James Hirsen's Entertainment Judgment
Hirsen may be a "media analyst" for Newsmax, but he's just a partisan writer praising right-wing entertainment and bashing things that aren't -- and propping up washed-up comedy writers.
Newsmax columnist James Hirsen couldn’t quite make it in show business — he didn’t progress much beyond being a session and backup touring musician — so he became a lawyer and dabbled in showbiz on the side. Most notoriously, he became such a pal to Mel Gibson that not only did he run a foundation whose apparent main purpose was to raise money to help Gibson's father found an ultraconservative Catholic church, he became an enthusiastic promoter of Gibson’s films and an apologist for Gibson himself, especially after he made anti-Semitic remarks after getting arrested for DUI and engaged in other abusive behavior. That fealty has continued; in 2021 he plugged a new film Gibson appeared in without disclosing that the film’s director was Gibson’s girlfriend.
Hirsen’s ostensible job at Newsmax is “media analyst,” but he’s really just a partisan writer praising right-wing things in entertainment and bashing things that aren’t. Following in the footsteps of the Media Research Center, Hirsen spent the summer of 2023 hyping the right-wing songs of the summer. He gushed over Jason Aldean’s “Try That In A Small Town” in his July 2023 column:
Jason Aldean is a superstar country music singer, with 27 number one hits and several top-selling albums.
He recently released a song that threw him smack in the middle of the cancel culture battle.
Aldean’s recent single “Try That In a Small Town” came out in May 2023, but went with little mention in the non-music press.
Then in July the music video was released. That’s when the artist as well as the song came under heavy mainstream media and social media attack.
The video includes footage from the Summer of 2020, where flags were burned, cars were smashed, businesses were vandalized, police were abused, etc.
The left responded in what has become routine fashion, slapping a bigoted label on the art and the artist.
The tragic incidents of 2020 and the brutal crimes that continue to ravage major cities have been minimized and/or completely ignored by dominant left-leaning media outlets.
Aldean’s artistic inclusion of depictions of events seems to have really hit a nerve.
Hirsen let Aldean complain that “this song isn’t promoting violence as some have suggested” and that “There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it” — but failed to disclose that the video includes footage of Aldean performing in front of a Southern courthouse notorious as the scene of a lynching of a black teenager in 1927. Hirsen noted that a concert crowd unsurprisingly cheered the song, adding:
Aldean’s small town is proving to be mighty big in a lot more ways than one.
The “USA! USA!” chants from the concert crowd were more than just a show of support for the country music artist.
They were a great big “Thank You!” to Jason Aldean from down-home hearts across America and globally.
Hirsen had previously written a 2022 column defending Aldean’s wife after she stated in an online video that “I’d really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase,” cheering them for trying to bring “our unique and legendary all-American country music back.”
Hirsen followed that by hyping Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” in an August 2023 column:
Truths, especially those that have been suppressed, often have a way of emerging in the form of a song.
With one finger on an instrument and another on the pulse of a culture, a gifted songwriter is able to capture a moment, compose melody, and pen lyrics.
With the luck of the draw, the creation may even become a musical soundtrack for its times.
This just happened in the life of former factory worker and off-the-grid farmer Oliver Anthony.
He performed an original song for an audience comprised of his dogs.
The instant the video was uploaded to the web, Oliver’s world changed forever.
Just days ago the Virginia singer-songwriter was unknown to the general public. Now he has the number one song on iTunes. It’s called “Rich Men North of Richmond.”
[…]
Reflecting the discontent with the present economic reality and the fallout from unjust governmental policies, Oliver goes on to sing, “Lord, it’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to for people like me and people like you.”
One of the most compelling lines in the song points to the surreal nature of life these days, with the words, “Wish I could wake up and it not be true, but it is, oh it is. Living in the new world with an old soul.”
Hirsen again whined that the song was criticized by non-right-wingers:
Meanwhile, left-leaning media are trying to sully the song.
