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From declining Academy Awards viewership to expensive films that fail at the box office, reports of Hollywood’s demise are often celebrated by those on the political right since their preferences and values are frequently overlooked or misrepresented in film and on TV.
That happened recently when The Wall Street Journal published an article called “See How Hollywood’s Job Market is Collapsing. The piece used Labor Department data to detail a 30% decline in employment for “actors, carpenters, costumers and the hundreds of other professions that make movies and TV shows.”
“Entirely self-inflicted,” one commenter said. “Allow me to laugh and laugh and laugh,” said another.
But the idea that famously left-leaning stars, such as George Clooney and Robert De Niro, are suffering economically for their politics is false. Rather, the WSJ report makes clear that there’s a Hollywood middle class that is feeling the effects of studios making fewer TV shows and movies, and moving production to other states and other countries.
Per the Journal, “The production slowdown has been especially acute for behind-the-scenes craftspeople who make up the bulk of the entertainment industry’s middle-class. Last year, they worked 36% fewer hours than in 2022, according to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union that represents most of them.” The lost work affects not just their income, but their eligibility for health insurance if they don’t have sufficient hours for union coverage.
Despite efforts to support the industry, some people are predicting that Hollywood will become the new Detroit, which was dethroned as the king of American auto manufacturing as factories left the city and the demand for imports increased.
There are parallels, to be sure. California last year doubled its funding for tax incentives for studios, but that might be too little, too late. And Hollywood has failed to produce enough films like “Project Hail Mary” that whole families can go to, while applauding borderline pornography like “Anora.”
Can Hollywood self-correct? Some say not, for the same reason that the newspaper industry can’t return to its print-led, advertising-supported glory days: People don’t consume news or entertainment the way they did a half-century ago. There’s also some evidence that stars don’t enamor us in the way they did in decades past.
In recent weeks, I’ve heard both Rob Lowe and Ted Danson hawking podcasts, with both of them touting the celebrity guests they planned to have on the shows. Does anyone care? Maybe. Amy Poehler has a podcast in Apple’s and Spotify’s top 10. But I’d rather read the dictionary than listen to celebrities bantering with like-minded celebrities, which is pretty much what the Oscar broadcast is, come to think of it.
That said, there is still star power in Hollywood, as evidenced by the rapid growth of the Hallow prayer app, promoted by Mark Wahlberg and Chris Pratt, among other celebrities. The president said last year that he wants to make Hollywood great again.
And writing for The Hollywood Reporter last month, Dick Lippin acknowledged the challenges facing the entertainment industry but said they could be overcome: “My optimism stems from this being an inspiring business and an essential part of our culture, something definitely worth saving.”
That’s it in a nutshell, the way to fill theaters again: Inspire us, Hollywood, and we will come.
Why a 2004 film is everywhere again
Everyone’s algorithm is different, but if you were on social media on Holy Week and follow any religious accounts, you may have come across one or more videos clipped from “The Passion of the Christ.”
Mel Gibson’s depiction of the final hours and crucifixion of Jesus Christ was given an R rating because of its graphic and sustained violence. As one Catholic brother described it to a writer for the Los Angeles Times in 2004, “It was so graphic and the scourging so long that you almost shut down. Psychologically you just can’t handle it.”
In short snippets posted on social media, the film was more manageable for those of us with weak stomachs, and there was lots of conversation about the film. Fox News personality Raymond Arroyo wrote on X, “Mel Gibson’s masterpiece, and Jim Caviezel’s otherworldly performance should have won all the (Academy) awards. No matter… it is still winning souls.”
And Chris McPherson wrote for the entertainment website Collider, “Some movies never really leave the conversation, and they just come back in waves, usually when timing, curiosity, and cultural memory all line up at once. That’s what seems to be happening with ‘The Passion of the Christ’ right now.”
Over Easter weekend, it was showing up in Netflix’s top streamed movies.
The two-part sequel, “The Resurrection of the Christ,” is being filmed right now, with the first part set for release on March 26, 2027, which is Good Friday; the second, on May 6, 2027, when some churches observe Ascension Day.
Amusingly, of “The Resurrection of the Christ,” the film database IMDB says, “Plot kept under wraps.”
Not for anyone who has read the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.
Tweet of the Week
People fail to grasp how powerful and great this machine of America is. It’s like they think it is some tiny country in Eastern Europe with a population of 2 million and a GDP less than that of Dallas.
People don’t understand what it is that they are even living in. They don’t…
— O.W. Root (@owroot) April 6, 2026
Recommended Reading
Utah Sen. John Curtis explained in the Deseret News why he will not support military action in Iran beyond 60 days without congressional approval.
An excerpt: “I have too much respect for the Constitution to believe that a power which the Constitution provides is meant to be no more than the right to attach the word ‘war’ to a military conflict. The mandate is bigger than that.”
Lessons from our war powers past: 60 days must mean 60 days
Religious liberty lawyer Asma Uddin looks at the legal problems presented by the religious language infusing the politics of war.
“The law here is genuinely uncertain. Recent decisions have moved the Supreme Court away from aggressive establishment clause enforcement and toward stronger protection for religious expression by government actors. Yet that shift does not make the underlying concerns disappear. It makes them harder to litigate.”
Appeals for U.S. military victory keep invoking God’s name. Unbelieving soldiers are squirming
Naomi Schaefer Riley examines the recent New Yorker essay in which the child of domestic terrorists in Weather Underground recounts what his childhood was like.
“If you want to know why most radical movements discourage the formation of nuclear families, it’s because they don’t want their adherents to put anything above the cause.”
When children become unwilling casualties in their parents’ war
End Notes
In last week’s Right to the Point subscriber poll, we considered whether it’s inappropriate for public schools to air “CNN 10″ or other branded news shows in the classroom. It was, as they say, a close one, with slightly more of us disapproving of the practice than saying it’s OK.
Meanwhile, amid hundreds of social-media captions on the White House Easter Bunny post, Michael Knowles’ stands out:
The President’s discussing ongoing military strikes while flanked by the Easter Bunny is one of the most profoundly American images I’ve ever seen. pic.twitter.com/qMWi4blpe5
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) April 6, 2026
And finally, the editorial board of the Deseret News addressed the president’s Easter morning tweet, arguing that, “When it comes to war, calm self-assurance speaks louder than ranting expletives.”
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