A Sign of the Times

By plb on June 12, 2007 6:37 AM | No Comments

The New York Times makes an argument that Hollywood is soft on abortion:

Though conservatives regularly accuse Hollywood of being overly liberal on social issues, abortion rarely comes up in film. Real-life women struggling with unwanted pregnancies might consider an abortion, have intense discussions with partners and friends about it and, in most cases, go through with it. But historically and to this day in television and film -- historians, writers and those in the movie industry say -- a character in such straits usually conveniently miscarries or decides to keep the baby.

The dramatic portrayal of child killing apparently has economic consequences. As noted by WorldMagBlog:

The Times has experts theorizing that producers don't want to alienate ticket-buyers, perhaps demonstrating that Hollywood knows more about public opinion on abortion than, say, Planned Parenthood.

Still, I'll credit the film industry (some), but note that it is truly a sign of our times that a major U.S. newspaper would imply that Hollywood is not "overly liberal on social issues" given its dominant role in promoting infidelity, fornication and immorality just because it avoids "issues" that reduce ticket sales.