's nearly seamless transition from action blockbusters to the California governor's mansion, Steven J. Ross traces the intersection of Hollywood and political activism from the early twentieth century to the present.
Hollywood Left and Right challenges the commonly held belief that Hollywood has always been a bastion of liberalism. The real story, as Ross shows in this passionate and entertaining work, is far more complicated. First, Hollywood has a longer history of conservatism than liberalism. Second, and most surprising, while the Hollywood Left was usually more vocal and visible, the Right had a greater impact on American political life, capturing a senate seat (Murphy), a governorship (Schwarzenegger), and the ultimate achievement, the Presidency (Reagan).
500 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 21, 2016
According to another reviewer, the main lesson of this book is that while there are more left-leaning people in the entertainment industry than there are right-leaning, the right-wingers have exerted more political influence. That certainly is one of the book’s main lessons, but because of current events – namely, that Donald Trump is now the official Republican nominee for president – I took a different lesson from it. The lesson is this: because of our media-saturated society, running for office requires skills that entertainers excel at, but actually running the government takes a different skill set altogether. Celebrities can effectively bring attention to many worthy causes, but when it comes to the nitty-gritty of governance, there’s nothing like experience.
The book profiles ten different celebrities and their involvement in politics. Some backed candidates, while others became candidates. Some used their films to deliver a message, and some became activists and spokespeople for particular causes. As the title states, both sides of the (American) political spectrum are represented.
The book is organized chronologically, so it takes you through some of the most pivotal events of the 20th century. We see the Depression with Charlie Chaplin, World War II with Edward G. Robinson, the Cold War with Ronald Reagan, the Civil Rights movement with Harry Belafonte, Vietnam with Jane Fonda, right down to the book-ended tales of left-wing Warren Beatty and right-wing Arnold Schwarzenegger. As you’d expect, the first half of the book includes quite a bit about McCarthyism and the Red Scare, but I actually preferred the second half. As much as I appreciated the history lessons of the beginning, the more the book delved into events that I actually lived through, the more I enjoyed it.
To return to the present, an analysis I’ve frequently heard over the last few months is that Donald Trump is the natural consequence of a political system that, because of the media, has become increasingly image-driven and decreasingly policy-driven. This book will show you how we’ve gotten to this point. Trump may not be a professional actor, but he sure knows how to grab media attention. But after reading the cautionary tale of Schwarzenegger’s governorship, I’m more worried for this country than ever. Yet at the same time, I see reason to hope. For every one of Trump’s outrageous statements comes an even more biting joke from Stephen Colbert. Now that he’s interviewing politicians, entrepreneurs, authors, and even a Supreme Court justice on the same stage on which he interviews movie stars, our collective conversation can at last tilt back toward substance.
The book profiles ten different celebrities and their involvement in politics. Some backed candidates, while others became candidates. Some used their films to deliver a message, and some became activists and spokespeople for particular causes. As the title states, both sides of the (American) political spectrum are represented.
The book is organized chronologically, so it takes you through some of the most pivotal events of the 20th century. We see the Depression with Charlie Chaplin, World War II with Edward G. Robinson, the Cold War with Ronald Reagan, the Civil Rights movement with Harry Belafonte, Vietnam with Jane Fonda, right down to the book-ended tales of left-wing Warren Beatty and right-wing Arnold Schwarzenegger. As you’d expect, the first half of the book includes quite a bit about McCarthyism and the Red Scare, but I actually preferred the second half. As much as I appreciated the history lessons of the beginning, the more the book delved into events that I actually lived through, the more I enjoyed it.
To return to the present, an analysis I’ve frequently heard over the last few months is that Donald Trump is the natural consequence of a political system that, because of the media, has become increasingly image-driven and decreasingly policy-driven. This book will show you how we’ve gotten to this point. Trump may not be a professional actor, but he sure knows how to grab media attention. But after reading the cautionary tale of Schwarzenegger’s governorship, I’m more worried for this country than ever. Yet at the same time, I see reason to hope. For every one of Trump’s outrageous statements comes an even more biting joke from Stephen Colbert. Now that he’s interviewing politicians, entrepreneurs, authors, and even a Supreme Court justice on the same stage on which he interviews movie stars, our collective conversation can at last tilt back toward substance.
