It’s clear Hollywood is ratcheting up its fight against Fox News, and the timing couldn’t be more obvious.
The 2020 presidential elections are on the horizon. Any way La La Land can hurt Fox News, and its center-right messaging, is a boon to progressives nationwide.
Just last month we saw a film released that repeatedly attacks the network as well as Republicans in toto. “Long Shot,” an aggressively liberal rom-com with a dollop of third-act centrism, features a running gag savaging Fox News. The movie shows Fox News-like talent dropping sexist comments on the main character, played by Charlize Theron.
That’s a small part of the upcoming anti-Fox News sentiments.
Showtime is prepping a seven-part series based on Fox News’ founder Roger Ailes. “The Loudest Voice,” June 30. Russell Crowe will play Ailes in a project with all the hallmarks of a hit piece.
The series is based on a book penned by a harsh Fox News critic, Gabriel Sherman. The author claims, as does the film’s marketing message, that Ailes’ Fox News helps divide the nation.
If giving news consumers a fresh perspective, one that roughly half the country shares, is divisive so be it. A more honest take on Fox News’ ascension?
A recent Hollywood Reporter feature on “The Loudest Voice” makes the project’s biases clear. Here’s how the magazine describes the limited series: “Over seven episodes, the show will explore how Ailes rose to power as a master of news as provocative stagecraft, trouncing his rivals and happily feeding a period of partisan acrimony.”
It gets more obvious with each passing paragraph. Here’s Jeremy Gold, a Blumhouse employee, on his reaction to his company’s project: “We traffic in material that’s not just about the monsters under your bed but the things that keep all of us awake at night,” says Gold, “and there was a lot happening at Fox News to keep us awake at night.”
Later, in true Hollywood Reporter style, the article then hits reverse. We’re told, “hey, even though this looks like a liberal hit piece nothing could be further from the truth…”
That a considerable chunk of the potential audience for Loudest Voice could be turned away by the perception of liberal bias is something those in the writers room have discussed extensively. “From the very first day, we’ve said, ‘If no Fox News viewer watches this, we’ve lost,'” says Metcalf, a self-professed liberal whose stepfather also happened to be a right-wing newsman. To ensure the series didn’t end up a partisan screed, they tried to paint a complete picture of Ailes rather than simply declare him a monster from the opening scene — though, to be clear, that does come later.
We heard similar sentiments from the team behind “Vice,” a movie that shreds not just former Vice President Dick Cheney but anything with an “R” next to its name.
And, of course, that film attacked Fox News, too.
We haven’t even gotten to the “Untitled Roger Ailes Project,” a movie arriving in theaters in December. That film’s director is Jay Roach, the man who directed the hard-left HBO movies “Game Change” and “Recount.”
Why all the attention on Fox News? Was Ailes the only high-profile journalist taken down by the #MeToo movement? Remember, the man behind CBS, which owns Showtime, was Les Moonves.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for dueling Moonves projects … or movies about Matt Lauer or Charlie Rose.
Fox News is the target Hollywood can’t wait to hit. Again and again.
The far-left Media Matters for America is trying to piggy back on these Ailes-centered projects. The group just placed an ad in a prime spot for Tinsel Town denizens – the latest copy of The Hollywood Reporter – which takes aim at Fox News advertisers.
The Fox News attacks are part of the modern Leftist playbook. Demonize your opponent and, when all else fails, make sure their arguments cannot be heard. Just ask any right-leaning speaker attempting to address a university crowd or a conservative influencer trying to make a point on social media.
Christian Toto is the editor of the Colorado-based HollywoodInToto.com.
