The Rise of Jews in Hollywood - Essay Example

The rise of Jews in Hollywood Jews are individuals who have been converted to Judaism or those born from Jewish backgrounds (Rich par. 6). The Supreme Court in the United States ruled Jews as a race in the 1980s, in regard to certain claims pertaining to antidiscrimination rules and regulations. However, in reality, Jews are not essentially a race community. Much of history in America depicts that the Jews have significantly interacted with the entertainment sector. This paper will talk about the rise of the Jewish people in Hollywood and how they have formed such a significant part of the entertainment industry. This essay will also evaluate the impact of the Jews in Hollywood by talking about Jewish film studio owners, producers, directors, actors and actresses. The Hollywood District is located in Los Angeles, California in the United States. Its cultural identity and frame presents Hollywood as a historical center for movie stars and studios. The term Hollywood is currently used to refer to the American cinema since much of the entertainment industry has diffused to the surrounding locations. Jews inhabited the United States of America early in the 17th century. However, they were denied the ability to own offices and perform actively in societal affairs. Despite this condition, more Jews are still immigrating to the United States in search of greener pastures. Research shows that a vast majority of the Jews globally are situated in the United States and several other parts of Israel. Therefore, most individuals claimed that the Jews were in control of Hollywood. In retort to this opinion, the Americans were truly upset by this point of view considering the entertainment industry in their midst. Only a mere 22% of the Americans believed that the television and movie industries were run by the Jews, compared to over 50% of the people who supported the idea in the late 60s. This reveals how America has gotten dumb; hence, the Jews are totally taking over the entertainment industry in Hollywood (Stein, par. 1). According to an ad adapted from the New York Times, the Screen Actors Guild contract that was signed by top executives in the entertainment industries proved that the most of them were Jewish. Such included the President of News Corp, the chairman of Paramount Pictures, Chief Executive and chairman of Walt Disney Company, the chairman of Sony Pictures, CBS Corp’s Chief Executive, and the Chief Executive of NBC Universal. This reveals that the Jewish have substantially taken over the entertainment industry in Hollywood (Stein par. 2). In addition, the American society has established strong enmity between them and the Jews. The enemies of the Jews repeatedly point out that the movie industry of America is in the hands of the Jewish community. The Jewish immigrants from Europe are the ones who run and organize movie studios in this country. They are the ones who founded the movie studios and also involved studio productions as part of their business ventures in the United States (Falk, par. 1). The Jewish moguls in the entertainment industry combined ideas in order to develop films that portray the American culture and the exploitation of the poor individuals in the society by the rich. Likewise, the Jews also invented the musicals, talking films, and Technicolor. These inventions heightened the movie industry for a period of 40 years (1920-1960). The movie producers tried to come up with excellent and imaginable ideas based on movie scripts. However, their imaginative capacity in the movie production did not linger around Jewish themes even during the 2nd World War that left most of their families persecuted in Europe. This was quite shameful to the Jewish movie tycoons considering that they sympathized with Native Americans and the Aborigines of Australia, but, completely forgot about their fellow Jews (Falk par. 5). The Jewish studio bosses were not the only individuals from the Jewish society who were in the entertainment industry. There were innumerable Jewish directors, producers and actors/ actresses in the industry. Since the 1880s, over 1000 films have been produced in Hollywood by the Jews. Most of these films have won several titles and received many honors. In the American entertainment industry, Jewish producers produced various works on black people in Broadway, the film, and the music industry. Most of these portrayals were sympathetic and at the same time, they were considered exploitive in regard to the black society. A great historian by the name Michael Rogin analyzed several instances in films whereby the Jewish actors portrayed the black community in blackface masks. This was a depiction of the racist reflection between the African-Americans (blacks) and the Jewish community. Jews interpreted the black culture in most of their films, stage plays and music. In reaction to this, the blacks vastly criticized Jewish movie producers for their portrayal of the black society in a racist manner. At a convention in 1990, the founder of the Coalition against Black Exploitation, Legrand Clegg, said that the pressure group was against the African-American screen images. This pressure group also pointed out that the racism factor that was a century old challenge had an impact in Hollywood. This issue was resolved effectively in the golden age (after World War II) by leaders of Jewish and African-American organizations who staged a movement for racial parity in the United States. An example of the most prominent movies that portray discrimination of the black society is The Jazz Singer film produced in 1927. In this era, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed to outlaw religious and racial discrimination in public facilities and learning institutions. Also, in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the rule outlawed discriminatory practices in the political arena and voting practices. Movie directors and producers work hand in hand in non-artistic elements of a film. The most renowned movie directors include