Gotchapower

Listening again to a 1950 Hollywood gossip show called Hollywood Byline. This episode is valuable because it’s uncut, including the offstage chatting and negotiating among the actors and producers. You can tell easily when the onstage parts start and end; all the voices are clear and organized and grammatical.

I was comparing this on/off variable to the current on/off variable provided by the Ankler substack, where actors and writers are talking offstage but not privately. The modern offstage voices are much less partisan than onstage. All “entertainment” now is strictly and purely D, and strictly supports the entire set of aristocratic cultural values. If you read a book or see a movie that seems to oppose the uniform orthodoxy, you can be SURE it will punch you in the face with a Gotcha before it’s done.

The 1950 offstage and onstage voices are both relatively nonpartisan, no Gotchas, no vicious surprises.

The Fairness Doctrine forced nonpartisan performances, and its effects extended to the semi-private chat heard on Byline.

There was one strong political statement in the onstage part, but again it was nonpartisan. Senator Johnson had proposed a bill to license actors, and everyone agreed it was terrible. One of the columnists said onstage: “I think there should be a license to hunt congressmen.” Strictly nonpartisan and passionate, and would get him classified as a “terrorist” now because he didn’t specify hunting Trumptards.

Was this the same Senator Johnson mentioned in another 1950 show? Elbert Johnson of Nevada had a truly radical (and correct) opinion that nuclear weapons were nothing special. All war is bad, and our atom bombs didn’t do more damage than our Thermite firebombing. He broke up the biggest Shared Lie of that time.

Nope, it’s a different Johnson. This one was Edwin Johnson of Colorado. Confusing for sure. Adding to the confusion, this Johnson was also a genuine maverick, a type no longer permitted. He was a Democrat who disapproved of the New Deal.

Well, was the licensing proposal part of the HUAC craze? Nope, also utterly maverick. Johnson’s favorite actress was Ingrid Bergman. When she broke her marriage vows publicly and screwed around with an Italian, Johnson felt PERSONALLY BETRAYED, and took out his PERSONAL ANGER on all of Hollywood by proposing a MORAL license.

Lesson: Don’t betray your customers. Know your niche, know what your customers expect, and give them a consistent product matching their expectations. When you hit them with a GOTCHA, you will spoil the whole market, not just your own brand. Lots of corporations and politicians are breaking this rule right now, from Budweiser to DeSantis.