[ April 24, 2024 ]
The “Hamilton” fiasco, with self-righteous Leftist cast members of the hit Broadway show berating Vice President-elect Mike Pence from the stage, brought to mind another New York event from 44 years ago, when entertainers – at least some of them – had a vastly different idea of their place in American culture.
On June 9, 1972, Elvis Presley, about to perform a series of sold-out concerts at Madison Square Garden, held a press conference in New York City. It being 1972, it was inevitable that he would be asked about what was then a new phenomenon: the politicization of the arts. One questioner asked him, “Mr. Presley, as you’ve mentioned your time in the service, what is your opinion of war protesters and would you today refuse to be drafted?”
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Elvis answered: “Honey, I’d just sooner keep my own personal views about that to myself cause I’m just an entertainer and I’d rather not say.” Nowadays he would be pilloried for calling the reporter “honey,” and the rest of the press conference would have been ignored, but those were different times, and he got two more questions about political involvement, both of which he refused to engage.
Asked “Do you think other entertainers should refuse to be drafted?,” he answered: “No, I can’t even say that!” Then later: “There are a lot of stars today joining politics. Are you campaigning or…?” Elvis said: “No, sir, I’m not. I’m not involved in that at all, I’m just an entertainer.”
Elvis was right. The cast of “Hamilton,” and the legions of today’s virtue-signaling Leftist performers, are wrong. Elvis, unlike them, grasped that audiences might enjoy “Heartbreak Hotel” or “Suspicious Minds,” or “Hamilton” or any other work of art of any genre, without necessarily subscribing to, or caring about, or even knowing, the political views of the artist. For decades now, I have read material about Bob Dylan written by reviewers who assumed that everyone who must enjoy his songs must be a leftist; this was especially ironic given the elusiveness of Mr. Dylan himself, and his expressed distaste for serving as a political artist (see “My Back Pages”).
The cast of “Hamilton” and other Leftist artists are so ensnared in their own narcissism and their sense of their own righteousness that they can’t even conceive of the possibility that someone who doesn’t share their political views might like how they sing, or dance, or paint, or act. If they become aware of the possibility that they might have fans who aren’t Leftists, they willingly take on the burden of enlightening them as to the ways of righteousness – as the “Hamilton” cast did to Mike Pence.
What remains mysterious is what they expected to happen next. Did they hope Pence would stand up, renounce his sins, and declare his repentance and conversion? Did they expect the audience to rise up in a righteous fury and tar and feather the miscreant? Most likely they were trying to avoid the taint of that shopworn Leftist tactic for smearing its foes, guilt by association. The panicked cast probably gathered together backstage when they found out that Pence was in the audience, and someone said something like, “We’ve got to do something! If our friends find out that Pence was here and we didn’t say anything, we will never work in this town again!” They had to denounce and humiliate Pence from the stage in order to maintain their Leftist bona fides.
That’s how people behave when they live in a totalitarian state, and that’s what the Left is: an authoritarian society that demands total allegiance from its adherents, and exercises thought control over them. That’s why the performing arts are growing increasingly politicized, and why it is harder and harder to find apolitical entertainers like Elvis nowadays (yes, he went to see Nixon, but that was, in Elvis’ mind, to enlist in the war on drugs; he would have gone to see whoever was in the White House in the same spirit).
Performers who don’t toe the line simply don’t work again – when was the last time you saw a conservative such as James Woods or Jon Voight in a prominent role in a major motion picture? Combine that totalitarian imperative with the narcissism from which many performers suffer and the self-righteousness that is pandemic on the Left, and you get the Vice President-elect being berated by a bunch of actors who don’t know the first thing about politics except that Donald Trump is a wicked racist who is going to make life miserable for all good people. It’s nonsense, but the upside and downside for the actors was clear: engage in ridiculous virtue-signaling, or face career and possibly also personal destruction.