David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh, Terrence Malick, Errol Morris, David Cronenberg, Todd Haynes and Quetin Tarantino among others. These are just a few illustrations but to mention the long list of movie directors. Although not all of them are of Jewish ancestry, the Jewish producers still form a large number of the movie director’s population. It has been noted that the Jewish movie producers focus on comedy in their productions. These Jews are commonly confused with the Gentiles. Recently, the largest media conglomerate is the Walt Disney Company. This empire also has numerous production companies like Buena Vista Television, Walt Disney Television and Touchstone Television which have taken movie production to a much newer level. The chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Company, Michael Eisner, is a Jew. Media analysts acknowledge him as a control freak in the Disney Empire. Disney land also owns Miramax Films, which is run by the Weinstein brothers. In addition, the Disney Picture Group; chaired by Joe Roth, includes Hollywood Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Caravan Pictures. This has enabled the company to expand its production in superfluous violence and graphical sex, under the rule of Eisner (Jew Watch Library par. 1). Apart from the Disney Company, the Time Warner Company features second internationally in media leviathans. The CEO and chairman of the board is a Jew by the name Gerald Levin. This company has impacted Hollywood in a significant way through its subsidiary, HBO, which is the largest pay-TV cable network established by the company (Jew Watch Library par. 3). Furthermore, Viacom Inc. stands third in the media conglomerates. The company is headed by Sumner Redstone. This Mega media Corporation takes into profit over $10 billion annually. The company majorly distributes TV programs for three of the largest networks. In addition, it also owns 12 radio stations and another 12 television stations. In collaboration with Paramount Pictures, Viacom Inc. is able to produce feature films. Apart from this, Viacom has a publishing division that distributes films to over 40,000 Blockbuster stores i.e. Prentice Hall, Pocket Books, and Simon & Schuster (Jew Watch Library par. 5). Viacom is the largest cable programming provider in the world through networks like MTV, Showtime, and Nickelodeon. These networks have acquired large shares from their audience. These three leading media corporations are proved to be in the hands of Jews. The Americans find it extremely hard to control the degree of this overwhelming and premeditated effort that the Jewish community has on the media companies (Jew Watch Library par. 7). Apart from Disney, Time Warner Inc., and Viacom, there are other prominent media companies in Hollywood that include Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation that owns the 20th Century Fox Films, Japanese Sony Corporation which is run by a Jew, and DreamWorks SKG whose staff is made up of Jews. In overall, one can assert that the Jewish society has controlled production and distribution of films. This has become a norm since the commencement of the movie business in the early decades. The movies that were produced by these large motion picture companies have accounted for up to 74% in the box-office receipts from 1995 to date. Research also shows that some of the most popular newspapers in Hollywood like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal are also in the hands of the Jews. As drawn from the past whereby the main television broadcasting networks were CBS, NBC, and ABC, it is evident that these networks have been assimilated by the large media empires and are no longer assumed to be independent entities. Hollywood has a large figure of actors and actresses who are Jews. Some of the iconic Jewish actors and actresses include Dustin Hoffman, Alicia Silverstone, Adam Sandler, Natalie Portman, Kate Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Eric Dane, Lisa Kudrow, and Alison Brie. These actors and actresses make a colossal sum of money through the entertainment industry. A brief preview of these actors is given below. Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman was born on August 8, 1937 in Los Angeles, California. He graduated in 1954 from Los Angeles High School. After joining university and dropping out due to poor grades, he took an acting course and received training at the Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. He features in films like Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), The Graduate (1967), and Rain Man (1988) among others. Alicia Silverstone Alicia Silverstone was born on 1976, in San Francisco, California. She had a passion for acting at her tender age after her father took some pictures of her young sister and later on featured in TV commercials. As a renowned actress, she has featured in a number of movies including Clueless (1995), Batman and Robin (1997), and Excess Baggage (1997). Adam Sandler He was born in Brooklyn on September 9th, 1996. Sandler’s full birth name was Adam Richard Sandler. It was until age 17 whereby he realized his talent in natural comic. Therefore, he took it to the stage unexpectedly at a Boston comedy club. This factor pushed him into acting, where he is featured in the Grown Ups movie (2010), Zookeeper (2011) and Bucky Larson: Born to be a star (2011). In each of these movies, Adam has earned up to $20 million together with other movies. Natalie Portman Natalie was born in Jerusalem where her parents were working. Her actual birth name was Natalie Hershlag. She left for Washington at a young age, and after a series of moves, they settled in New York as a family. She has featured in a variety of films like V for Vendetta (2005), Thor (2011), No Strings Attached (2011), and Black Swan (2010). Kate Hudson Kate was born in Los Angeles in California, on 19th April 1979. Since childhood, Kate was a performer, and after clearing high school, she opted to star in acting. She made it to the big screen through movies like