Linda J. Alexander http://www.lindajalexander.net
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Debra:
Hmmmm . . . dunno what happened but I was unable to get on Ryze for awhile since last PM. I guess I'm baa-aack!
You bring up the nucleus of my Robert Taylor story. The blacklisting issue was bad. It ruined or curtailed the careers of many -- actors, directors, producers, even writers . . . especially writers.
The other side of this, however, is that communism was a very real threat at that point in our history. And it was indeed infiltrating Hollywood. As the creative nucleus for our country, even arguably the world, Hollywood was a perfect place for communism to attempt to take root. Hollywood is a liberal environment by the very nature of creativity & that creativity, rightfully so, wishes to be able to express all sorts of things.
So it was that those folks entered the picture (excuse the pun) & the people who believed in Mom, Chevrolet, the flag, & apple pie didn't quite see the same picture. Hence, we had a stand-off. A decidedly political stand-off.
I contend that the likes of Robert Taylor -- who'll forever be known as the only celebrity to "name names" on camera during this period, in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the 1940s -- was reverse-blacklisted because of his strong conservative views. He was led into that sequence by the government asking the questions when he named an actor, Howard Da Silva. In reading the actual transcripts, it was a line of questioning that gave him choices in his answers, "A" or "B." It wasn't a direct question: "Mr. Taylor, who do you know to be a communist?" A question of sorts which he was asked & refused to answer in direct form.
And to this day, I'd say the liberals won out. That period has been painted a certain way in history & will forever be seen as an attack on people, rather than an effort to not allow communism to take hold.
Blessings -- Linda
Linda J. Alexander, Books For The Thinking Reader
http://www.lindajalexander.net
http://www.authorsden.com/lindajalexander
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