Hollywood Infidel
Meet Andrew Breitbart, self-proclaimed rebel-king of L.A.'s underground conservative movement
SAINT PAUL—On Monday night, Internet-guru turned right-wing messiah Andrew Breitbart arrived at the National Review party wearing jeans, a lime green, open-collar button-down and the beginning of a beard. For now, his wavy gray locks were tucked behind his ears.
Waiting in line for a beer, Mr. Breitbart said that at this point he was completely comfortable with his conservative transformation.
“The only thing that still bothers me is the dearth of artists in our party,” he said, looking around the room. He was the only one not wearing a blazer.
Two months ago, he began writing a column called “Big Hollywood” in the Conservative Beltway newspaper The Washington Times, which, among other things, addresses that dearth and more specifically the oppression of artists in entertainment industry whose views don’t conform to the “Hollywood left.”
His eponymous news aggregate site, breitbart.com, which gets an incredible amount of traffic – largely because many of the links on the Drudge Report wind up there – will soon add a new function, breitbart.com/bighollywood. It is his hope that members of the underground conservative movement in Hollywood will embrace it as a platform to vent their frustrations with the entertainment industry and voice their true opinions once and for all.
So, do the Republicans have more celebrity glamor than they know? And during a convention that tried so hard to transmit the message that Hollywood and the media (read: Democrats) are hostile to smalltown America (read: Republicans), isn't Mr. Breitbart's mission a little marginal?
“I’m excited to know that there are people that have been so intimidated deep into the closet that they exist out there to find out that singers and songwriters and writers and directors that I’ve long admired are holed up somewhere with their brothers and their sisters and a couple other people in the industry that quietly share their point of view,” he said.
His friends had finally gotten Mr. Breitbart to leave the National Review party, which was at members-only club in downtown St. Paul and where despite his self-proclaimed outsider status Mr. Breitbart seemed to know half the room. Next stop: the National Journal party in Minneapolis.
“It’s a really exciting thing to find out that they exist,” he continued. “And to then take on those people that created an environment that you had to be that hidden about your point of view in this country. You know this is America and to find out that the artists that don’t reflect the hard left are intimidated. There’s a parallel, and absolute parallel in American academic institutions. Try and find a conservative on a college campus. Try and find somebody who’s read Hayek on a college campus. There are provably false political tracks that are taught to this day. Marx, you know, to this day is read 100 to 1 over Adam Smith if that. So Academia and Hollywood, wherever you get the hard left you get totalitarianism, and wherever you get that there’s a great romance in the rebellion against it.”
He is not a big art guy – he and his wife did the Louvre in running shoes – but he does have a “solidarity wall” of rebellion art in the home they share in Westwood. “Whether it be anti-Castro art, all art that has been held down in totalitarian society or movements.” He lost track of his point. “I’m Mr. A.D.D.,” he said.
He allowed that his manic brain likely had something to do with his profound and immediate connection to the Internet when he first discovered it 15 years ago. He is known to be an early collaborator with Matt Drudge, and on some level he continues to work with him though he does not like to detail the exact mechanics of the arrangement, and a former collaborator with Arianna Huffington, about which he is similarly cryptic.
“I would love to romanticize it,” he says of his Internet bonafides. “I was at the right place at the right time. If I had been a lawyer or an accountant or any of these other things, I wouldn’t have had the free time and the energy to devote to what was in hindsight the beginning of a new era. I had nothing better to do. And what it was is that it became my unified field theory on everything. I’m A.D.D., it’s perfect for my brain.”
He has spent the last four years branding himself, and it was his brand that he was in St. Paul to represent. That and his cause, shaking up the “totalitarian” Hollywood left.
“To a person, when you start talking to these people. It’s amazing to see how few of them can even answer the contradictions that are inherent in their lifestyle. Not a single one. I almost admire it. I almost like the juxtaposition. It’s almost funny, the excesses of capitalism are so great that we can afford to have people caught up in such a bubble of contradiction…
“These people are like, ‘Hey more coke, more ecstasy, more this’ – these are the crass consumers that they themselves mock. And you go into a conservative party, the pro-capitalist people, the ones that are working, and they’re very moderate with their intake. I would argue that their behavior is more sustainable. Their ecosystem is more balanced.”
