Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was one of the best films of 2023, if not the best. 

The film had none of the elements that usually make audiences cheer.  It had no superheroes, special effects, stunts, or any spectacle.  Instead, it was bleak, was partly in black and white, and mostly had people talking in closed rooms. 

Yet the film earned $975 million at the global box office and universal acclaim from critics.  It won most of the awards, including top prizes at the Oscars for direction, writing, and acting.

Trump-supporters probably noticed the similarities between their favorite president and J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Despite their starkly different backgrounds and beliefs, both men were the subject of a relentless and baseless witch hunt by their government.  Various government personnel crossed the realms of decency and their duty to destroy their lives. 

We now know that this similarity may not be coincidental, because legendary actor James Woods served as an executive producer for the picture.

This will surprise many, because Woods was never seen at any events or even during award ceremonies related to the film.

How did Woods’s involvement affect the film?

The way a film turns out is due to the screenplay and the director’s execution.  But before even a frame of the film is shot, it’s a herculean effort to get approval from the bosses in the studios to be funded.

This is where the film is treated not as a work of art, but as a project whose feasibility is evaluated.  This involves a lot of meetings with top executives and backers of the project.  This is presumably where Woods was involved.

Woods recently told Megyn Kelly on her SiriusXM radio show about his involvement in Oppenheimer.  He revealed that he was urged not to promote the film because of his political leanings, and he complied for the well-being of the picture and its makers.

“When ‘Oppenheimer’ came out, there was a discussion about my Twitter, and it was gently suggested that I remain invisible, which was painful,” Woods said.  His outspoken support for Donald Trump made him a risk for Oppenheimer’s release and awards campaign.

“I’m a pragmatic person and I thought, a lot of people put their effort into this,” said Woods.  “So I’m just going to be an invisible pariah because the people who are going to be voting for Oscars, which is very important to films because it helps with the financial reward and historical archive in which it rests forever, I don’t want to deprive those people.”

I don’t want some nutcase to come out of the woodwork and fabricate some ridiculous story about me, I’ve had a million of them and they’re all lies. I don’t want that to happen and have the clickbait story be, “James Woods is the executive producer of Oppenheimer, we’re not going to watch that movie!”

So I stepped back and took one for the team. You wouldn’t even know — I was not even invited to the Producers Guild of America awards. I’m a producer on the picture! And I was not invited to the Producers Guild of America awards. Which was fine.

In 2018, Woods revealed that Hollywood had blacklisted him — i.e., he was dropped by his agent for supporting President Trump. 

The existence of the blacklist was revealed in 2019, when news broke that Trump would be appearing at a Beverly Hills re-election fundraiser.

Actress Debra Messing demanded to know the names of the attendees.  Actor Will McCormack echoed Messing’s sentiments, saying he would like to know the attendees “so the rest of us can be clear about who we don’t wanna work with.” 

So whom do these sanctimonious “stars” approve of?

They approve of pedophile Roman Polanski, accused of rape, who was awarded the Oscar for best director in 2011.

They approved of Will Smith, who engaged in unprovoked violence at the Oscars.  Instead being shunned, Smith was awarded the Oscar and celebrated moments after he engaged in violence and profanity.

The list of morally reprehensible people who are celebrated by Hollywood is endless.

James Woods has never been accused of such behavior.  The immensely talented Woods could have played significant parts in many important films and would have won many coveted awards.  Alas, his most recent acting job was in 2017 for the sitcom Dice, and he is compelled to opt out of award events.

He has been shunned merely for thinking differently.

When Hollywood talks of diversity, it is only about attributes that are acquired due to genetics, such as race, sex, etc.  The most important kind of diversity, diversity of thought, is forbidden in these echo chambers.

This is why “stars” make an overt demonstration of their adherence to groupthink.  They know that a display of hatred for Trump is likely to get them employment in Hollywood.

It isn’t just Hollywood.

We often hear well-wishers advise others to remove all mentions of Trump and MAGA on social media before applying to any university while seeking employment.

A Trump-supporting friend who works in one of the Big Tech firms in Silicon Valley left his MAGA hat at his parents’ place in Texas because he feared that colleagues may discover it when visiting his home.

Back in 2018, another Trump-supporting friend was informed by the IRS that there was some issue with his tax filings.  He wondered if it was due to a donation to the Trump campaign.  It turned out to be a real mistake, which was immediately fixed — but the fact that people are fearful or paranoid is most unfortunate.

This is happening in a country where the Constitution grants citizens the right to be treated equally, irrespective of political beliefs.

Over the years, liberals have managed to infiltrate and eventually conquer most organizations that are supposed to be apolitical.  This includes academia, cultural organizations, scientific bodies, government bodies, sports, and beyond.  If one doesn’t subscribe to their liberal worldview completely, he is shunned from these organizations.  This is what is happening in Hollywood.

Over the years, the Overton Window of liberal intolerance for differing views has moved to such an extent that it ceases to shock us.

The victims of this discrimination are everyone, from James Wood to your friends. 

Perhaps it’s time to stand up for one’s beliefs.  It won’t be easy; fighting against systemic discrimination never is.  But one single step in the right direction can begin a great journey toward change.

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