As I've often reported, when a toxic culture war virus infects one Fox News show, it's not long before it spreads to other shows. Last week, the gang on "The Five" whined about how Hollywood hates America because two military themed movies, Unbroken and American Sniper, were snubbed by the Golden Globes which snubbed other movies, too. Yesterday, this latest Fox outrage was featured on both Fox & Friends and America's Newsroom where alleged straight news anchor just, OMG, couldn't believe that these movies are being so disrespected.
Yesterday's Fox & Friends began with some video from Unbroken which is the story of Olympian and war hero Louis Zamperini who was held captive, by the Japanese, in WWII but later found Jesus through Billy Graham. It was directed Angelina Jolie who, normally, would be scorned as a Hollywood liberal but she has obviously redeemed herself here. Video was shown from American Sniper which is the story of Navy Seal Chris Kyle.
After the video, Brian Kilmeade described the movies as "Oscar bait" and asked "why are Hollywood award shows snubbing the patriotic films to date." The chyron set the VERY IMPORTANT FOX MEME: "Snubbed by Hollywood, Why Do Patriotic Pictures Lack Award Nods?" As usual, Fox & Friends is spreading a GREAT BIG FOX LIE because there have been many nominations and awards for war movies - including Saving Private Ryan which won a Golden Globe for best picture and several Oscars.
After introducing his guest, Steve Doocy continued THE LIE: "We've seen this in the past where it doesn't seem like Hollywood has embraced the military movie." Dominic Patten, from Deadline Hollywood, just couldn't believe that these movies were snubbed. Kilmeade, who obviously doesn't do his research actually cited Zero Dark Thirty as a previously snubbed movie when, last year, it won a Golden Globe for Best Actress. After Patten brayed about the outrageousness of the snubs, Doocy predicted the "backlash" from real Americans will result in Oscar nominations. Kilmeade contributed some patented incoherency: "Their patriotic enough to make the movies just not to signify, uh, make these movies, stand out movies that will live in infamy." (WTF?)
Hollywood's supposed anti-military bias was front and center on yesterday's "America's Newsroom." After video was shown, from American Sniper, alleged straight "news" anchor Martha MacCallum reverentially whispered "that's a scene from American sniper" which, she noted, was "snubbed" by the Golden Globes. The chyron advanced the agitprop: "Moves with Patriotic Themes Getting Snubbed by Hollywood." She added that Unbroken "another patriotic film," got no Golden Globe nominations. Incredulously, she commented that her guest doesn't believe that that films are being ignored because they're pro-military.
Joe Concha, from Mediaite, supported his view by citing Saving Private Ryan, a film that, unbeknown to patriots Doocy and Kilmeade, got a bunch of awards. He mentioned Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. MacCallum pressed the issue with her question of why American Sniper isn't getting "any love" from Hollywood as the chyron reinforced the agitprop: "Movies With Patriotic Themes Getting Snubbed by Hollywood." Concha asserted that Hollywood awards are not based on American values but the quality of the movie. He questioned why American Sniper wasn't nominated.
Patriot MacCallum said that she read the book, Unbroken, and it's "one of the best books" she has ever read. She waxed orgasmic over story of the main character who, when "his life was crumbling," accepted Jesus through Billy Graham. MacCallum became animated as she told the "true story" of Zamperini's conversion which was, gasp, just "extraordinary" and not, OMG, in the movie. For MacCallum, that's "the meaning of the story." She admitted that she felt "very strongly" about that.
So we know Hollywood is anti-military. And according to MacCallum it could be anti-Billy Graham. Darn that Angelina Jolie! Gotta love the smell of propaganda in the morning!
The awards are bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. As noted in the “About” section of the HFPA’s website, “Today the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association represent some 55 countries with a combined readership of more than 250 million. Their publications include leading newspapers and magazines in Europe, Asia, Australia/New Zealand and Latin America, ranging from the Daily Telegraph in England to Le Figaro in France, L’Espresso in Italy and Vogue in Germany as well as the China Times, leading Brazilian web portal UOL and the pan-Arabic magazine Kul Al Osra.” All of the members are based in Southern California and cover the entertainment industry for their home countries (which is why “Hollywood” is in the group’s name).
The group is most likely to recognize films that have potential for great worldwide appeal (which can tend to narrow some of the more “patriotic” films that the Foxies are championing). However, this doesn’t necessarily prevent the HFPA from acknowledging war films (“The Hurt Locker,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Hotel Rwanda” were all nominated while “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan” actually won—all of these were within the past two decades). As to the “snub” of “Unbroken,” four of the nominees are based on various individuals’ life stories (MLK in “Selma,” Alan Turing in “The Imitation Gang,” Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything,” and John duPont and Mark and Dave Schultz in “Foxcatcher”—no disrespect to the subject of “Unbroken” but at least three of those stories may be just a little bit more universal than his).
Remember when they threw a fit about how Taylor Swift was snubbed, leaving out that the movie was released past deadline, no one remembered the song existed until they brought it up, and she disqualified herself? That didn’t matter to them- She was snubbed because she’s a Republican. Who’s a female front line fighter for the Fox News side of the War on Women, battle against amnesty, trolled the shit out of LBGT rights groups, and at one point managed to be a bigger plight on the Kennedy family than Oswald. So she was entitled.