Don Wildmon
AFA/AFR founder
May 1996 – Jesus once said that we would know a person by his fruits. It was true then, it is true now.
Back in the early 1980s there was a study made of the Hollywood elite, the movers and shakers who run Hollywood. The study, done by Linda and Robert Lichter and Stanley Rothman, was extremely revealing. And while the study hasn’t been updated, I doubt very much has changed. In fact, I feel a study today would show a more extreme difference between the Hollywood elite and mainstream America.
The Hollywood elite is composed of 98% white males, 82% from a metropolitan area and 56% from the northeast corridor. In 1981, one in four reported a family income in excess of half a million dollars, and almost two-thirds earned over $200,000. Only 4% reported incomes of less than $75,000.
Ninety-three percent had a religious upbringing, the majority (59%) in the Jewish faith. An additional 25% were raised in some Protestant denomination, and the remaining 12% as Catholics. Currently 45% claim no religious affiliation whatsoever, more than six times the number of those who were not raised in any religious tradition. Defections have occurred from all religions, so that only 38% now call themselves Jews, 12% remain Protestants and 5% Catholics. Ninety-three percent say they seldom or never attend religious services.
Ninety-two percent disagreed that women are better off at home. Seventy-two percent agreed that women should get preference in hiring, and 57% said blacks should get preference in hiring. Ninety-seven percent said a woman has the right to decide on abortion, 80% disagreed that homosexuality is wrong and only 49% agreed that adultery is wrong.
When asked who should have the most influence on our culture, the Hollywood elite said consumer groups, intellectuals, blacks and feminists. They said that religion and the military should have the least amount of influence.
Lichter and Rothman reported: “Moreover, two out of three believe that TV entertainment should be a major force for social reform. This is perhaps the most striking finding in our study. According to television’s creators, they are not in it just for the money. They also seek to move their audience toward their own vision of the good society.”
Eighty-eight percent disagreed that TV is too critical of traditional values.
Why is television entertainment so violent, vulgar and trashy? Now you know.
As Jesus said, you can know a person by his fruits. Most of the fruit coming from Hollywood is rotten
to the core. 
