Hollywood’s Woke Wall Starting To Show Cracks

Hollywood won’t be giving up on woke anytime soon.

The industry is deeply invested in affirmative action-style practices, Identity Politics across the creative board and avoiding jokes that target the “wrong” demographics.

We’re still seeing signs that artists have had their fill of the woke agenda.

Take “Blonde” director Andrew Dominik. The auteur’s take on Marilyn Monroe had Oscar bait written all over it, but critics didn’t appreciate his take on the screen icon. That 42 percent “rotten” rating at Rotten Tomatoes says it all.

Now, Dominik is firing back at the film’s naysayers. And, like or loathe “Blonde,” he has a point.

He says some critics craved an "empowered" screen siren, a term liberally thrown around Hollywood of late to promote woke ideals. That wasn’t who Monroe was or the life she led, he explained at the Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival.

“Now, we’re living in a time where it’s very important to present women as empowered. And they want to reinvent as an empowered woman," Dominik stated.

Her biography shouts a far different story, and that’s the one he attempted to tell in the Netflix original.

“I came of age in the ‘80s when to offend your audience was a solemn duty ... The movie business has become less and less like that … the movie business and society in general has become very concerned with not offending people.”

He understands the motivation behind it, but he counters it’s all wrong for his craft. Artists shouldn't "rewrite the truth" to fit a specific agenda, he says.

That response won’t help his Oscar chances, of course. They were already nonexistent by the time he roared back, though.

Another artist reeling from the woke bylaws is Emily Blunt. The “Mary Poppins Returns” star recently shared her disgust with a new Hollywood trend. The “strong female” character trope has led to bland heroines like Rey from the recent "Star Wars" films.

That label, the star of “A Quiet Place” explained, is “the worst thing ever.”

“That makes me roll my eyes. I’m already out. I’m bored. Those roles are written as incredibly stoic, you spend the whole time acting tough and saying tough things.”

Blunt’s “A Quite Place” character held her own against the saga's otherworldly creatures. She wasn’t gong toe-to-toe with the beasts, though. She used her strength and guile to keep her children safe. Those maternal insticts proved the only super power necessary.

In other part of the Hollywood landscape, a Netflix producer held his ground rather than give the woke mob an inch.

The new Netflix series “Wednesday,” starring Jenna Ortega as the title character, drew massive streaming figures in its first few weeks of release. The saga, spun from the “Addams Family” franchise, comes from celebrated director Tim Burton.

That combined legacy didn’t stop social justice warriors from claiming the series is racist.

Why? 

Two “Wednesday” characters, who are black, are portrayed in a negative light. 

Cast member Joy Sunday’s character fits the “mean girl” stereotype while Iman Marson struck a bullying tone in the story.

That was all it took for Twitter to explode.  That, plus media outlets eager to ignite a Cancel Culture campaign by using a few Tweets as kindling, was enough for the complaints to reach the show's creative team. Except they didn't back down or issue a "hostage"-style apology.

Just the opposite.

“I’m not forwarding a comment request this silly to Tim .”

And, chances are, it’ll end there. Social justice bullies typically move on to other targets in swift fashion. They also shrink away when given a stiff arm by their intended targets.

Adam Carolla refuses to apologize for his jokes, and the Cancel Culture kids look past him now. The more stars learn that lesson, the less woke bylaws will hold them back from creating original tales.