James Hirsen loves to write about about how much he hates the entertainment industry for not being right-wing enough, so it’s unsurprising that he’s hoping the strikes by writers and actors will push Hollywood ideology to the right, as he expressed in his July 18 Newsmax column:
Like every other aspect of our lives, things presently appear to be out of whack.
The brand of Hollywood itself is in tatters, in large part because of the cultural and political agendas that permeate every nook and cranny of the town.
What has particularly outraged the public, though, are the productions that have been coming from major studios, chock-full of vile and inappropriate imagery, content, and messaging aimed straight at our kids and teens.
Could the Hollywood shutdown created by the two entertainment unions be a blessing in disguise?
A lot of consumers of entertainment fare are viewing it this way, as if maybe a wrench in the works was exactly what was needed to stop the madness.
Note that Hirsen is not opposed to political agendas in the media — he just wants it to be his political agenda.
On the other hand, Hirsen does seem sympathetic elsewhere in the column to one of the key issues that led to the strikes: the use of artificial intelligence. He noted the issue in his June 6 column, and he railed against AI-generated music in his June 28 column, though as a musician he has a personal interest in that.
Hirsen spent his Aug. 1 column also raising questions about AIwhile also cheering the strikes are”largely unseen”:
Almost unnoticeably, the Hollywood strike drags on.
That’s a problem for the members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA). Their plight is largely unseen.
Yes, the picket lines continue to be manned and the press conferences rage on.
But something very different is going on behind the scenes, and that “something,” may not bode well for human actors.
The current strikes were initially prompted by the usual compensation-related concerns.
However, this time the central issue revolves around the role that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is going to play in the future creation, production, and marketing of entertainment content.
In terms of the negotiations between labor and management, the situation is truly unprecedented, due to that technological elephant in the room.
And, being Hirsen, he tried to tie the AI issue into his culture war:
From ancient past to present day, new inventions have historically caused labor displacement.
Again, though, something very different is going on.
And it probably has to do with the philosophical, political, societal, cultural, and ethical transformations that are occurring simultaneously in our country and globally.
The Hollywood strikes are likely to last a long time and may not bring a satisfactory outcome to the unions’ memberships.
So goes Hollywood, so goes the world?
Hirsen seems OK with whatever happens with the AI issue as long as it makes Hollywood more right-wing.