Robert Mackie once said that the protagonist can be just as convincing as the antagonist. And while Donald Trump has certainly never taken a screenwriting class, he instinctively understands this and many other axioms of Hollywood storytelling.
More than any other national politician in history, the president-elect has relied on the mechanics of modern entertainment, starting with perpetually casting Hollywood as the bad guy. But even as he continues to find new ways to combine backdoor politics with backdoor bill-giving, President Trump in his second term is poised to forge a more complex relationship with the entertainment industry than with most other industries. , and its interests are concentrated in finance and the financial industry. Legal uncertainty.
Whatever you think of him, Trump’s appropriation of Hollywood methods is another step in politics. Indeed, Hollywood native Ronald Reagan relied on several techniques honed in town, including the art of the Oval Office speech, a prime-time wizard of the network television era. However, he often transcended that manipulation, choosing statesmanship over showmanship. President Trump never met a TV trick he didn’t like.
His skills as a reality show tout are rightly touted. In his first go-round at the White House, they allowed him to make virtue out of chaos. We were tuning in to see what he would do, even if he wasn’t necessarily clear on what he was doing.
But President Trump’s Hollywood maneuvers go far beyond that obvious abracadabra. In fact, they’re so pervasive in his MO that we sometimes forget to notice them.
John Wick, escaping certain death in that field in Butler, Pennsylvania, had echoes of the John Wick who evaded mortal danger time and time again. He aims to capitalize on the “more is more” mentality of modern tent poles and create a bigger effect than Paul Atreides riding a sandworm with his swagger. Over the course of a week in November, he was naming outrageous ministerial characters every few hours, something straight out of a scenario from the first episode of a reality TV show. Can you believe who showed up to compete at Alan Cumming’s Highland Castle? (Of course, if in the coming months many of these options are inevitably eliminated and the frontman decides which green jersey wearer times up, this scheme could be extended and even reversed.) )
President Trump’s selection last week of Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone as his “envoys” to bring Hollywood business back from “foreign countries” was itself a theatrical rabbit’s temptation. These weren’t just fan favorites of the guy stuck in 1985. (It also didn’t hurt that making it harder to do business overseas is the opposite of what the industry needs, if that’s actually what this trio is supposed to be doing.) Trump The president’s choice of adventurers for Social Security attempts to capitalize on our love of righteous outlaws: First Blood, Runaway Train, Runaway Train. star was to be placed at the top of the call sheet. Lethal Weapon is nothing more than another Expendables reimagining of American history.
The remarks were made during Lambeau’s own speech to the Trump gala crowd at Mar-a-Lago shortly after the election. “When George Washington defended his country, he never thought he would change the world, because you can imagine what the world would be like without him,” Stallone said. With a straight face, he added, “We have a second George Washington.” (No, that’s what he really said.) Barney Ross gets excited when he calls Lee Christmas, Ying Yang, and the rest of the gang out of retirement for one last mission. And I’ll keep watching until there are no more sequels.
Yes, the art of creating things that even the most rabid haters can’t stop clicking on is one of Trump’s greatest achievements. He is the Netflix algorithm in its elected official form.
And there’s also the Mackie-ish goal of creating a villain who makes enemies out of everyone from network anchors to world leaders and makes us even more invested in his protagonist.
One might wonder if all this gives President Trump some favor with Hollywood. It’s an underlying respect for the people who wrote the scripts he avidly reads (metaphorically, anyway). But Trump’s biggest enemies are often, of course, Hollywood celebrities themselves. The jibes at Angelina Jolie, Jay-Z, Robert De Niro, and many other famous entertainers are constant, as is Triumph, the comic dog who was bitten by a radioactive spider. (He’s not pursuing Timothée Chalamet yet.)
Much of President Trump’s distaste for the Hollywood establishment is clearly histrionic, and another nemesis appears in his Sorkinian script. But some of it is real, like The Apprentice not winning an Emmy (as he has often said publicly, the Television Academy “rigged” the Emmys) and Debra Messing. It was driven by his saltiness over his ongoing (one-sided) feud with Never mind that President Trump is allied with some of the world’s biggest media brands, with long-standing relationships with Mark Burnett, NBC, and FOX News. With so many celebrities campaigning against him over the past six months, his antipathy is sure to deepen.