What has the reaction in L.A. been to Big Hollywood? His columns have addressed such topics as an active blacklist against anyone who publicly breaks from the party line.
“Nobody in L.A. knows that I do that,” he said. “You’re the only person that I know outside out of the conservative Hollywood crowd that I know or the D.C. crowd that would even think of reading what I have to write about. I don’t think my liberal friends would even indulge reading it, I don’t think they want to hear what I have to say.”
He said that while the stated premise of the column is to write about the nexus between politics and the entertainment industry, he is treading lightly on the pop culture stuff. He hasn’t been paying much attention for the last 15 years. Suffice it to say though that in that time he believes he has developed a keen understanding of the celebrity mind.
Earlier that day, he had watched as actress Wendy Malick made her way through the convention floor.
“I know her from 50 plus years ago, she played Brian Benben’s girlfriend on Dream On, OK, ‘cause I loved that show. But now she’s in tons of other stuff. And she had an entourage and she was walking through the convention with maybe 15 people following her – she was tall, thin, beautiful. And she was obviously a liberal, and you could tell that she was there as a member of the Creative Coalition and that she was indulging in an anthropological experiment. Like who are these freaks? Who are these crazy people? I bet you her mind can’t get around the idea that these people exist, thinks that they’re weirder than Aborigines living in her own outer territories.
”And that’s what it feels like in L.A. They don’t even want to listen to you, they don’t even want to have a conversation about a single – they’re uninteresting! They’re so uninteresting. I’m telling you if you were ever to go to a dinner party with some of these people, and trust me I’ve been there with the best of the best, the degree to which they’re uninteresting would shock the average American. It’s like they’ve scanned the DailyKos, they’ve gotten their conspiracy theory – I mean they’re the new conservatives” – he chuckled – “they really are.” Next Page >
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Excellent article.
Once again Andrew is on the money...he totally gets not only Hollywood but the broader conservative libertarian movement...we don't all look or talk like the button-down country club crowd the left wants to paint us as...we swear, have tattoos, are artistic and creative and DAMN excited to see that someone FINALLY gets it.
Big Hollywood is going to be a watershed....and is going to be wildly successful I am sure of it....can't wait!
What is this guy's "art"? Not wearing a blazer?
Sounds to me like he's jealous of those who do get invited to nice parties.
A fellow without talent for the arts of Hollywood isn't going to do good there, so what's the news here? He's the right wing's representative for a place that doesn't want either him or the right wing?
My wife read a bit of the article over my shoulder and said: "This guy has a condition."
I wouldn't nail Maggie Gyllenhaal either, but not because she is a super-lib; I wouldn't because she's a dog.
Great piece. Everyone should read this.
Amen. So happy to hear about this guy. I live and work in Hollywood - in the music and improv comedy fields, both of which are extremely liberal and angry - and I find I have to live and work incognito with my viewpoints most of the time or I will not get work, I can ask a lot of questions - my goal is to ask a question which leaves a liberal up all night not being able to answer it - and knowing that not everyone agrees with them.
That's the point - in free society we should all be able to speak our viewpoints, debate and get along even if we don't agree - I applaud Mr. Breitbart for standing up - the more like him who stand up, the more like me who can start coming out of the closet.
I have a McCain sticker on my car - but it's on the SIDE window of my car so no one throws rocks or messes with my car - you can't put a sticker like that on your bumper out here without getting hit - the anger is sooo deep.
Memo to Breitbart: Nobody in Hollywood wants to talk to you because you sound like every other standard-issue winger hoping to land a suckling-spot on the conservative sugar tit. You've got the shtick down pat, but there's a long line ahead of you and Rupert Murdoch only has so much money. You're better off trying for a gig shining David Horowitz's shoes.
thanks to liberal hollywood, 99.9 percent of today's actors are no-talent bums and over-paid knuckleheads.
today's movies stink!
99.9 PERCENT OF HOLLYWOOD ACTORS ARE NO TALENT BUMS.
99.9 PERCENT OF HOLLYWOOD ACTORS ARE OVER-PAID KNUCKLEHEADS.
(p.s. mtv sucks, too)
long live the stalinist revolution, still alive in hollywood!
Spencer, please remove that photo. It's my personal shot, not Mediabistro's.
