Californians Growing Disenchanted with Hollywood
As we approach this year’s Academy Awards, the entertainment sector has been taken aback by a recent survey indicating that only 29 percent of Californians have a favorable view of Hollywood.
Current popular films include Battles continue one after another and Sinner. There seems to be a rising frustration among Americans regarding what some see as Hollywood’s self-absorption and arrogance. This feeling has intensified as numerous activists have leveraged their platforms to ridicule President Trump while advocating for Palestinian Islamist groups.
After years of vocal activism, it appears that domestic audiences are now less engaged with the Oscars. For context, a recent analysis pointed out that the Oscars attracted 46 million viewers in 2000. However, that figure fell to just 20 million by last year. While this does reflect a modest increase from the previous year, Oscars viewership has been on a declining trend for nearly a decade.
Californians seem more skeptical—if not outright disgusted—by Hollywood’s influence.
A poll conducted by the University of California, Berkeley’s Citrine Polling Center in partnership with POLITICO revealed that 48 percent of Californians believe Hollywood wields excessive influence over politics in the state. Adding to that, only 29% of respondents look at the entertainment industry favorably.
The divides became even clearer when delving into party affiliations. The poll found that 81% of those leaning Republican believe Hollywood is too liberal, whereas only 23% of Democratic respondents shared that sentiment.
Jack Citrin, a political science professor at UC Berkeley, remarked, “Hollywood is perceived as liberal, so liberals and Democrats accept it, but Republicans don’t. If I were a studio owner, I’d be concerned whether the overt liberal stance of those in my films is pushing away audiences.”
The survey involved 1,220 registered voters from February 23 to March 3, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
