Hope in Hollywood? (Culture War).

With the entertainment industry bent on subverting Christian values, a few celebrities are breaking ranks -- to varying degrees -- by speaking out on faith, family, and morality.

Is America's entertainment industry, as epitomized by Hollywood, a hopeless, irredeemable cesspool? Considering the daily outpouring of tastelessness, obscenity, sexual promiscuity, depravity, sacrilege, and ultra-violence in television programming, movies, video games, commercials, and music, one is tempted to think so. We are, in the words of social critic Neil Postman, "amusing ourselves to death." Yet to throw our hands up in despair is to concede defeat to the purveyors of perversion who would utterly destroy every remaining vestige of Christian civilization.

Rather than merely curse the darkness, let us light some candles. Although the powerful forces of darkness are attempting to hide the fact, there are some flickering candles even in the dark wasteland of Hollywood. Amazingly enough, there are script writers, directors, and producers turning out wholesome, family-friendly movies and entertainment for children, as well as powerful, inspirational fare for mature audiences. And, as we shall see, there are major celebrities -- from established heavy-hitters to up-and-coming stars -- who have taken "provocative" stands and voiced "controversial" opinions against the prevailing pagan culture. Mel Gibson, James Caviezel, Kathy Ireland, Margaret Colin, Kate Mulgrew, Kim Alexis, Ricardo Montalban, Ron Maxwell, Chuck Norris, Celine Dion, Jennifer O'Neill, and Rebecca St. James are some who, to varying degrees, have taken a stand.

They may not be unalloyed paragons of virtue; indeed, some of them have contributed significantly to our culture's descent toward total degeneracy. Megastar Mel Gibson, for instance, has participated in creating profane trash (Payback, What Women Want) as well as inspiring, soul-stirring artistry (Braveheart, The Patriot). Now he is risking his personal fortune and reputation on The Passion, his own, independent film project on the passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ, which has already provoked the ire of liberaldom. Some of his fellow stars are speaking out against the holocaust of abortion, or publicly witnessing for their Christian faith, or encouraging youth to remain chaste and to reject the hedonist lifestyles that the architects of popular culture promote. No one has yet arisen from their ranks to challenge Hollywood's entrenched Lavender Mafia and the perverse homosexual agenda it is foisting on our society. However, even that is possible; a few years ago there were virtually no voices in Tinselt own defending the unborn. As you will see in what follows, that has changed.

Hollywood Holdauts

Patricia Heaton is not your normal jet-setting, liberal-cause-of-the-week Hollywood celeb. In fact, her outspoken opposition to abortion and her public identification as a happily married, church-going, Christian mom mark her as a definite oddity in Hollywood.

One of television's most recognizable stars, Mrs. Heaton is known to millions of fans as Debra Barone, the witty mom on the hit comedy series Everybody Loves Raymond. Her acting talent has been recognized with back-to-back Emmys for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series in 2000 and 2001, and nominations for the same award in 1999 and 2002.

However, being a star is not the most important thing in Heaton's life.

"The really important things in life are your family and friends," she says, in her autobiographical Motherhood and Hollywood, published in 2000. "And what will people say about you at your funeral -- that you won an Emmy once, or that you were a good person, kind and generous? Well, as for me, I hope it's the latter."

In Heaton's case, this is not just the typical false humility we've come to expect from showbiz folks. She appears to mean what she says. Her husband, their marriage, and their four sons (all under age 10) are more important than career advancement. When she accepted her first Emmy in 2000, she announced her gratitude to her own mother: "I just want to thank God for thinking me up," she said, "and my mother for letting me come out, because life is really amazing!"

In an interview on Fox TV, Bill O'Reilly noted that her pro-life stance was very out-of-step with the Hollywood norm and asked her if she ever thought about how it could hurt her career.

"Yes, I've thought about it," she replied, but then pointed out: "On a personal level, as a Christian, it will not be Barbra Streisand I'm standing in front of when I have to make an accounting of my life." Heaton went on to note:

She [Streisand] will not be in charge of, you know, whether I get my wings or not. So, ultimately, if I had to, I could pack all this up and do something else. There's three chapters in my book about all the survival jobs I've worked. I'm very happy to go back to that.... Life is short. My mother died when I was l2. There's no guarantee that we're going to be here tomorrow.

Heaton answered the same question when she was the subject of a one-hour profile on the A&E channel's Biography program. "At the end of the day," she said, "I believe I have to answer to God for the actions in my life, the actions that I took and the actions that I didn't take. So that's scarier to me than somebody in the Hollywood community not liking me."

"Patricia's stands are unusual for Hollywood," Biography noted. "In a town where people obsessively chase fame, where she worked for years to achieve it herself, Patricia Heaton said if her career ever dries up, she will walk away with no regrets."