So what will such outrage lead to once President Trump takes office? What is he going to do? What can he do for an industry that is less dependent on federal funding? As it turns out, more than we think.
High on the list is restricting websites with pirated content. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPA) spent years trying to pass the Anti-Online Piracy Act, a restrictive law that blocks entire websites that display even small amounts of copyrighted material. I did. The bill was ridiculed by a wide range of First Amendment groups who banded together to block it.
But MPA has revived such efforts in recent months, and Charles Rivkin gave a speech touting them at CinemaCon in April — President Trump and the Republican Congress are more focused on progress than on protecting speech. He is much more interested in making the sect his own, and there is a good chance that he will cooperate. It seems no coincidence that MPAs were quick to congratulate President Trump and the Republican Congressional Majority immediately after Election Day. “We look forward to working with them on a wide range of important issues in the film, television and streaming industries,” he said, citing all the jobs Hollywood has created in a reference that neatly overlaps with a favorite Republican talking point.
Back in Los Angeles, celebs are condemning Trump’s election, with Jamie Lee Curtis concerned about “definitely going back to more restrictive and tougher times that some fear” and LeBron. James told his daughter, “Promise me I’ll protect you with everything I have…we’re not.” I need their help. ” But in DC, MPA represented seven studios trying to do their best impression of Mark Zuckerberg.
The National Association of Broadcasters has its own interest in keeping President Trump close. The industry group was more active in lobbying last summer than in years past, as it fought a variety of battles, including a growing call to close loopholes that allow terrestrial radio to avoid paying performance fees. It cost a lot of money. Overcoming this pressure will benefit iHeartMedia, Audacy, and other major radio conglomerates in the country (while deceiving artists). That may be the reason for supporting President Trump, and it is certainly the reason why NAB issued a statement after November 5th saying, “We congratulate President-elect Trump.” There are also new members and returning members. ”
Southern California and its 200,000 entertainment workers also now urgently need federal relief from President Trump. A wildfire aid package could be passed as early as March, but Republicans in Congress have already said they want to put conditions on such a bill before it passes. Chairman Mike Johnson said last week: “There are things that need to be considered in terms of the level of aid and whether there are conditions for it.” (New York Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman shot back, saying, “If partisanship affects disaster relief, Republicans will be held accountable.”)
Mr. Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have previously feuded over aid, with Mr. Trump trying to link it to his desire to divert water from Northern California to the central part of the state, but Mr. Newsom disagreed on environmental grounds and even sued the Trump administration over the issue. The problem.
With this in mind, President Trump’s likely visit to a wildfire site over the weekend is less a sign of concern than a trip aboard his strict father’s bedroom barge. “There will be consequences if you don’t listen to your homework being done.”
There could be collateral damage in all of this, as President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods could limit the number of Hollywood films the country is allowed to screen in its huge market.
Meanwhile, the box-office hit President Trump intended when he accused the star was difficult to prove in his first White House stay. But this time the impact will be at least as strong, and perhaps even stronger. One reason for this is that he received 22 percent more votes this time. But that’s actually where these gains came from. Trump attracted a record number of Latino votes (about 42 percent pulled the lever for him). And the film industry is in dire need of Latinos. Even as box office sales continue to slump, Latinos watch more movies per capita than any other major group, at a rate 50 percent higher than white Americans. President Trump’s influence over American entertainment consumers is increasing just at a time when the movie industry’s influence over entertainment consumers is becoming more tenuous.
In other cases, President Trump is likely to go after news organizations. For example, a recent lawsuit against CBS over the editing of an interview with Kamala Harris and a defamation lawsuit against ABC over its characterization of the George Stephanopoulos trial were settled for $15 million. Or he might try to block mergers between companies he doesn’t like, as he reportedly did with AT&T and CNN owner Time Warner.
The anti-immigrant attack in Chicago was designed to have maximum effect on a generation of Americans raised on the images of Miami Vice and Children of Men, and the administration was on a roll from day one. The curtain opens on. This moment will undoubtedly be the first of many buttons in Hollywood. In more ways than one.