Desert Blue (1998), My Best Friend’s Girl, and Bride Wars (2009). Alison Brie Alison Brie Schermerhorn was born in Hollywood, California on 29th December, 1982. At an early age, she became interested in acting, therefore; she began acting at a Jewish Community Center. After going to college and graduating, she focused on her acting career and featured in several movies like Mad Men (2007). She also features in Disney’s Hannah Montana (2006) where she played guest spots for both Disney and Comedy Central. The male Jewish actors in Hollywood are notably capturing the limelight. In general, Oscar-winning actor, Dustin Hoffman who is a Jew, stands on his own class. He probably stands out to be the greatest movie stars of all times. In addition, Award winning Richard Dreyfuss has also starred as an icon in several movies. The record of Jewish actors and actresses through the years is endless! The mentioned actors and actresses are just a selected few for analysis purposes. Most of them have scoped numerous awards basing on their films. Moreover, America’s denial of Jewish control in Hollywood is a con since it can be testified by the Jewish association in the entertainment industry. Jewish film producers, writers, executives, directors, and performers are in dominance of the American film industry. The creativity of the Jews in their motion pictures has significantly influenced millions of individuals globally. The freedom of speech allowed the film makers to create visual art filtered from their Jewish perception. Nevertheless, this saw the film makers turn into Jewish themes as opposed to earlier on where they majorly focused on the American culture. They took advantage of the ethnic susceptibility of the modern culture of the Americans. By doing this, they face a bare past that was a cinematic lacuna they have tried to fill with portrayals of Jewish culture and its trendy art. The unending State deregulation of the entertainment industry has increased competition in the multi-billion media industries in Hollywood. The creator of the film camera, Thomas Edinson, is assumed to have impacted largely in the Hollywood world. Approximately two thirds of the leading movie and TV producers in Hollywood are Jews who rely on such inventions. Most prolific writers have developed articles in comparison to how the Jewish society has had a vast impact on the American movie industry. Some of the impacts of the Jews to Hollywood are reviewed in the subsequent paragraphs. Since 1999, the Jewish society was under the domination of the entertainment sector. Authors and other media analysts present this as a monopoly system in the American world. Jews are represented massively in Hollywood despite their minor population in the region. For business people like those in the entertainment industry, success is vital in every aspect of production that is undertaken. The Jews were propagated to high levels of success in Hollywood after they started producing films. We get to view that the studio executives sacrificed on the American dream altar in order to gain their superiority in the industry. With the immigration of Jews in Hollywood, the art industry significantly took a turn. They employed critical policies that they used in order to impact the film industry. The tactics used included proper strategy, milestones, schedule, deadlines, and process. Their strategy commenced with their dream of acquiring success (Nat par. 1). The Jews are portrayed to have a passion in the movie industry. Through this zealous passion to venture into the entertainment industry, they overthrew the Americans who were in that sector before and took over the industry fully. Secondly, milestones included achieving what was considered impossible (Nat par. 2). A brief flashback shows that the Jews were immigrants into America. When they settled in America they were denied certain rights including the freedom of expression. They tried out the best they could and soon afterwards, the Jewish society had achieved worthy goals. They were able to run businesses all around the United States of America. Thirdly, process appears to be quite a sensitive policy on the impact of the Jews on the entertainment scenes (Nat par. 3). The Jewish community that ventured into the entertainment in Hollywood portrays their order of doing things. They had the right timing and order of their plans that enabled them to achieve a variety of tasks. Movie producers and agents were quite particular on timing in their projects. This mainly entailed their success in the presence of the industry. In addition to this, strategy in the projects was also observed. Lastly, the Jews were talented and intensely creative. They run on strict time limits and always meet their deadlines. This also contributed significantly to their success (Nat par. 4). In conclusion, one can clearly point out that even though the Americans were and still are enemies to the Jews, they have come up together, and combined strengths to come up with hilarious movies. Even though most Americans still have not given up to the fact that the Jews run Hollywood, this is still upheld as a factual statement. From all that is learnt, the rise of the Jews has been of significant impact to the entertainment industry in Hollywood. Works Cited Falk, Gerhard. Jews in Moviemaking. http://jbuff.com/c112405.htm, 2005. Web. Jew Watch Library. Monopolist Jewish Pro-Zionist/ Pro-Soviet Control of Movie Studios. http://www.jewwatch.com/jew-controlledpress-movies.html#anchor241328, 2011. Web. Nat, Mundel. Five Tools to make an Impact in the Film Industry. http://gideonsway.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/five-tools-to-make-an-impact-in-the-film-industry/. 25 March, 2012. Web. 25 March, 2012. Rich, Tracey. Judaism 101: What is Judaism? http://www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm, 2011. Web. Stein, Joel. How Jewish is Hollywood? http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-stein19-2008dec19,0,4676183.column 19 Dec. 2008. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. Read More