Hollywood Hacked

Sony, the Hollywood hub of entertainment has had quite a week regarding it's latest hack attacks on the company's email systems, leaving top producer Scott Rudin and Sony executive Amy Pascal apologizing to some of the biggest names in film.

President Obama, actors Angelina Jolie-Pitt and Leonardo Di Caprio as well as comedian/actor Kevin Hart, were all negatively targeted within the private Sony emails.

As the personal emails began making headlines even more degrading emails came pouring out, with actors Will and Jada Smith's children Willow and Jaden Smith being the next targets -- while a few of Sony's private business deals were also leaked.

During a recent run-in with Angelina Jolie -- Amy Pascal tried making nice after the recent email revelations and if looks could kill, Pascal would've dropped where she stood as Angelina glared at her with laser eyes. 

Other celebrities decided to speak their peace about the latest involuntary email discoveries with writer Shonda Rhimes, tweeting out that "Calling Sony comments "racially insensitive remarks" instead of "racist"? U can put a cherry on a pile of sh*t but it don't make it a sundae." 

MSNBC host of PoliticsNation Reverend Al Sharpton called the executives comments "offensive" and "insulting" as he stated, "Don't write anything you don't want broadcast in an email...everything is broadcast and published."

Even Kevin Hart posted an Instagram response to his fans about the attacks, "Knowing your self worth is extremely important people … I worked very hard to get where I am today. I look at myself as a brand and because of that I will never allow myself to be taking advantage [sic] of. I own my brand … I make smart decisions for my brand … I protect my brand … which is why I’m able to brush ignorance off of my shoulder and continue to move forward. I refuse to be broken people…with that being said its now time for me to get back to building this empire that I’ve always dreamed of."

Reverend Sharpton made a point on his show as he stated the facts about the latest 2015 Golden Globe nominations, with 64 white actors being nominated verses only 6 actors of color. Reverend Al seems to think that part of the problem in Hollywood is the lack of diversity, which was most recently and eloquently penned in an essay by comedian/actor/writer/producer Chris Rock.

Could Hollywood's diversity problem stem from the fact that it's very foundation was purposely structured to be this way?

In 1944, the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, was formed by politically conservative members of the Hollywood film industry. Among the notable members was a Russian writer by the name of Ayn Rand, whose works are largely followed by many conservatives and especially conservatives within our American Congress. The purpose for forming this organization was politically driven -- as conservatives sought to keep "communist infiltration" out of the film industry. 

For example: "communist infiltration" in Ayn Rand's opinion would've been a film about "portraying businessmen negatively"-- a common rhetoric within our 21st century Republican party, and "giving veterans collateral-free bank loans" -- as some government officials negatively label this cause as a "free ride" and/or "giveaways". Rand also found issue with films that showed one sacrificing their life to help thy neighbor, instead of devoting time strictly to one's own endeavours.

Seems kind of selfish...doesn't it? I guess it makes sense of why Ayn Rand wrote and titled a book 'The Virtue of Selfishness'?

This ideological thinking seems to be what Hollywood was constructed from, and what seems to continuously pervade the atmosphere till this day -- almost seventy years in the making. So when one hears about racism and/or a lack of diversity within Hollywood -- knowing these historical facts...should you really be all that surprised?

2014 LA