In case the official statement of SarahPAC didn’t make it clear enough that the creators of HBO’s “Game Change” had little desire to hear or tell the Republican side of the story of the 2008 election, the news now is that the film’s top stars and executives have collectively donated more than $200,000 to Democrats and Democratic causes, but have given Republicans and Republican-leaning causes $0. The Hollywood Reporter notes the contributions of several leading minds behind the movie:
- Ed Harris, who plays Sen. John McCain, has given $9500 to Democratic candidates, and since 1998, the actor has also donated $11,975 to liberal special-interest groups like MoveOn.org, Emily¹s List and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. His donations to Republicans and conservative causes: Zero.
- Woody Harrelson, who stars as Steve Schmidt, chief strategist for McCain-Palin, has given $4,300 to Democratic candidates, and donated $3,500 to liberal causes like GreenVote and the Hollywood Women¹s Political Committee. Republican anc conservative donations: Zero …
- Producer Tom Hanks has given away over a hundred grand to the Democratic party, and since 1994, Hanks has also donated $36,500 to liberal causes like Midwest Values Pac, founded by Democratic Sen. Al Franken. Republican and conservative donations: Zero.
- Julianne Moore, who stars as Palin, donated $2,250 to the Democrats, and $7,500 to special-interest groups like the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic White House Victory Fund. To Republicans and conservative causes: Zero.
The film’s co-executive producers have also made significant contributions. This comes as no surprise; it would be far more newsworthy if a Hollywood cast and crew gave primarily to Republicans. Still, it underscores a need for conservatives to play a larger part in the crafting of the cultural narrative. If we object to Hollywood’s dramatic rendering of the McCain/Palin campaign, we should kick ourselves that we didn’t think to render it dramatically first. Stories — novels, movies, TV shows — help people to make sense of their lives, their surroundings and, yes, their history. The storyteller has great power over his listeners and is able to shape perspectives in a way that matter-0f-fact commentators cannot. Counterintuitively, people are often resistant to facts and swayed by emotion. It would be to the benefit of the conservative movement as a whole if more conservative parents encouraged their children in the direction of the arts — not necessarily to create “conservative” art, but to be conservatives, creating.
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