For example, Rolling Stone published a piece titled “Right-Wing Influencers Just Found Their Favorite New Country Song,” characterizing the tune as a “passionate screed against the state of the country.”
News bulletin: His song is music to the ears of millions of Americans whose voices have been suppressed and who have simply been suffering in silence.
8.4 million views and counting is the exclamation point, and a fine one at that.
Hirsen hasn’t written about the song since, so we don’t know how he feels about Anthony distancing himself from the right-wing activists trying to appropriate his song for their purposes and pointing out that it was written about the kind of out-of-touch Republican presidential candidates who touted his song at their first debate. He did, however, name-check both songs in later column that month as evidence that “the silent unwoke majority sure seems to have found its voice.”
Bashing Taylor Swift
Hirsen began his Oct. 25 Newsmax column by praising Taylor Swift’s success with her concert film, gushing that she “made the decision to bypass the studios and instead deal directly with movie theaters. The results have been remarkable.” He then praised the way she appeals to her fans:
Swift’s recent movie success has a lot to do with the unique manner in which she has structured her career.
She seems to have understood at a very young age that art has an intrinsic “mission.” It’s not enough to merely be created. It must be shared.
It is in the sharing that a relationship is formed. And it is in the relationship that mutual appreciation and admiration blossom.
Consistent with the artist’s mission, Swift dutifully placed her audience first. As a result, she acquired a highly dedicated fan base, many of whom continue to endure.
From there, however, Hirsen went into complaint mode, grumbling that she started with “early hits about first love,” then moved to where “optimism turns to cynicism” then, ultimately, “moves significantly to the dark side both musically and lyrically.” From there, he lectured her about it being somehow a bad thing that she stopped writing silly love songs and that she’s not living up to her “responsibility” to her fans by writing about other things:
Young Taylor initially wrote and performed songs that primarily focused on the search for the one with whom she could find true love.
As time passed, the music and lyrics changed, possibly a reflection of transitions occurring within her own life.In any event, darkness, cynicism, and coldness, which are reflected in the melodies, lyrics, and video imagery of later eras, reveal a hardened heart.
Whether or not this is the case in Swift’s personal circumstance, it is important to keep in mind that along with fame comes responsibility.
This is because fans put the recipient of their admiration on a pedestal and are influenced by things said and done.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who is hoping for a Swift return to her songwriting roots.
And a resurrection of the artistic mission she was graced with at the start.
While Hirsen named a few songs he supposedly objects to, he didn’t explain what, exactly, is wrong with them or how they are on “the dark side both musically and lyrically.” Given that she has grown and maintained her fanbase throughout all these changes Hirsen is criticizing, one can argue that she’s doing just fine with her career and doesn’t really need unsolicited advice from a right-wing writer who may be jealous that his own music career (he has worked as a session musician and onetime touring keyboardist for the Temptations) didn’t exactly take off.
Comments on comedy
Hirsen went into comedy-cop mode for his Jan. 8 Newsmax column:
Laughter is apparently built into our DNA, because I recently saw an ultrasound of a pre-born baby in full smile mode.
I don’t know what the little guy thought was so funny, but it’s a pretty sure bet he wasn’t listening to one of TV’s late-night comedy shows. They stopped delivering laughs a long time ago.
It all started when late-night hosts began moving further and further to the political left. Then so many of the jokes went woke. And finally Big Censorship came in with a knockout punch.
It’s no wonder that over the past several years late-night revenues have plummeted. Shows on CBS, NBC and ABC are down significantly from five years prior, and network executives have even cut back on programming.
The following info may shed some light on what appears to be a major contributing factor in the demise of late-night humor.
Yep, he’s mad that late-night shows don’t make fun of liberals enough. He then called on the other comedy cops for backup:
The problem is the icing on the cake tastes rotten to a huge segment of viewing audiences.
Some eye-opening research underscores the extreme partisanship that is embedded within late-night television programming.
