Hollywood elites just cannot help themselves. There they were, sailing through Oscar night with Conan O’Brien doing his amusing and mostly inoffensive emcee bit, and actors like Amy Madigan (Best Supporting Actress) happily gushing about their awards, when along comes washed-up comic Jimmy Kimmel, the proverbial ant at the picnic, blasting President Donald Trump. Thank heavens Trump critic Sean Penn, who also won an Oscar, was unable to attend.
It could have been worse. Yes, there were the usual dark hints about what a troubled world we live in and at least one reference to Palestine, but mostly the show was upbeat and tolerable.
That was gravely disappointing to some. Hours before Hollywood’s big night, The New York Times ran an opinion piece titled “Oscar Winners, Will You Be Complicit?” In his column, German writer Daniel Kehlmann exhorted Oscar stars to lash out against Donald Trump. He whined that last year’s event was “profoundly disheartening” because the participants’ attacks on the administration were “muted,” unlike Hollywood’s “open defiance” during Trump’s first term.
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His piece, which assumes (as many Oscar participants evidently do) that the job of movie stars is not to entertain us and make profitable films but rather to educate us, neatly sums up why so many people dislike Hollywood. (A few years ago, an NBC poll showed the film industry had lower approval ratings than the NRA.)
It also shows why fewer Americans watch the Oscars today than in the past. About 20 million people likely tuned in for a glimpse of the red carpet or to catch the opening monologue on Sunday; 55 million watched in 1998, when “Titanic” won Best Picture.
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The author speculates that actors (or their studios) fear retaliation from the president, or perhaps they sense the public views them as “frivolous, out-of-touch elites.” He recalls then-host Ricky Gervais’ warning to Golden Globes participants in 2020: “If you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world.”
Kehlmann says that’s wrong, asserting that Hollywood icons are known around the world, even in dark places like North Korea; therefore, they have a duty to lambaste our country and reveal how the U.S. is becoming a “dictatorship” under the leadership of a “mad king.” He goes on to liken current events to those of the 1930s, when some of Germany’s most famous actors collaborated with the Nazi regime. You can imagine the rest.
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There is a lot to unpack here, but let’s start with the obvious. Half the country voted for Donald Trump in 2024. Those folks don’t want to hear from some privileged Hollywood actor that Trump is wrecking our nation. Open borders, crime, failing public schools and absurd climate policies that drive energy prices higher — the problems Trump is trying to fix — may not matter to rich movie stars living behind gates, but they matter to most of us.
Second, actors who bemoan income inequality, racism and other purported shortcomings of our society have become rich and famous because of our capitalist system. They are free to stand on that Oscar stage and say whatever they choose. They are also free to post vicious and even dishonest claims about our president online — and many do.
Kehlmann cannot say the same about his home country. In Germany, people can be arrested or jailed for spreading malicious gossip or reposting lies online. Truly, we do not need guidance from Europe.
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Meanwhile, Hollywood is in trouble. It is no coincidence that the Times ran another op-ed the day before titled “Why I Love the Movies — and How to Save Them,” by Tom Rothman, CEO of Sony Pictures’ film studio. Rothman notes that “in 2019, there were 1.24 billion movie tickets sold in North America. In 2025, there were 780 million — a decline of 37 percent.” He says the industry’s gloom has been exacerbated by “the coming end of Warner Bros. — once the mightiest of all studios — as a stand-alone entity after more than 100 years.”
Rothman notes various challenges facing Hollywood, including the threat of AI, and offers thoughtful ideas about how to manage the current upheaval.
Not surprisingly, he does not address what many Americans think is the real problem — the declining quality of movies showing up in theaters. Hollywood needs to make movies people want to see: movies that are entertaining, original, exciting, fun for kids — and not political. This year’s crop of Oscar nominees follows several years of celebrating films that attracted pitiful audiences and made little or no money. That’s not a recipe for success.
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The highest-grossing films of all time (excluding “Gone With the Wind,” generally considered the biggest winner ever) are “Avatar” (2009), “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), “Avatar: The Way of Water” (2022), Titanic (1997), and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015).
Three of these movies were directed by James Cameron, who has moved to New Zealand because he dislikes Donald Trump and our political climate. I find that reprehensible, but that is his right. What is admirable is that Cameron’s films may contain allegorical themes about colonialism or women’s rights, but the messaging is so subtle that the movies appeal to a broad audience.
Of course, people are free to make whatever kinds of movies they like, but they cannot make people pay to see them. In 2020, Hollywood elites awarded Best Picture to “Parasite,” a South Korean film — the first non-English-language winner. Variety’s Jessica Kiang described the story about social inequality as “a tick fat with the bitter blood of class rage.” I cannot imagine how I missed it.
This year’s Best Picture, “One Battle After Another,” carried a strong liberal message. Maybe that’s why, despite good reviews, it bombed at the box office. People are tired of being force-fed left-wing dogma.
Last month, Gervais reposted his message on X, adding, “They’re still not listening.”
He’s right.