- provably false political tracks
Even though they're not "provably false," they probably are "tracts."
The uber-rebel who rebels against the rebels is probably an interesting topic, except that rebellion for rebellion's sake is old news.
- provably false political tracks
Even though they're not "provably false," they probably are "tracts."
The uber-rebel who rebels against the rebels is probably an interesting topic, except that rebellion for rebellion's sake is old news.
the number of times he uses the word "uninteresting" in this article...hmm...speaking for himself?
it takes a lot of courage to be a self-proclaimed outsider in hollywood. the rest of the idiots there are such lemmings, it's frightening.
A non brainwashed observer shouid show nothing other than disdain for the hackery that poses for "art" in Hollywood. An industry that can't develop an idea that wasn't first a 1960's sitcom, cartoon series or one developed in Britain is not innovative it is pathetic and decrpit. This is creativity?
Breitbart Has the stones to do more tan just go along with the system of aggrandizing millionaire narcissists who don't tolerate anyone knowing how vapid they are.
Trying to shove this empty suit Obama up our ventral orifice is the limit. Finally, the passive conspicuous consumers posing as our "creative class" are getting resistance. It is their nature as gutless bullies that will not long withstand the push back.
It is long past time for "Change' in Hollywood and Academia!
Jeff
"Hack Patrrol (not verified) says:
Memo to Breitbart: Nobody in Hollywood wants to talk to you because you sound like every other standard-issue winger hoping to land a suckling-spot on the conservative sugar tit. You've got the shtick down pat, but there's a long line ahead of you and Rupert Murdoch only has so much money. You're better off trying for a gig shining David Horowitz's shoes."
so the anger thing's a myth, right?
If the Left would just admit that they are angry that conservatives provide so little scandal, that they'll do anything to win, including attack the personalities of every conservative spokesperson, like Breitbart, that they want a socialist government, etc. we could begin to have a real discourse in this country. The problem is that the Left is in denial about the invalidity of their anger and in denial about the humanity and validity of conservatives and their values. So long as you portray someone as a demon why talk with them? They're evil. On the Right, we just think the Left is profoundly mistaken and we offer as proof the failure of every communist and socialist government of the past 100 years. The Left can't handle the guilt by association because the evidence is irrefutably compelling. They believe, metaphysically, that they are smarter and more virtuous and that the latest theories they are subscribing to will REALLY work. Sorry. Reality testifies otherwise. In the meantime, the Leftist media outlets (WashPo, NYT, the alphabet soups) smear, blackball, lie, all in a desperate effort to sway public opinion. Failure and desperation produces even more anger. The Left hates Christians in particular and conservatives in general: they are genuine, dyed-in-the-wool haters. It is no accident that the only Gulags and concentration camps in history are the product of socialism, national (Nazi) and international (Communist). Those were great haters too.
"If the Left would just admit that they are angry that conservatives provide so little scandal, that they'll do anything to win, including attack the personalities of every conservative spokesperson, like Breitbart..."
Actually, "laffin" -- in beclowning himself just did that for you.
The funniest dumb-insult I've heard in recent years was from Team America World Police when one of the world police members said "surprise, cock-fags!" to the marionette terrorists. Well, "star-fucker" is pretty good as well. "Screw you, star-fucker" will be locked and loaded if I ever bump into one of the many Hollywood douchers in California. And, yeah, Maggie Gyllenhall? WTF!! Are you kidding me? If you ever had a cabbage patch kid that aged, like, 40 years, it would BE Maggie Gyllenhall. She's just...well...just...she's very, most, quite unattractive is all. Just...just awful!
I think I saw Maggie Gyllenhaal naked in a movie a few years back. You've seen her in clothes. Well, it only gets worse.
Breitbart says that Hollywood liberals are the new conservatives--reactionary, uninterested in debate or civil disagreement, angry, and more than willing to blacklist their perceived enemies.
I work in publishing, and I'd have to say that I see the same thing in this industry. In fact, it's educational publishing--even more depressing. The "liberals" I work with here and at previous jobs fit Breitbart's description to a tee. I wouldn't dare let anyone here know my political leanings. They'd make my life miserable. But for the most part, they're completely oblivious. They just assume that everyone thinks and feels (the more important of the two, of course) exactly as they do.
