A few days ago, actor Brendan Fraser revealed he will not attend Hollywood's Golden Globe Awards, to be held next year.

The Globes are the first awards ceremony that kicks off the award season in Hollywood.  The winners at the Globes often provide an indication of the results at the Oscars.  The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) stages the Globes.

Fraser is known to movie audiences primarily for the Mummy franchise.  Fraser was also part of smaller movies such as The Quiet American with Sir Michael Caine, Extraordinary Measures with Harrison Ford, and the Oscar-winning Crash.

Fraser is widely regarded as the frontrunner for the coveted best actor trophy next year for his comeback film role in The Whale, where he plays a morbidly obese literature professor attempting to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter.

When asked in an interview with GQ magazine whether he would go to next year's Golden Globes if invited, Fraser replied:

I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. No, I will not participate.

It's because of the history that I have with them. And my mother didn't raise a hypocrite. You can call me a lot of things, but not that.

Fraser seemed to be referring to his 2018 allegations against Philip Berk, the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), where he said that Berk groped and assaulted him in 2003 during a luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Berk denied any wrongdoing in his own interview with GQ.  He claimed he had touched Fraser in jest.

The HFPA investigated that matter and concurred with Berk's claim that he had acted in jest.

Fraser claimed that the HFPA proposed issuing a joint statement with Fraser in order to dismiss the incident.  Fraser said he refused to participate in the alleged exercise, which caused him to be blacklisted from Hollywood.

So why is Philip Berk no longer the president of the HFPA?

Was he sacked for his lewd conduct?

Emphatically not.

In fact, Berk faced no disciplinary action

After Fraser's allegations, Berk remained an active member of the HFPA until April 2021.

What happened in April 2021?

Berk shared an article that called Black Lives Matter a "racist hate movement" in an email to the membership.  He was summarily and publicly expelled from the HFPA.

To sum it up, accusations about touching another person without his consent are dismissed as a joke but stating inconvenient facts about BLM was too much for Hollywood.

The Globes were also in the news for being dropped by broadcaster NBC last year.

Was it because of the allegations made by Fraser?

No!

NBC suspended ties only due to allegations of racism, sexism, and conflicts of interest and did not air the Globes.

However, in September, NBC announced that the show would return in 2023, owing to HFPA's "commitment to ongoing change."

The Fraser vs. Berk situation is a perfect illustration of how the liberal ecosystem works.

The rules are simple: always stick to the groupthink, and you can do as you please — i.e., your hypocrisy or impropriety will never be called out.

They claim to be environmental activists so that they can travel in private jets for lunch despite the fact that private jets generally produce significantly more emissions per passenger than commercial flights.

They participate in women's marches and slam loudly Trump as a sexist so that their harassment and torture of women in their personal lives are overlooked.  Harvey Weinstein's behavior was Hollywood's worst kept secret, yet he continued to wreak havoc for ages because he advocated for their groupthink and supported the Democrats.

They attend galas where they talk about compassion and the need to protect the downtrodden in order that they can star in movies produced by companies such as Amazon and Apple that exploit their workers and run sweatshops in third-world countries where the underaged are subjected to near-slavery.

They talk about gun control and slam gun-owners while always being surrounded by armed bodyguards when they leave home.

They donate to BLM and push for a diverse cast in order to engage in racist behavior privately.

They claim to care for LGBT people but willingly censor their films containing LGBT content when their films are released in Islamic countries or China.

The performance is not just on-screen, but off-screen as well.

Conversely, you may be the kindest of human beings, who treats everyone with compassion, but if you do not support the climate change paranoia, Black Lives Matter, and the Democrats in every cause, you will never, ever get work.

James Woods revealed that he too was blacklisted by Philip Berk for his conservative politics.

I recommend this interview highly. I, too, was blacklisted by that individual at #HFPA after nine Golden Globe nominations. During a press junket with HFPA, he asked if I would support Hillary Clinton if she ever ran for president. Never nominated again. https://t.co/fnAX5GM4Io

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) February 22, 2018

Over the years, they have developed what they think is a self-sustaining ecosystem.

Their ecosystem of liberal critics is known to inflate the value of smaller films via acclaim.  The film doesn't have to possess merit; what matters is the politics of the film.  Does it attack conservatives?  D oes promote their values?  Does it engage in liberal gimmickry?  The buzz generated causes it to be released in cinemas and then on streaming platforms.  Even if the box office returns aren't great, they end up making a respectable profit.

On the other hand, big franchise movies such as superhero films always have a guaranteed audience.  Once again, they garnish it with gimmicks like colorblind casting and gender-neural superheroes.

Hence Hollywood thinks it can talk down to a section of the country.  We hear many Hollywood starlets who originate from conservative states ridiculing their own parents and relatives for having a different opinion about politics.

The other possibility is that this is all an act — i.e., they engaged in a charade to demonstrate loyalty to the cause, not out of sincerity but to ensure being employed.

Is Hollywood a lost cause?

Hollywood is still home to master filmmakers such as Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, and Quentin Tarantino and movie superstars such as Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood, Sly Stallone, Al Pacino, etc.

Hollywood still can make engaging cinema it is desires to.

Top Gun: Maverick was a prime example.  Its sole focus was to be an engaging and enjoyable action picture.  There was no forced messaging or woke madness or liberal gimmicky.  The audiences appreciated that.  The movie grossed  $1.4 billion worldwide, beating many other blockbuster franchises. 

Photo credit: Twitter.