Bad Company II
Oscar-Nominated Movies Bash Business,
but Hollywood Claims That’s Entertainment

     This is the second in a three-part look at how the American businessman is portrayed in the entertainment and news media. The Media Research Center’s Business & Media Institute has released a report on how TV dramas portrayed businessmen as criminals. It also plans to examine how businessmen are characterized on TV news for release in early 2007.

     In Part I, “For American Businessmen, Primetime is Crimetime,” BMI found TV dramas overwhelmingly negative toward business by 4 to 1. Businessmen were portrayed as villains, not heroes. According to TV dramas, you were 21 times more likely to be kidnapped or murdered at the hands of a businessman than by the mob.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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     The top Oscar-nominated films of 2005 were newsworthy because of their overwhelmingly liberal agenda. The movies the Hollywood elite chose to honor undermined traditional values, celebrated homosexual or transsexual lifestyles and attacked whole sectors of American business. Three movies had the sole purpose of being hit pieces on entire industries – mining, oil and pharmaceuticals.

     Businessmen fared even worse. Directors cast businessmen as villains, criminals, bigots and murderers. Only one major character actively engaged in business was both successful and ethical. BMI looked at the 16 films that received 2005’s 30 nominations for the top Oscar awards – Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress. The Oscars are the pinnacle of cinematic success and are an essential measure to determine how Hollywood perceives the American businessman. In this look at the silver screen, BMI found:

• It’s a Crime: Half of the movies earning top Oscar nominations (8 of 16) portrayed businessmen in either primary or secondary roles committing crimes – ranging from petty drug offenses to murder, mass murder and an international conspiracy to overthrow a nation’s government.
   

• Only One Ethical Businessman: Only one major character out of more than 70 across all 16 movies was depicted as successful and ethical while actively engaged in business.
   

• Bad Businessmen: Businessmen were portrayed as either criminal or simply unethical four times as often as they were portrayed in a positive light. The star of “Hustle & Flow” funded his rap efforts by drug sales and prostitution. The owner of a small diner in “A History of Violence” went from local hero to murdering mobster almost overnight.
   

• Bad Business: Of the movies that included businessmen, 79 percent (11 out of 14) portrayed business in a negative way. Three (21 percent) were direct assaults on industry – oil, mining and pharmaceuticals.
   

• The Worst Picture Is …: Director Stephen Gaghan won this award hands down. “Syriana” was an open attack on the oil industry, portraying energy companies working with the U.S. government to destabilize the Mideast and kill an aspiring leader. All of the prominent businessmen in the movie were unethical. One went so far as to leverage the death of his 6-year-old child to gain access to Arab leaders.
   

• And the Best Picture Is …: “Cinderella Man,” the tale of a Depression-era boxer’s second chance at stardom, was the highlight of the Academy Awards. Director Ron Howard’s movie emphasized business ethics and, though the chief villain was somewhat of a business stereotype, even he wasn’t truly sleazy.
   

• The Worst Portrayal of a Businessman Is …: Tom Stall in “A History of Violence” “was just another hard-working small business owner and operator,” until we found out he was a former mobster who proceeded to slaughter his way through the film.
   

• The Best Portrayal of a Businessman Is …: “Cinderella Man’s” Joe Gould was the kind of businessman anyone would want in his corner. Gould, a boxing manager, was the ideal risk-taker. He bet the furniture from his home on “something” he saw in a boxer. He even stood up to the deadly boxing champ Max Baer during the championship fight.
  
  BMI Recommends:

• Make Movies That Reflect Reality: Half of the major Oscar nominations went to films depicting businessmen as crooks. That’s just film companies falling for an easy stereotype. Paul Verhoeven, who directed “Basic Instinct” and “Total Recall,” said in 1995 that “We just show things as they are.” If Hollywood wants to portray things “as they are,” it can’t pretend the majority of businessmen are criminals.
   

• Show Business Heroes: “Cinderella Man” showed that Hollywood is capable of depicting heroic and ethical businessmen. If Hollywood is going to portray bad businessmen, it needs to balance the anti-business rhetoric with more positive businessman role models.
   

• Make Films People Want: Not one of the three anti-industry films – “Syriana,” “North Country,” and “Constant Gardener” – cracked the top 50 box office hits for the year. Hollywood executives might consider what audiences want rather than simply bashing business.