It will take performers of courage to remember that the Left does not own the culture, and to regain the spirit of Elvis and go back to being simply entertainers. Until those performers emerge, the preening Leftists of stage and screen will find their audiences steadily diminishing, and fewer and fewer political enemies in the audience to lecture. Those on the Right will vote with their feet. If the “Hamilton” cast doesn’t want them around, there are plenty of Elvis records to play to while away the evening.
Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and author of the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His latest book is The Complete Infidel’s Guide to Iran. Follow him on Twitter here. Like him on Facebook here.
https://youtu.be/HqSlEREFrOs
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26 Comments
7 years ago
If these thespians want to browbeat the audience with their own washed out ideologies, they can hardly be surprised if the audience gets smaller and smaller.
7 years ago
Reply to
ERIC
it should get smaller considering the insane price for the tickets at the first place. The whole this bizarre is just rediculous. Boycott this garbage!
7 years ago
Reply to
tatka150
Yeah $800 per ticket is super elitist! If they are dumb enough to upset half the population good riddance. Business (and theater is a business) need to only worry about GREEN!
7 years ago
To compare reactions to politicization of culture, recollect what happened when once upon the time Richard Wagner in one of his sudden bad mood wrote his highly anti-Semitic pamphlet “Jewishness in Music” (Das Judenthum in der Music). With that publication he created hurricane of criticism against himself, and justly so, but that seems hardly affected popularity and artistic value of his music (regardless that later on Nazis tried to capitalize on that aspect, too). How times changed since then! Nowadays “artists” feel obliged to state more frequently than not utter nonsense from the stage, thinking that they are “trendy,” but tomorrow they will be all gone and forgotten without a trace because their art is worth precisely that: ZERO.
7 years ago
About 10 years ago I went to see a concert by Robbie Krieger and Ray Manzarek of the Doors. Throughout the whole concert in between songs Manzarek would rant against warmonger Bush. It was the most unprofessional event I have ever been to.
A week ago yesterday I went to see Renaissance. Annie Haslam is my favorite singer. She sang great and didn’t utter a peep about politics. I had a great time.
7 years ago
The lame stream media destroyed the news business, hack actors who try and lecture audiences about things that are none of their business will destroy the professional entertainment industry. People go out for entertainment to get away from the stupidity of reality for a few hours, remember that, entertainers, or you will be back to being waiters, waitresses very quickly.
7 years ago
Reply to
Mahou Shoujo
Well, a proper response was finally given to that imbecile Kanye West at the American Music Awards.
As I understand it, for the most part the audience bailed and to top it all off the organizers refunded ALL admission fees.
Kanye could hock the jewelry that was reported stolen from his wife and repay, at least partially, the organizers.
7 years ago
Reply to
.madashell
What goes around, comes around, entrainment audiences are a fickle bunch.
7 years ago
Talentless actors; Broadway is a joke today filled with the same brain dead characters that pretend to be actors in Hollywood; who are little more than prostitutes for the state media propaganda apparatus.
7 years ago
Another irony of the Hollywood left I would like to point out is, the left often likes to refer back to the McCarthy era and the number of actors, actresses and directors that were black balled from working after being outed as either belonging to or once did or at the very least connected to people who were members of communist organizations or were sympathetic to the cause. The irony (Liberals seem to lack the ability to detect irony) is that the Hollywood left treats any actors, actresses, directors and producers who voice their conservative belief and world view as those who black balled Hollywood’s film artists during the McCarthy era. The difference being, communism was a political ideology who’s intent was to destroy democracy, today Hollywood’s conservatives are being black balled for believing in our Constitution and patriotism to our Representative Republic, or simply put, for not believing that the United States of America is’t the most evil country to ever exist.
7 years ago
Elvis is in the house 🙂
https://youtu.be/2KDO-dPm_KM
7 years ago
The true religion of which I’m the founder is human rights & the media is their preacher (I’m atheist).
That’s why people who are indoctrinated with lies by the Muhammadism-conspiracy media vent their natural energy in a destructive way.
I started human rights the new religion because it is consistent with my need for peace & harmony globally.