The Media Research Center (MRC) released some compelling data, which were obtained during the time period between Labor Day and the Monday night that preceded Election Day of 2022.
Results of the study indicated that there had been 47 left-leaning guests who had appeared on late-night shows.
During this same time period, not a single conservative-leaning guest was booked to appear on the late-night shows.
[…]
A study recently conducted by the MRC provides additional evidence of the political bias that exists on the part of late-night television hosts and writers.
The MRC study analyzed the comedic content contained within the programming of the major late-night shows, which included ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and up until the show stopped airing in April 2023 “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”
An extraordinary 81% of the comedic material contained within the programming was aimed directly at conservative-leaning public figures.
Note what’s missing from that programming list: Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld — a frequent MRC omission. Hirsen didn’t mention Gutfeld anywhere else in his column either.
Hirsen concluded by arguing that liberal jokes aren’t funny (though millions of Americans think otherwise):
Late night shows used to be an American staple. Now at least half the country has tuned out because folks are tired of being the butt of old worn-out unfunny mediocre jokes.
Try poking at both sides and you just might bring back the funny.
Our babies-in-waiting are already primed to laugh.
Hirsen would never accuse Gutfeld of excluding “half the country” because of his unfunny right-wing humor (which we can also assume is mediocre, something Hirsen would never concede because apparently all right-wing humor is utterly brilliant).
Propping up David Zucker
Despite not being known for having anything remotely resembling comedy chops, Hirsen spent a November 2022 column complaining that Jimmy Kimmel is too liberal to be funny:
A lot of folks have been wondering what’s up with Jimmy Kimmel. The late-night comic has become more and more vicious in his politics and extreme in his one-sided humor.
As a result, the ratings for his TV show have really taken a hit.
Here’s a theory about how Jimmy’s comedy got wrecked and how his once-popular program fell into a rating’s ditch.
James Christian Kimmel was raised a Catholic. In his youth, he was fervent enough in his faith to step forward and serve at Mass as an altar boy.
Now, both in his politics and joke delivery, he appears to back every left-wing narrative that the dominant media and reigning powers-that-be are pitching, including a load of Dem-devised policies antithetical to his own faith heritage.
As host and executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live, he has consistently been serving as sort of a polar opposite altar boy for the Democratic Party.
Hirsen’s theory, such as it is, is that Kimmel is atoning for all the deliberately politically incorrect and misogynist humor he did a couple decades earlier on “The Man Show” — though it’s more likely that Kimmel simply evolved and even shock comics get tired of shocking. Still, Hirsen remained committed to his bit in order to fit his partisan agenda:
By committing the above cultural violations over the years, he has broken a whole host of woke rulebook provisions, many of which were memorialized on video.
Maybe he has been trying to do penance as it relates to his newfound woke religion. Or maybe his kowtowing to the left has been the means in which he has avoided the cancellation of his prized television show and reputation.
In any event, although things seemed to have worked for him up until now, the past has a funny way of catching up with a person.
Or in Jimmy’s case, maybe a not-so-funny way.
By contrast, in a column the following week, he praised a comedy writer who turned right-wing and hasn’t done anything notably funny in years:
Humor is David Zucker’s specialty.
Not the lazy blue variety that passes for comedy these days, but the laugh-out-loud kind that makes your sides hurt, your eyes water and the world disappear.
The mega-successful film director, producer and screenwriter is best known for the legendary spoof flick “Airplane!” and the side-splitting “Naked Gun” and “Scary Movie” franchises.
He happens to be one of our culture’s current reigning experts on all things funny, and he’s sounding an alarm bell for all to hear.
Lucky for us he has joined the ranks of other comedy greats who have issued similar warnings: Dennis Miller, Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Gilbert Gottfried, Mel Brooks, Adam Carolla, Steve Harvey and John Cleese.
The giants of humor are all saying pretty much the same thing; that Tinseltown’s head honchos and their like-minded fellow residents of the New Woke Hollywood are virtually strangling comedians, comedy writers and comedy itself.
