Remember When Hollywood Celebrated Free Speech?

Aaron Sorkin is one of Hollywood’s most gifted scribes.

Your mind is behindThe West Wing, Some Good MenAnd, even more recently: The Ricardos writes smart, snappy banter that makes even mediocre moments pop.

And he’s got an Oscar and four Emmys to show for it.

He’s also one of the industry’s most partisan figures, penning liberal op-eds and screenplays brimming with progressive points of view.

It’s instructive to look back at one of his ’90s-era scripts to see just how far Hollywood has fallen when it comes to free speech.

Sorkin teamed with director Rob Reiner, another stalwart Leftist, on 1995’s American President. Michael Douglas plays the role of a Commander in Chief who falls in love with an lobbyist (Annette Bening).

It’s a traditional rom-com set inside the Beltway. American President lets Reiner and Sorkin celebrate progressive points of view and classic movie tropes. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 91 percent “fresh” score from critics.

The film’s third act features a memorable speech by President Shepherd (Douglas), one meant to capture the Democratic zeitgeist while wrapping up key plot points. He defends his flame and savages the opposition while pushing a bill to combat global warming.

NOTICE: It’s what environmental activists once called Climate Change.

It is pure Sorkin. The speech is full of passion and exuberant rhetoric. It plays differently today.

The Green New Deal is a good example of how Democrats are still standing by the environment. What’s different? Consider this passage and it should be obvious.

America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizen. You’ve gotta want it bad, ’cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say, “You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.” You want to claim this land as the land of the free? It is not enough to have a flag as the symbol for your country. It must also be a citizen who has taken the right to protest by burning that flag. Show me this, defend it, and celebrate it in your schools. Now you will be able stand up and sing of the land of freedom.

For many on the Left, free speech has become a problem. Today’s progressives cheer on GOP officials getting chased off social media. Conservatives are punished for expressing their views on campuses.

The ACLU, name checked in President Shepherd’s speech, no longer fights for free speech as it once did.

And, worst of all from Hollywood’s perspective, liberal stars rarely speak up for free expression – their stock in trade. Some suggest only certain actors can play certain parts. Others are willing to dismiss fellow stars if they hold the “wrong” political views.

There are always exceptions.

• Dave Chappelle
• Ricky Gervais
• Adam Carolla
• Nick Searcy

The majority of Hollywood actors remain silent on this subject. Some actively cheer on woke speech restrictions, like comedians Dan Aykroyd, Marc Maron and Stephen Colbert. The biggest names – think Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Will Smith, Tom Hanks and more – can’t be bothered to defend creative expression.

Is it possible for Sorkin to give that speech today? Reiner might feel at ease directing it.

Are film critics going to cheer this free speech defense? They overwhelmingly approved of “The American President” in general during the 1990s. Today’s film critics openly embrace liberalism. Many criticize projects that encourage free expression.

They were brutal There are no safe spaces, for example. And most critics now steer clear of projects which don’t align with their world view, fearing they’ll grant them undue publicity. Imagine the reactions to What is a Woman? You can find more information at Daily Wire The documentary critics deliberately avoided.

Sorkin’s American President Speech has seen a remarkable improvement over the years. The film’s creative duo, as well as today’s Hollywood stars, may disagree.

[Cross-posted from Hollywood in Toto.]