Don’t Overlook Hollywood’s Influence

H ollywood’s cultural influence should not be overlooked in the final days leading up to the election on November 3. With millions of followers on social media, cash to burn on political organizations, and more time on their hands than usual (due to lockdown restrictions on studio productions), entertainment elites have already signaled to their followers that, in the aftermath of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing, America must be saved from the brink of destruction at the hands of Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell. A revolution must be waged in the name of RBG to save democracy. It is zero-sum, life and death. These frantic reactions to the Supreme Court vacancy, though amusing to some extent, could have real-world consequences, especially if the reactions are fervent enough to inspire disaffected youth.

Director Rob Reiner tweeted, “Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s body isn’t even cold and Mitch McConnell is dancing on her grave.” He continued, “This is war. Dems have powerful weapons. Now is the time to use them.” On Monday, Reiner wrote, “We are at an existential crossroads. Whether we live or die actually depends on our vote.” Comedy director Judd Apatow responded to Trump’s pandemic leadership, describing the president as a “mass murderer” who should be “impeached for murder.” Meanwhile, the feminist comedian Sarah Silverman tweeted, “RIP RBG. Gutted. Sad. Grateful for all she did. And very very scared.” John Leguizamo, actor and notorious anti-Trump star, said, “We must fight as she fought till the bitter end.” Another infamously political actor, Jeffrey Wright, tweeted, “If these sinister, duplicitous ghouls try it , , , ,” suggesting that Republican politicians are plotting some sort of fascist coup behind the curtains. And finally, Stephen King — perhaps the most influential of celebrity political commentators — tweeted, “Make sure another Kavanaugh doesn’t replace her. Please vote blue.”

At face value, the tweets are stereotypical of rich celebrities engaged in politics: laughable, dramatic, and decadent. Many celebrities might even hope to reenact their own youth, not just by airing grievances but through wholesale activism. Jane Fonda, for example, was a civil-rights activist in the ’60s and has continued moonlighting as a revolutionary in the Trump era. She has been arrested five times over her lifetime. Most recently, she was arrested in December of 2019 along with fellow climate-change alarmists. It seems that by projecting problems onto the world that either do not exist in reality or aren’t nearly as catastrophic as they are made out to be, washed-out celebrities can feel, among other things, a sense of purpose and righteousness. Rob Reiner, whose last good film came out in 1992, fits into this category all too well.

And their ginned-up social-media followers — at least the ones who will earnestly take to the streets — should be not dismissed as objects of ridicule and scorn. Imagine the people religiously following celebrities on a platform like Twitter. Assumably, they would be young, Gen Z members or Millennials. In countless cases, they would be aimless, anxious, and resentful for having had their graduations canceled and initial career prospects dashed amid the pandemic. Socially, they would be isolated due to lockdowns. These are two generations who’ve clung to their cellphones like bricks of gold, and this problem will have gotten worse in the past few months. Teenagers and young adults have spent much of their quarantined lives on social media, Tik Tok, and streaming platforms. Many cannot form careers and therefore might be less inclined to form long-term relationships, marry their partners, and build families. Instead of doing what previous generations did, they will use dating apps such as Tinder for quick, casual hookups while avoiding the responsibility that comes with serious dating. Moreover, half of this generation believes the American dream is dead. Will lockdowns validate their cynicism? Perhaps. Will the recession do the same? Maybe. Could these nihilistic world views affect the long-term health of the United States? One would assume, though it’s not entirely set in stone — yet.

When the most popular and influential celebrities make radical calls to action because Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away, the demographic described above could take everything they say to heart. They, too, will feel just as stricken with grief, panic, and fear. At the behest of Jane Fonda and Rob Reiner, they too might literally fight — in the streets, on their campuses, in their homes — to foment social unrest as a means to save themselves from whatever doom they think awaits them after the Supreme Court seat is filled. In their minds, it is an all-out war, the reasons for which are fed to them through the feedback loop on social media. If one frames reality using social media, and social media is drenched with allusions to fascist coups, The Handmaiden’s Tale, and civil war, one is very likely to think that the sky will fall in November, or that it has fallen already.

More unrest will come in the near future. As to its scale and lethality, that is a complete unknown. But the people who instigate it (mostly on the left) will never have to deal with the consequences in a direct manner (restoring a looted business, for example). Fonda, Reiner, et al. will continue to sit in their mansions and play-act. The play-acting, though, might inspire others to make the world outside those mansions a menacing place.