Zucker was recently featured in a video posted by PragerU, where he shared some reflections on his trademark comedy.
Yes, right-wing PragerU is truly the place where one goes to talk about comedy — which sets up the complaint that comedy is too liberal for Zucker and establishes that Zucker is a right-winger. The achievements of Zucker that Hirsen cites are decades ago. More lame politicking ensued:
He is often asked whether his most iconic film could be made today.
“When we do screenings of ‘Airplane!’ we get the question if we could do ‘Airplane!’ today,” he said. “The first thing I could think of was, ‘Sure, just without the jokes.’”
According to Zucker, although in the current comedy climate freedom may be taking a hit, the future actually looks bright.
“Comedy is in trouble, of course, but I think it’s going to come back,” he said. “There’s a pendulum, and the pendulum will swing back. I’d like to see comedy filmmakers do comedies without fear.”
Zucker has gone against the grain in liberal Hollywood. He has even worked on political ads for the GOP and directed a political parody film at the expense of Michael Moore, titled “An American Carol” (2008).
Pretty much nobody thought “An American Carol” — basically an tantrum against Michael Moore for making “Fahrenheit 9/11” — was funny. Also, since “Airplane!” already exists, there is no need to make it today.
The whole thing has a whiff of staleness, with Zucker whining and blaming politics for his increasing irrelevance when it’s actually the fact that he stopped being funny — and, thus, why he has to run to the biased PragerU to complain about it. Hirsen, however, is not about to call Zucker out for this; it fits neatly into the right-wing victimhood narrative, after all.
Hirsen tried to defend Zucker again in his April 26 column, which started with the declaration that Zucker is “hysterically funny guy” and a recitation of his resume, which included actual good films like “Airplane!” and “The Naked Gun” series. Hirsen then whined on Zucker’s behalf that he’s not involved in an upcoming “Naked Gun” remake:
Following the trend in Hollywood of resurrecting successes of the past, execs at Paramount have decided to put together a remake of the original “Naked Gun.”
The casting of the remake is puzzling to say the least.
The lead is played by dramatic film actor Liam Neeson, who has the unenviable job of trying to fill Nielsen’s huge comedic shoes. The role is quite a switch for Neeson. After a long career as a character actor, he has become increasingly known as an action star.
Pamela Anderson, famous for her TV roles on “Home Improvement” and “Baywatch,” will play the character originally portrayed by Presley.
Oddly, the filmmakers involved in the reboot didn’t include Zucker in the creation or production of the upcoming movie.
Zucker and his partners had submitted a script to Paramount in 2018, and there were indications at the time that the studio liked it. However, Paramount somehow chose to go in a different direction.
The filmmaker was stunned when he heard that the reins for a “Naked Gun” reboot had been handed over to others.
[…]
At first glance it seems inexplicable that those involved in the reboot of the spoof film wouldn’t have wanted to consult with the master of the genre.
But then again Zucker hasn’t shied away from publicly expressing his political opinions, which don’t exactly align with Hollywood’s current penchant for wokeness.
Could this have something to do with the decision to bypass Zucker?
Hollywood is also a town that is enamored with atheism, and Zucker happens to be a believer.
Or, you know, it could be that Zucker is putting right-wing politics ahead of actually being funny. Still, Hirsen tried to put a curse on the filmmakers for not including Zucker in the remake:
He appears to be taking the rebuff in a lighthearted manner, and even displayed some of his comedic prowess in a remark about Simpson’s onscreen performance in the original “Naked Gun.”
“I found that O.J.’s acting was a lot like his murdering. He got away with it, but nobody believed him,” he quipped.
Funny how Zucker makes comedy look so easy. Any pro knows it’s not.
Failing to consult with him may turn out to be a really bad business decision.
And that’s no joke.
Nothing says cutting-edge comedy like O.J. Simpson jokes — and it’s telling of Hirsen’s retrograde taste in humor that he found Zucker’s retrograde quip so funny.