[Evil Tim]

Originally Posted by Mazryonh

Last I checked, the term "Hollywood Liberal" appears to be bandied around most often in US conservative media pundits and news agencies.

It's just as frequently used by left-wing critics of Hollywood to describe an attitude that says big business is bad with a multi-million dollar movie and sees no inherent contradiction in doing so.

Originally Posted by Mazryonh

To me, all that really matters for film set suppliers such as costumers, armourers, caterers, etc. is that they supply what's needed on time and on budget; their political views are immaterial to the task at hand, which is getting films made.

I'm sure movie producers would be very happy to find whatever supply of apolitical, perfectly logical robot crew members you're talking about, but in they end they have to work with actual human beings. They are professionals but they are not all professionals about it. This is called life. Being a realist does not mean you assume everyone else is one too, that's still idealism.

Originally Posted by Mazryonh

I would have thought that "natural selection" in Hollywood should have weeded out those who can't stay professional enough to hold down good roles and a good reputation.

In the end if they do a good enough job and aren't so annoying the rest of the team try to murder them on set, the producers aren't going to care if they cause a bit of friction. A job is not a Miss America contest, you don't have to try to make everyone like you to get ahead. If you hired a plumber, would you ask them to make sure they sent one who didn't have a reputation for grumbling about the weather? Do you check if you taxi driver is going to grumble about immigrants before you get in?

I mean let's face it, if "natural selection" in Hollywood worked like that, nobody would have let Alfred Hitchcock stick around and make films.

But if you are a taxi driver and have reason to believe you'll lose a fare if you say the wrong thing, wouldn't you try to, you know, not say the wrong thing rather than assume that your fare is a robot who won't react to you because you're still performing your driving function? Being cautious is hardly uncalled for when you're dealing with people who disagree strongly with you on many levels, might not be professional about it, and can take the food off your table if they aren't.