And do you believe that their political emotions don't come into play in their jobs? Please. From acquisitions to copyediting to photo choices, these people make sure their viewpoint dominates.
I wish I could say that I'm trying to make the situation better here. But I tried that at my last job and won't do it again. It goes all the way to the top anyway. The most I can do is insist that on my projects, the topics are presented in a balanced manner.
"...Senator Eric Cantor and publisher David Bradley..."
Eric Cantor is in the Republican House leadership. He is not a Senator.
http://cantor.house.gov/
What a great piece.
Imagine if your a young actor from the south and you get your break in a TV series. You are thrilled and happy. Your parents come out, your dad is a big republican. You beg him
to say he "votes for the man" as you have a few dinners lined up to meet some stars and
you know the penalty if they think your a conservative. True story folks...I know the actor, she is a big republican from a republican family and while she does not play the Ben Affleck game, she just stays quiet...
--
Amazing how intolerant the left has become in the US.... -- mark
What a great piece.
Imagine if your a young actor from the south and you get your break in a TV series. You are thrilled and happy. Your parents come out, your dad is a big republican. You beg him
to say he "votes for the man" as you have a few dinners lined up to meet some stars and
you know the penalty if they think your a conservative. True story folks...I know the actor, she is a big republican from a republican family and while she does not play the Ben Affleck game, she just stays quiet...
--
Amazing how intolerant the left has become in the US.... -- mark
You are so sick to think everyone of any class is exactly the same little lockstep nazi of the Left.
Anonymous 12:31pm:
"You are so sick to think everyone of any class is exactly the same little lockstep nazi of the Left."
Living in a collegetown, I can tell you it is difficult, nay, almost impossible to have a considered and well-meaning conversation/disagreement with a liberal. If you engage them with facts, they grow flustered, tell you Bush is an idiot and that you're an idiot and a war-monger for voting for him. Worse, they really do assume that everyone thinks like them and that, as John Edwards likes to say, there are two Americas - theirs - thoughtful and full of nuanced reason, above the fray, and everyone else's. That is, the idiots.
It really is Intellectual Fascism. Worse, it is lazy and presumptuous. Uninteresting is merely a kind way to describe it.
I've actually had quite reasonable, polite discussions with liberals. Granted, they're family members and in-laws (or almost in-laws), but still, we can toss about our various positions and facts and not end up trying to tear each others throats out.
Not that its EASY, mind you. I have to avoid trying to go for the jugular everytime, and instead focus on trying to slowly, gradually bring them around a bit at a time. But still, it IS possible to have conversations with devoted liberals without turning it into a war.
I will admit that I haven't changed any minds yet. And they probably get together after I leave and chuckle at my "misguided thinking" or what have you. But I try, and I try to be polite.
Hollywood movies, in general and with some important exceptions, have sucked for years. Overpriced, poorly written, poorly acted, uninspiring, devoid of any actual human feeling or meaning. The fact that this failure of spirit has coincided with rigid rules of leftist ideological conformity is probably not a coincidence.
I, too, have a McCain sticker on the SIDE window of my car. As Brietbart alluded in the article, on the liberal side, dissenting opinions are punished.
I work in a CHURCH, and I'm in the closet! Every staff member is liberal (at least one I'd call "Stalinist"). They're all terribly nice people and, I'm sure, wouldn't key my car or shun me utterly if they knew my leanings, but I don't make them public for two reasons: 1. It's very instructive to be "undercover," so to speak, especially in an election year; and 2. Eh, I don't need the hassle.
My husband has outed me at his office, with resulting comments like, "But she seems so nice!"
I just get tired of the assumption that because I'm a suburban mom involved with education, I'm not just Democrat but full-blown liberal. Sigh.
Edit this thing, pleeeeeeeeeeease.
I think it's somewhat paranoid to say that Cusack and Affleck's `leftism` is the reason they get hired. For a start, Cusack may not be Tom Cruise, but he's been in some great movies and is a very gifted actor. Affleck isn't much of an actor, but with `Gone, Baby Gone` and hos Good Will Hunting screenplay credit, he has proven talent. What has Breibart ever offered to the world that comes close to what these two guys have produced? Absolutely ZERO. He's just a guy who likes to whine about what a victim he is and who attributes the talent of others (and his own failure) to some conspiracy theory.