But it’s wrong to blame them as they are just innocent victims of propaganda.
We need to make a global English TV-channel with Pamela Geller to expose & ban the Muhammadism-conspiracy worldwide so people understand how to direct their energy in a human rights way.
Ban Islam, save profound human rights.
Get my new album -In memory of moments.-
Did you know: There’s slavery today of Africans in Saudi Arabia, Mauritania(25%,50%?of population), new north Sudan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen, Oman, Algeria, Lebanon, Qatar (?), Pakistan, UAE, Niger, Libya, Nigeria, Chad, Mali, Somalia & elsewhere inspired by sadist, racist slaver tyrant, inventor of slavery of Africans, child-rapist & pederast, mass-murderer, theist psychopath, genital mutilationist, clitodirectomist Muhammad who owned Africans as slaves & said that his deity turned Africans black, so their descendants would be slaves to Arabs & Turks (Abeed means African & slave in Arabic,) (Read more about sadist, racist slaver Muhammad at WikiIslam). & IslamicState stated they want to revive slavery of Africans in America.
Anti-African racists & Muhammadism Out of Africa!
Ban the Muhammadism-conspiracy & democracy, save profound human rights!
7 years ago
Reply to
soundclick.com/Globalfirm
I am aware of everything you listed, I served in the Iraq/Kuwait area of operation from Jan-Dec 2005. I also bought an English print of the Koran and always advise people that I on occasion discuss Islam with to do as well. It is beyond an outrage how the left constantly point out the nations past slavery as though the U.S. is the only nation to have ever practiced it even going so far as to make it seem as if it was invented here, but never, ever discuss the slavery and the trading of slaves that still exists n North Africa 1400 yrs and counting or the fact that the majority of those slaves are black Africans.
7 years ago
Reply to
Donald Howard
Yeah, we can free the slaves & achieve victory.
So happy you’re there with me.
7 years ago
If you think these bunch of tossers are bad, go and view some so called avant garde artists exhibition. You won’t believe the bullshit sprouted… Pretentious preciousness abounds! I only lasted about 10 minutes, because I could no longer contain my laughter. In fact the stuff these complete prats said had me chuckling on and off for a week.
7 years ago
so now the left wants to bring back political assassination at the theater. what a disgusting bunch!
everyone should boycott their pathetic performance.
7 years ago
Reply to
so,
btw, great interview Pam! So well said! So proud to have you representing US!
7 years ago
The Gay community regarded Hillary not just as a champion of liberal causes, but as one of its own.
Her demise then, was as difficult as it was unexpected, particularly as it came at a time when the Gay agenda appeared to be increasingly victorious.
Certainly, the community of the Broadway theatre shared in this reaction, hence Mr. Spencer’s astute observation that “They had to denounce and humiliate Pence from the stage in order to maintain their Leftist bona fides.”
Too bad.
7 years ago
Remember the damage and outrage that ensued after the Beatles declared to an audience of US teenagers that they were more popular than Jesus? Photos appeared in the meida of piles of their records and other memorabilia being set afire in what resembled a ceremonial burning.
7 years ago
Leftist actors, f*** off.
7 years ago
People who paid for tickets should demand a refund. As Pamela Geller said, “They did not pay to be lectured to.”
7 years ago
No, the left does not own our culture. In fact, today’s artists in so many cases needs this silly behavior to hide that there is so little talent from them.
7 years ago
If I wish to attend a lecture, I will visit my local community college.
7 years ago
The left wants to boycott Ivanka Trump’s very cute clothing and purse line. Hit back. Don’t see the new Disney film Moana. The creator of Hamiliton’s Lin-Miguel Miranda’s big Hollywood project. I read in USA today how he drew on his Puerto Rican background..for a film about Polynesians?! Huh!
7 years ago
I remember a famous Democrat and actor who felt completely entitled to attack a President in a theater in front of an audience. John Wilkes Booth.
7 years ago
I understand that the cast didn’t even vote.
