December 22, 2017

Cultural Winners and Losers of 2017

The first year of President Trump stirred the makers of popular culture into a frenzy of resistance.

The first year of President Trump stirred the makers of popular culture into a frenzy of resistance. Any list of the year’s cultural winners and losers revolves around how the entertainment elites offended Americans in the red states by trying too hard to correct their outdated patriotism and other traditional values.

Loser: the National Football League. Ratings took a dramatic hit, and attendance at games dropped, resulting in thousands of empty stadium seats and, in some cases, half-empty stadiums. Worse, the disdain shows no signs of abetting. The media tried not to draw the conclusion that kneeling for the national anthem to protest the country’s incurable racism caused a dramatic counterprotest. The NFL also chose to ignore the obvious. Look where that got it.

Winner: pro basketball, hockey and baseball. Somehow, all of these sports managed to avoid a flag-hating controversy, partly because they have owners that won’t put up with these insults and partly because they don’t have spoiled ingrates for players.

Loser: Planned Parenthood. The dead-baby-parts conglomerate that committed about a third of the nation’s abortions in 2014 celebrated its 100th anniversary by honoring Hillary Clinton as its champion of the century. Clinton boldly predicted in 2015 that to preserve abortion rights, “religious beliefs” would have to change. But the changes aren’t going their way: Planned Parenthood closed 32 clinics in 2017.

Winner: “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Liberal panic over Clinton’s loss led to Hollywood throwing eight Emmy awards at this drama series on the Hulu live-streaming service. It’s based on a radical-feminist novel that imagines America falling under a theocratic Christian dictatorship. All women are deprived of their rights and forbidden from reading, and reproduction is accomplished by baby-bearing servants called “handmaids.” (Got it?) Liberals gushed over this kooky nightmare as very “relevant” and “timely.” That’s how they felt about a Clinton presidency, as well.

Winner: Harvey Weinstein’s victims. The real-life feminist nightmare emerged from the shadows with abusive Hollywood baron Harvey Weinstein. He has not only allegedly demanded sexual favors from actresses but also apparently blacklisted those who rejected him. According to “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson, Weinstein’s underlings warned him that Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino “were a nightmare to work with” and that he “should avoid them at all costs.” Now the truth can be told.

Loser: Kathy Griffin. For some reason, Griffin thought it would be funny and profound to pose for a photo with a fake severed head of President Trump. At first, she boasted how her photograph was “art” and the outrage would boost her career. Then, CNN’s Jake Tapper denounced the stunt on air, and Anderson Cooper disavowed it as “disgusting” on Twitter. CNN fired her from her annual New Year’s Eve hosting gig with Cooper. Everyone knows how the country would have greeted anyone “artistically” holding up a severed head of former President Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. Griffin would have been the first to denounce it, too.

Loser: former Vice President Al Gore. His second eco-panic documentary, “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power,” grossed less than $3.5 million domestically over six weeks, according to Box Office Mojo. What if you were to throw a tantrum and nobody listened?

Winner: one of the lamest animation concepts of the new millennium, “The Emoji Movie.” Despite being annihilated by movie critics, Box Office Mojo says it grossed $86 million in America and another $130 million abroad. As the Roger Ebert website summarized, the movie was “so completely devoid of wit, style, intelligence or basic entertainment value that it makes that movie based on the Angry Birds app seem like a pure artistic statement by comparison.” Ouch.

Loser: anyone who liked “The Emoji Movie”?

Winner: beloved reruns. There’s still a place for old favorites on TV. In April, ABC’s annual showing of “The Ten Commandments” reportedly drew 5 million viewers and won the night. In December, the CBS 50th anniversary special celebrating Carol Burnett’s show drew 15 million viewers. Some lovable chestnuts just keep roasting on broadcast television.

Merry Christmas, from us to you.

COPYRIGHT 2017 CREATORS.COM

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.