As honorary co-chair of Feminists For Life, Patricia Heaton has taken the pro-life, pro-family message to college campuses, to the White House, to Congress, and to the print and broadcast news media. In a debate on the Oxygen (women's television) network, Heaton defended motherhood and the defenseless unborn. A doctor on the program claimed that the "morning after" pill liberated women, giving them "the opportunity -- instead of having babies every year -- they could actually do something with their lives." That stirred the maternal defenses of the real-life mother of four. "Having and raising children is doing something with your life!" she responded. "And I have to say," she continued, "that having your kids is one of the greatest things you can do."

Patricia Heaton may be a very atypical specimen in the sex- and glitter-obsessed entertainment world, but she is not alone.

Defending the Unborn

Kathy Ireland is an actress, businesswoman, wife, mother, and former supermodel. She is also a former "pro-choice" advocate. "I was once pro-choice," Ireland stated on the TV show Politically Incorrect, "and the thing that changed my mind was, I read my husband's biology books, medical books, and what I learned [was that at] the moment of conception, a life starts. And this life has its own unique set of DNA, which contains a blueprint for the whole genetic makeup. The sex is determined. We know there's a life because it's growing and changing."

In an appearance on Fox TV's Hannity and Colmes, Ireland debated pro-abortion pundit Alan Colmes. "You can be an atheist," she told Colmes, "and you can realize that it's wrong to take the life of an innocent human being."

She continued:

I would like to see some proof that the unborn is not a human being. As Sean mentioned earlier, with the technology that we have today with the ultrasound, that's a human being in there. It doesn't start out as one species and suddenly become a human being. According to the law of biogenesis, all life comes from pre-existing life. Each species reproduces after its own kind. Human beings can only give birth to other human beings.

Ireland left no doubt about her final verdict on abortion. "I believe it's murder," she told Colmes and the Fox audience.

Jennifer O'Neill is another actress/supermodel who has defected from the "pro-choice" ranks. Like millions of other women in America, she has suffered the anguish of knowing that she has killed her own child through abortion. "I had the abortion and paid for it all my life until I healed, and now am able to help other women," O'Neill told members of Congress at a September 24, 2002 press briefing in Washington, D.C. "I was told a lie from the pit of hell -- that my baby was just a blob of tissue." O'Neill, who has been a Cover Girl model and spokesperson for 30 years, told lawmakers that "the protection of the unborn is at the center of my heart." But she also noted that the woman who has an abortion is shackled with remorse that she "is sentenced to bear for the rest of her life."

Kate Mulgrew describes herself as a liberal Democrat but is, nonetheless, unbendingly pro-life. The star of the television series Star Trek. Voyager became pregnant as a young, single woman. She opted to place her baby up for adoption. Mulgrew told the American Feminist that although "adoption or abortion almost always promises the mother a legacy of shame and regret, I have to be frank about my experience. I survived it." Life is a precious thing that must be protected, she believes. "Life is sacred to me on all levels," says Mulgrew. "Abortion does not compute with my philosophy."

Actress Margaret Colin has appeared in Three Men and a Baby and Independence Day, as well as TV shows such as Chicago Hope and Now and Again. "The pro-choice people just took over the idea of feminism in the 1960s and said that you must end this child's life," Colin told the National Catholic Register in a January 2001 interview. The sanctity of life must be honored, she insists. "It's life. It's fundamental," Colin told the Register. "This is just oxygen. This is reality. You should be born. You should be taken care of."

At a 2002 congressional briefing, she called on lawmakers to "remember the 40 million [aborted] children who were never born," as well as the 25 million women and girls in America who have experienced abortion." Colin exhorts others to join the battle for the innocent and helpless: "You have to be brave -- [to be] the one who speaks out for a baby so that she or he can come into this life."

In the world of fashion modeling, Kim Alexis ranks among the top superstars. She has appeared on the covers of more than 500 magazines around the world, hosted two cable TV shows, and appeared as a guest star on television dramas and sitcoms. But faith and family are more important than fame and fortune. "My roles of wife and mother are way more important than my career," she says. "They come first. I think of them before I accept any job."

In a special message for Lovematters.com, a pro-life, pro-chastity Internet ministry, Alexis encourages young people to resist the pop culture appeals to promiscuity and sensuality that promise fulfillment but only lead to tragedy and unhappiness. "My strong marriage, and my walk with the Lord, are the basis for my happiness," she says. Abortion is always wrong in her book. "All life is valuable and a gift from God," Alexis insists.

