Hulu’s limited series Mrs. America, dramatizing conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly, is part of the left’s cultural war to build public support to “constitutionalize abortion,” says Patrick Courrielche, host of the storytelling podcast series Red Pilled America.
Courrielche joined Wednesday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with host Rebecca Mansour and special guest host Ed Martin to discuss Mrs. America, which he examined in his latest Red Pilled America episode, “American Woman – Why is Hollywood telling the story of Phyllis Schlafly?”.
“They are trying to basically constitutionalize abortion,” said Courrielche of the “creative people” behind Mrs. America. “That’s our opinion on it,” he added, noting the activism associated with the show’s creators and stars.
While ostensibly telling the “true story” of Schlafly’s leadership in defeating the left-wing push to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution, “the undertone” of Mrs. America‘s narrative is abortion, noted Courrielche.
“Abortion is constantly in there,” Courrielche observed. “Ultimately, what they’re trying to do is basically reverse history, and reverse the fight that Phyllis won, and get this ERA through at some point, because it’s still legislatively trying to get pushed through right now.”
“They are trying to galvanize support to get the ERA through so that they can get constitutional protections for abortion the same way that they have constitutional protections for free speech, and the same way that they can have constitutional protections for firearms,” assessed Courrielche.
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15:00 — Willing to take a loss to push a cause
Courrielche explained the left’s political calculus in its push for the ERA’s ratification, noting the proposed constitutional amendment’s surreptitious mechanism of prohibiting restrictions on abortion.
[The ERA] basically prohibits the government from passing laws that only affect one gender,” Courrielche remarked. “It has to be gender-neutral. Well, the only gender that can have children are females, and so you can’t pass a law that only affects one gender. They feel like getting this amendment through will basically give them the constitutional protections [for abortion] that they don’t have.”
Actors and actresses will accept lower compensation than they normally command in support of “the cause,” Courrielche explained. Film and television show producers will similarly accept lower financial returns on content primarily intended to shift public opinion on political issues, he added.
“None of [the show’s stars] are getting paid their rates,” Courrielche said. “You don’t get paid your rate with that many stars on a show like this. It is a cause, and that’s what people need to understand when they’re watching something like this.”
Initial planning of Mrs. America began with the expectation of a Hillary Clinton presidency, added Courrielche.
Courrielche highlighted the techniques used in Mrs. America to negatively portray Schlafly, including the casting of actress Cate Blanchett to depict the conservative icon.
“In one episode they paint [Phyllis Schlafly] as basically somebody that is okay with racists being within her midst,” recalled Courrielche. “They paint her as a liar. It’s just like one thing after another. They paint a picture of the relationship between her and her husband in a horrible light.
Courrielche went on, “[Cate Blachett] just has this villain persona about her. That is just part of who she is when she acts. So it’s right off the bat.”
Schlafly foresaw the ERA’s inevitable consequences in legally enforcing a “genderless society” if ratified, Courrielche observed.
“[Phyllis Schlafly] was so far ahead of her time at seeing what the left was trying to do in creating this no-gender society,” Courrielche said.
The culture war’s impact on politics is amplified during shutdowns associated with the coronavirus outbreak, warned Courrielche.
“All of our attention is [on the coronavirus], and I hear I’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘Oh, the culture war doesn’t matter.’ Then those same people turn on their TVs and binge watch Netflix, and binge watch Hulu, and binge watch HBO, constantly getting this message sent at them.”
Courrielche concluded, “If you don’t think the culture war matters during this coronavirus quarantine, you’re not paying attention.”
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