Part of the reason conservatives are losing is that they don’t know how to fight the culture war. This is because critical theorists told their adherents that the only way to effect change was through culture. Gary Habermas wrote about one of the institutions of power being the public sphere, which sets the agenda about what issues are important in society and how these issues are perceived and addressed.
It has been theorised that mass media have that power: not just through news but also through entertainment. Entertainment is designed to reflect society but it can also be used as a way to form people’s perception of society and tell people what society should be like. Specifically targeted entertainment can also be used as a way to teach different demographics how they should behave.
Hollywood has long been dominated by liberals. Their content tells us how Americans act and should act. They also have become the ones to control the narrative. Ironic considering that Hollywood started as a revolt against the attempts of the Edison Trust to control production and distribution. The original ‘independent filmmakers’ wanted the freedom to be able to make content that was free of any political messaging. At the time the Hays Code restricted the type of content allowed. Films had to push traditional family values and were not allowed to show any nudity, violence or sexual content. This was later followed by the ‘Hollywood Blacklist’ at the height of the Cold War which banned suspected Communist sympathisers from the film industry.
Of course, all of this has changed as the liberals have now dominated the film industry, preaching their leftist messages about ‘diversity and tolerance’ in their films and TV shows and consistently subverting and challenging traditional family values as the right constantly cries out how could this have happened?
There have actually been attempts to fight the culture war. At the forefront have been the religious. A number of Christians have attempted to create an alternative film industry. The most prominent are Pureflix founded by David AR White and Sherwood Pictures run by the Kendrick Brothers. However, their films have been directed towards a Christian audience. With the rise of online streaming, Christians have produced their own streaming services. Pureflix now streams on their website. There have also been alternative streaming platforms such as New Faith Network and RightNow Media. Christian animators have also attempted to create an alternative to Disney, a prominent example being Big Ideas Productions, which produced Veggietales (before it was sold to Netflix).
Another group fighting the culture war are the Mormons. Brigham Young University has created BYUTV, upon which they produce non-political, family-friendly content, including family-friendly comedy. Even in New Zealand, Christians have produced films such as ‘Broken’ (produced by City Impact Church). There has also been a Christian presence in broadcast media with Radio Rhema, Southern Star, Life FM and Shine TV. Much of this has been supported by the Christian Broadcasting Association providing chaplaincy services to Christians in the media. Christians have joined the mainstream media themselves, prominent examples including Tim Wilson and Jim Hickey.
Christians have also entered the news media, with newspapers like the Christian Times and Christian Broadcasting Network providing a Christian perspective on current events.
It could be argued that certain filmmakers and actors in Hollywood are fighting the culture war. One is Mel Gibson with his production of ‘Passion of the Christ’. And Jim Caviezel who produced such films as ‘Infidel’ and ‘Sound of Freedom’.
However, the most recent to join is the Daily Wire. In 2021, Ben Shapiro announced some new developments to his company. One was to launch a publishing imprint to publish books by Shapiro and others. The second was to launch a film and TV studio led by his business partner, Jeremy Boering, to produce films without leftist propaganda, films which they would stream on their platform.
The company has already begun broadcasting films including “Run Hide Fight” and “Shut In”, with “The Hyperions” and “Terror on the Prairie” set to premiere on their platform. There has also been the documentary “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in his Own Words” and the docuseries “China: The Enemy Within”. The Daily Wire has also begun to broadcast sports news in response to the wokefication of ESPN, the NBA and the NFL, hiring former ESPN newscaster Allison Williams and acquiring “The JBoy Show’’ (rebranded as Crain & Company) hosted by Jake and Blain Crain and David Cone to produce sports content outside of politics.
I mentioned before that Christians have a film industry. It is important to note that even within the Christian film industry there are still restrictions on the type of content. Some include staying away from the occult and horror. However, there is a rebellion against this led by LOOR who wish to produce films ‘without a filter’.
What this shows is that conservatives can fight the culture war. On his show, Ben Shapiro mentioned that his reason for doing this was because he was sick and tired of conservatives just complaining about Hollywood; he actually wanted to do something about it. His challenge to the ones who complain about woke media was very simple: what are you going to do about it?