1. Y200 Politics and Film
March 24, 2011

2. Left/Liberal Criticisms of Hollywood
Pro-capitalist
Pro-militarist
Patriarchal , sexist, or anti-feminist
Racist
Anti-GLBT bias

3. Conservative Criticisms of Hollywood
Anti-militarist
Anti-religion
Anti-family
Liberal bias
e.g. Michael Medved, Hollywood vs. America

4. Religion and Hollywood
Bible films of the 1950s
Inherit the Wind (1960)
Controversies
The King of Kings (1927)
The Life of Brian (1977)
Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Dogma (1999)
The Passion of the Christ (2004)

5. Inherit the Wind Spencer Tracy plays Clarence Darrow;
Frederic March plays
William Jennings
Bryan in movie about the
teaching of evolution
in Tennessee in 1925

6. Last Temptation of Christ
The film depicts the life of Jesus Christ, and its central thesis is that Jesus, while free from sin, was still subject to every form of temptation that humans face, including fear, doubt, depression, reluctance and lust.
The book and film depicted Christ being tempted by imagining himself engaged in sexual activities, a notion that caused outrage from some Christians.

7. Controversy over Dogma
The filmmakers received over 300,000 pieces of hate mail, which Kevin Smith posted on his website. The Catholic League in particular attacked Disney and Miramax, the original distributors, for being anti-Catholic. The film was originally scheduled to come out in November of 1998, but was pushed back to November of 1999 in the hopes the controversy would die down. When that didn't work, Disney sold the film's distribution rights to Lions Gate Films.

8. Katha Pollitt in The Nation
"Gibson has violated just about every precept of the (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) conference's own 1988 "Criteria" for the portrayal of Jews in dramatizations of the Passion (no bloodthirsty Jews, no rabble, no use of Scripture that reinforces negative stereotypes of Jews, etc.)".
Source:

9. The King of Kings vs. The Passion of the Christ
Compare portrayal of the Priest Caiaphas in movie directed by Cecil B. DeMille with that in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ
Caiaphas was portrayed in The King of Kings as an appointee of the Roman Empire and not a representative of the Jewish people
Caiaphas was portrayed in The Passion of the Christ as a Jewish leader capable of bringing about a successful rebellion against the Romans

10. Is Mel Gibson Anti-Semitic?
DUI arrest in 2006 in Malibu
Made anti-semitic remarks to Jewish police officer who arrested him
Later apologized for remarks and sought help for alcoholism

11. Hollywood at War with Islam?
The Siege
Executive Decision
Little Drummer Girl
True Lies

12. Hollywood in Love with Tibetan Buddhism?
Seven Years in Tibet
Kundun
Richard Gere (Red Corner)