The fashion world is inherently risky, she notes, because "you are constantly asked to compromise your moral standards." Alexis regrets her own compromises. "There are pictures I look back on today and think, Oh, why did I let them talk me into that? I made some choices I'm not proud of."

Alexis then risks the wrath of the reigning cult of lust by extolling the forbidden "M" word -- modesty. She warns that "many women are playing with fire in the way they dress." She continues:

Dressing like a floozy tells the world: "Look at me, want me, lust after me.

I'm easy and you can have me." Displaying intimate parts of the body is a form of advertising for sex -- so if you dress to attract sexual attention, you can hardly blame anyone else if that kind of attention comes your way.

"Dressing modestly tells the world, 'I respect myself and I insist on being treated with respect,'" says this mother of five. "It's possible to be stylish and attractive without wearing something that is too short, low-cut, or see-through."

Glimmer of Hope

Lovematters.com has taken the pro-life, pro-family, pro-morality messages of Kim Alexis, Patricia Heaton, Kathy Ireland, and other celebrities to millions of high school and college students via its Internet web page and a newspaper.

According to Dr. Ted Baehr, publisher of Movieguide and chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, there is cause for hope, along with concern, over the status of the culture war, as gauged by what Hollywood produces.

In 1985, when Movieguide began monitoring movies, Dr. Baehr told THE NEW AMERICAN, "only six films that year were aimed at families." Eighty-one percent of the films were R-rated, and there was only one film with positive Christian content. "Christians were the last remaining villains that you could have in the movie industry," he says. "All other villains had disappeared." By 2001, he points out, the number of R-rated movies had dropped to 40 percent. "From 81 percent to 40 percent, that's a big drop," Baehr notes. "Family films were up to 50 percent of the films being produced that year. And the number of films with positive, overt Christian content was up to 100 films, out of the 290 films released."

The reason for the change? Hollywood was responding to the strong message from Middle America that it was fed up with the toxic waste posing as entertainment. The movie studios realized that they had to clean up their own act or face increased calls for censorship. They also responded to the mercenary impulse: The more wholesome movies were also proving more profitable.

But iniquity, like rust, never sleeps. The new Matrix Reloaded and some of the other big, R-rated summer releases may start a reversal of that trend. "Hollywood will always try to move more in the R-rated direction," Baehr says. "and that is why Christians cannot let up their pressure on Hollywood."

The recent box-office fiasco of Gods and Generals demonstrates the failure of the Christian community, in this respect, he says. This magnificent Civil War epoch by writer/director/producer Ron Maxwell is one of the most powerful, sympathetic movie portrayals of Christianity, Christian ideals, and Christian heroism ever made. It should have garnered several Oscars for Maxwell and a best actor Oscar for Stephen Lang, for his superlative portrayal of General Stonewall Jackson. *

The brutal attack that the critics unleashed on Gods and Generals (see the Ron Maxwell interview on page 28) foreshadows what we can expect to see when Mel Gibson's new movie about the passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ is released next year, says Baehr.

Gibson, a five-time Oscar winner, one of Hollywood's top male leads, and a writer/director/actor/producer with proven box-office power, is also a committed family man. The father of seven is adamantly pro-life. Although a number of his films have done little to advance the cause of Christian morality, Gibson is unabashedly open about being a traditional Roman Catholic and doesn't hide his Christian beliefs. That he is personally financing The Passion demonstrates Gibson's religious commitment. To portray Christ in the film, he recruited James Caviezel, a rising star (The Thin Red Line, The Count of Monte Cristo, Frequency, High Crimes) who openly talks about his faith and commitment to marriage, family, and the unborn.

In an interview with EWTN, Caviezel was asked if he worried that speaking out with such "audacity" about his faith might antagonize the powers that be in Hollywood and the media, and possibly prevent him from rising to superstar status. The soft-spoken actor answered with more audacity. "I'm here for a reason," Caviezel said, "to express, to preach to the nation that this is God -- this is who our God is, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And for saying that, yeah, it could be death, but 'to live is Christ and to die is gain.' [Philippians 1:21] You know, at worst, you die a martyr or you lose your career. Then I lose the career. Then that's the way it's supposed to be. I'm not going to do one more film than I'm supposed to do." Mr. Caviezel's reply was utterly refreshing -- and startlingly out of character from what we've come to expect from the narcissistic, career-centric celluloid stars.

The Caviezels, Gibsons, Heatons, Irelands, O'Neills, and Maxwells may be a small minority in the base netherworld of Hollywood, but their presence and their voices demonstrate that the light of truth can shine forth in even the darkened recesses of the most hostile environs.

* See "Patriotism vs. Nationalism," William Norman Grigg's review of Gods and Generals, at www.thenewamerican.com/reviews/gods_and_generals.htm.