October 22, 2017
Steve Ross gives us an eye-opening dissection of Hollywood's intertwining with politics. He maintains, and demonstrates convincingly, that contrary to common belief, Hollywood has been more influential as a force for the right than the left. Hollywood helped liberal causes, but it elected conservative candidates. By focussing on a carefully chosen group of Hollywood luminaries, he shows how it has shaped the political discussion, and brings to life the astonishing breadth of the Hollywood community. How Louis B. Mayer taught the Republican party how to sell itself, and Harry Belafonte used his fame to work behind the scenes to bring about social change. What's most impressive is the passion and commitment shown by all these characters. They were fabulously successful men and women, with nothing much to gain and a lifetime of painful achievement to lose, who chose to risk what they had to make the world better.
December 8, 2011
The best parts of this book filled in some of the blanks of the stars whose political activity I lived through, like Jane Fonda and Charlton Heston, but whose context I was too young or uninformed to understand. The author's thesis that Hollywood has more left-wing advocates, but that the right-wing advocates have more influence on national politics, seems well-founded.
October 26, 2017
Very basic for an academic book. Yes it's well-researched and factually correct, it just has a poor narrative and analysis. The author clearly has a liberal bias and tends towards writing positively about the 'leftist' (generally read liberal here) figures and in a blandly neutral way about the right-wing figures. His final summary lacks any kind of political analysis along the lines of: 'hey guys, wouldn't it be great if both sides could just get along'. No. Not how it works you political imbecile. Then again it's hardly surprising that some academic who specialises on writing about wealthy movie stars is going to have any kind of class-based analytical approach.
Straight away the author limits the scope of the book by deciding to make it a series of biographies of politically influential celebrities from Charlie Chaplin and Jane Fonda to Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He would have made a much more worthwhile contribution by doing a linear story of Hollywood and working in the movements and events that happened. This way he misses out much of the great purges of Hollywood (mentioned a little bit in the biography of Eddie Robinson). Also, by limiting himself solely to movie stars he misses out on telling the story of everyone else who was involved in Hollywood. All the workers, the witers and so on. We know for a fact that Dalton Trumbo's story is exceedingly interesting and one of the most important stories. Not just for Hollywood but for the American legal/political system in general.
I think the character I like best in this book is Harry Belafonte, who endeavoured to be 'like Paul Robeson' and spent far more time politicking than acting/singing. Using his work as a means to support his political activities and causes including heavily financing the campaigns of Martin Luther King. Remaining active into his twighlight year he held talks with Hugo Chavez and denounced Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice as ones who had 'gone into the house of the master'.
Straight away the author limits the scope of the book by deciding to make it a series of biographies of politically influential celebrities from Charlie Chaplin and Jane Fonda to Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He would have made a much more worthwhile contribution by doing a linear story of Hollywood and working in the movements and events that happened. This way he misses out much of the great purges of Hollywood (mentioned a little bit in the biography of Eddie Robinson). Also, by limiting himself solely to movie stars he misses out on telling the story of everyone else who was involved in Hollywood. All the workers, the witers and so on. We know for a fact that Dalton Trumbo's story is exceedingly interesting and one of the most important stories. Not just for Hollywood but for the American legal/political system in general.
I think the character I like best in this book is Harry Belafonte, who endeavoured to be 'like Paul Robeson' and spent far more time politicking than acting/singing. Using his work as a means to support his political activities and causes including heavily financing the campaigns of Martin Luther King. Remaining active into his twighlight year he held talks with Hugo Chavez and denounced Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice as ones who had 'gone into the house of the master'.
February 17, 2012
Well-researched book about the influence of movie stars in national politics. Tracking the career arcs of 10 movie stars-turned-politicos (5 Republican and 5 Democrat), Ross seeks to bust the myth that Hollywood is only for liberals. He shows how conservatives like Louis Mayer, Charlton Heston, and, of course, Ronald Reagan shaped 20th century American politics more deeply than liberal stars like Edward Robinson, Jane Fonda, and Warren Beatty, although he gives them their due by demonstrating how deeply influential each of them were in their respective movements.
The book is well-researched but lacking insight into what makes a movie star, a person who "has everything," risk their lucrative careers by getting involved in partisan politics. In the epilogue, Ross writes that the world would be a better place if each of us acted out their civic duty, like each of these movie stars did. I'm not sure the the book really supports that theory.
The book is well-researched but lacking insight into what makes a movie star, a person who "has everything," risk their lucrative careers by getting involved in partisan politics. In the epilogue, Ross writes that the world would be a better place if each of us acted out their civic duty, like each of these movie stars did. I'm not sure the the book really supports that theory.
July 24, 2017
One of the best Book I ever read. Good work
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews