In virtually any sphere where conservatives contest for control of the culture, the conservative side typically wins or, at the very least, is capable of fighting the left to a standstill. The leftist radio monopoly was utterly shattered by the onset of the era of Limbaugh in just a few short years (much to the benefit of the radio business as a whole). Fox News took just a few years to catch up to (and then overtake) CNN to such an extent that there is no longer any question that Fox is America’s most popular cable news channel. The internet, a playing field without pre-established norms, has what could probably be described as a conservative bent (in general, right-wing sites rank higher in the Alexa ratings, the internet version of the Nielsen’s). Conservative books, despite being shut out of mainstream publishers and lacking the free media accorded to so many liberal books, generally sell better than leftist tomes. In other words, all things being equal, conservative voices will thrive. The question which must be asked then is this: why are films and television so bereft of conservative voices?

The answer is four-fold. First: on some level they are kept out by those who would rather promote a specific ideology than make money. We have seen this for many years in the world of publishing, where liberals whose books don’t sell seem to mysteriously claim much larger advances than conservatives whose do. Ann Coulter recently received an advance of $3 million for her fourth book: after her first three were runaway best-sellers. Feminist Naomi Wolf received million dollar advances even after many of her books tanked. The same is true in Hollywood. Actress Sharon Lawrence, a life-long Democrat, reported being subject to threats and incredulous questioning within the film community after she was simply photographed at a book inaugural event. The only people free to be openly Republican (let alone conservative!) in Hollywood are well-established stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Kelsey Grammer and those whose careers are either over (or not going anywhere) such as Bo Derek, Jerry Doyle (former Babylon 5 star and 2000 GOP Congressional candidate) and Charlton Heston. The only openly conservative writer/director I can think of in Hollywood is John Milus, who has barely been heard from in recent years. One can only imagine what happens to young writers and directors who pitch conservative projects.

There is, however, a second reason for the lack of conservative television shows and films: most attempts to date at ‘conservative’ film have, more or less, stunk. The reasons for this are many and varied- the mini-series Amerika, an epic story of a Soviet occupation of the United States, was one of the greatest flops of the 1980’s because it was horribly acted (with Kris Kristofferson badly miscast in the lead role as an anti-Soviet politician recently released from the Gulag). The noted leftist Kristofferson seems to have been cast, in part, in order to avoid accusations that the film was anti-Soviet.

Ron Maxwell’s Gods and Generals, the great conservative hope of this year, failed because it was either two hours too long or four hours too short. Cut to an awkward length of four and a half hours, the film’s fine portrayal of Lieutenant General Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson was spoiled by hours of illogically put-together material seeking to tell the story from the Union side, seemingly in an attempt to add ‘balance’ to the film, but really making the plot seem muddled and disjointed. A short (two and a half hour-long) version of the movie would have been a classic- as would a longer version (it isn’t really that the Federal material is bad- it’s just that it has been chopped up into small portions without any seeming logic, other than an effort to appease critics who might otherwise accuse the film of having a pro-Southern bias which, naturally, they did anyways). In other words, many conservative films are ruined because the producers, so conscious of the criticism which will come as a result of the supposed political orientation of the film, overcompensate and make stupid decisions as a result.

Third, some supposedly ‘conservative’ art is just simply bad. No better example can be found of this than the two Left Behind movies which are ‘Christian’ films based upon the best-selling books. As virtually anyone who has seen the movies can attest to, they are simply terrible. They are full of wooden acting and a script so preachy that it would make Oliver Stone cringe. Any call for more ‘conservative’ entertainment must, very emphatically, not be a call for more along these lines. It serves our cause no good to spend millions on movies if what we produce is more likely to hurt than to help.

Finally, too many conservatives have simply given up upon popular culture in general and television and film in particular. This is a very serious error. Popular culture defines the world of young Americans. When the environment in which these people live is filled with liberal filth, they will grow up to be filthy liberals. We cannot separate ourselves from our culture, nor would it be truly desirable to do so. While avoiding the gutter-battles of the Culture War might sound easy in the short term, in the long term it is nothing less than surrender.

So, what is to be done? Simple: conservatives must go west. We need young conservatives to enter Hollywood and seek to make conservative television shows and films and we need old conservatives to work to fund their efforts. We must engage in a Gramscian effort to recapture the culture from within.

This is not as daunting a task as it sounds. Once the money which can be made in the production of films and television shows that reflect conservative values is demonstrated, others will quickly want to get in on the act. Just as Random House has created Crown Forum, a special imprint to publish right-wing books, the studios would soon create their own companies to make right-wing movies and shows.

As soon as conservative media appears, the viewers will appear as well. Imagine if, oh, let’s say the WB (which, on the whole, is probably superior to the other broadcast networks, especially from a conservative viewpoint) decided to run a West Wing-like show created by a Republican. Imagine that show was good. How many viewers would it take from the West Wing, a show watched by many Republican political junkies? How many people would, with suitable promotion, turn their televisions back on to watch such a show?

It is critical that we launch an incursion into one of the last bastions of liberalism. Adding a right-wing presence in Hollywood would help to close off one of the final channels left for conveying unadulterated Leftism to the people. More than that, as talk radio and the internet have, conservative movies and television could win countless converts to the cause.

The battle is ours to win. As it stands we do not even contest the field. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.