Oscar-winning producer Gerald Molen hasn’t heard back from the principal at Ronan High School in Montana since the official told Molen his conservative views made him unfit to give the school’s commencement address.
But Molen is hearing plenty from his fellow Montana residents about this seemingly clear-cut case of ideological censorship.
“Everybody has been blown away that something like this has happened,” Molen tells Big Hollywood. “It’s amazing the number of people who have called or gotten my email address.”
So far, Molen’s Hollywood peers haven’t reached out to him about the cancellation. He expects that will change this weekend as news of the incident spreads. But he predicts only those sympathetic to his conservative point of view will ring him up.
When Breitbart News asks if his liberal peers in the movie industry should be equally concerned about his censorship cause, he answers, “you’d think so.”
The award-winning producer, whose credits include “Schindler’s List,” “Rain Man” and “Jurassic Park,” says his career hasn’t suffered since become more vocal about his conservative beliefs.
The same can’t be said of his right-of-center colleagues.
“I have heard of occasions [of industry bias against conservatives] … we all have,” he says. Being conservative in Hollywood today, as opposed to in the past, is “like an open wound … people on the Left are much more vocal.”
And the current A-list crowd is part of the reason why, he suggests.
“There’s a different cadre of people in front of the camera compared to 20 years ago. They use their personality and status to make their positions known,” he says. As a producer, he finds that behavior detrimental to the film-going experience.
“I think it’s a distraction. I’ve talked to numerous people over the years that will not go see something with a certain actor … like Sean Penn,” he says.
Molen’s latest film project tackles politics directly. “2016: Obama’s America,” set to debut next month, looks back at the president’s early years to better understand his current governing style and philosophies.
“I don’t believe the mainstream media vetted the president at all,” he says, citing Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the hateful pastor who officiated at the Obamas’ wedding, and the fact that some of the president’s school records remain sealed.
Molen weighs his words carefully in conversation, not eager to stir up controversy where it may not belong. But he’s still incensed about the speech cancellation as well as recent news that the overwhelming majority of college commencement speeches were given by liberals. So he hopes his personal story isn’t brushed aside as merely a blip on the cultural radar.
“This is not something that should be allowed to happen,” he says of the cancellation. “I hope whatever notoriety comes out of this that it will wake people up.”