Former actress and filmmaker Justine Bateman, of Family Ties and Violet fame, said the election of President Trump may be the tipping point for the “woke mob mentality” that terrorize American culture.
Speaking with The Irish Times about the state of Hollywood and the downfall of cinema, Bateman discussed a book she had written about beauty standards and how it struck a chord with people who had been chasing plastic surgery.
“People are saying perhaps that book was a tipping point – just like this election was a tipping point for the woke mob mentality momentum. Perhaps my book changed that ‘your face is broken’ momentum,'” she said.
Bateman said woke culture destroyed what once was the “you do you” attitude that governed Los Angeles.
“Los Angeles was different too. Up until eight years ago, it had that: ‘hey man, you do you’ attitude. It can be annoying but that was LA. And then we had the invasion of the hall monitors and the party-poopers and the finger pointing and people telling you what to do,” she said.
“That really jacked out the spirit of this place, At the same time, you had virtually all of the film business being conducted online. Zoom links,” she added. “Aren’t there offices in Burbank? It is like a 20-minute drive. Okay, let us look into the availability. The parties that used to take place weren’t just for fun. You could talk about films and you were in this pot of truly gifted artists. And studio executives. And producers. And marketing gurus. Now, that has completely shrunken down to some private clubs.”
Bateman said that Kamala Harris would have likely been a disastrous president and that liberals in Los Angeles became increasingly shrill in their enforcement of left-wing orthodoxies during the coronavirus pandemic.“Los Angeles is not a place where people move to start a family or contribute to the success of the city. New York has that. People go there to try and prove themselves,” she said. “But here it is more: hey, LA, what have you got for me? I’ve been told in my little town in Minnesota I’m the prettiest girl in town and I should go to LA. The truth is you get here and it’s like: get in line. There are never going to be enough roles or films to employ anybody. And also: you may or may not be talented as an actor.”
“So, there are a lot of disappointed people that it never happened for. And the last thing they want to do is go home and admit defeat. So, they stay out here. And they can turn bitter and angry. And 2020 was perfect for them because they got to become these hall monitors,” she continued. “And they got to keep this going for two years. So how did it feel? It felt ridiculous. You kept your thoughts to yourself. Cancellation culture. Arbitrary rules. You say this doesn’t make sense: then you’re a Nazi! It was all just screaming, in your face. I found it unbearable. And I found it incredibly un-American.”
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
