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Other Columns by Lisa Sarrach
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Hollywood's Bygone Era - What Else We Lost When We Lost Johnny Carson
By Lisa Sarrach
February 2, 2005
Page 2 of 2
All the past great entertainers had private lives, some innocent and wholesome, others cloaked in some degree of depravity, just as today. Back then, of course, depravity was not celebrated, it was reviled. Stars were fired when found in violation of their morals clause, or thousands of dollars were spent on protecting wayward stars from bad publicity that would turn off viewers or movie goers.
Today of course, all that depravity is celebrated in Hollywood. The more craven the behavior, the more headlines in the gossip columns and more E! Entertainment specials devoted to the sordid life and times.
Entertainment today has become a very ugly enterprise both in what's reported and what's produced. The recently concluded Sundance film festival appears to epitomize the state of entertainment in today's Hollywood; "mainstream" actors in "independent" films, "stretching the envelope" and engaging in acts that in Johnny's day would be rated X or not permitted to be filmed in the first place.
Outrageous is now the mainstream and that should be troubling to all of us as we continue to try and raise children in an age where we have lost Carson and his brethren, replaced by the likes of Howard Stern and Jerry Springer. Where yesterday's movie stars have been replaced with a bunch of no talents who are more likely to appear on the Smoking Guns' website gallery of mug shots than graciously accepting a lifetime achievement award with the class of a Cary Grant or a Sidney Poitier.
The passing of Johnny Carson signifies much more than the life of one incredible entertainer, it also represents the end of what Hollywood used to be, a place to escape to not escape from, a place that inspired not reviled, that lifted us up not dragged us down.
Today's Hollywood is just as dead as all those we have lost in recent years. Thankfully, yesterday's Hollywood is alive and well on DVD for us and our children to enjoy for years to come.
We'll miss you Johnny, you meant so much to so many of us. The likes of you and your showbiz pals will never be seen again and we're all the worse for it.
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Lisa Sarrach is president of Hollywood-Hero (www.hollywood-hero.us), GOPUSA.COM (www.gopusa.com) national columnist and a freelance writer focusing on cultural and domestic policy issues. You can contact her at lsarrach@hollywood-hero.us
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA. >> Back -- Page 1 2
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