Reel to Real A Political Reflection of Hollywood Film Posters
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Table of Contents I. The Show is About to Begin: Politics goes to the Movies & Movie Posters Become Political II. Real Protest in Reel Format – Protest Posters Imitate Movie Posters III. Movie Icons in Roles that Will Surprise You IV. Ronald Reagan: From Hollywood to the White House V. Deleted Scenes: Politicians Get the Hollywood Treatment VI. Biting the Hand that Feeds: Critiquing the Film Industry
Hollywood film advertisements dominate walls, billboards, buses, and even many restaurants and offices. Their familiar glossy presence also inspires many imitations, appropriations and manipulations. Among the most dramatic transformations—and least subtle—are when the film poster becomes a protest poster. Taking advantage of a look-alike poster and humor, the creator attempts to get the general public to look twice at an issue that needs attention. By targeting a hot button issue and presenting it to the public in the context of familiar Hollywood imagery, political artists attempt to reap the benefits of highly marketed Hollywood images. At first glance, the image attracts the viewer because it appears familiar. Upon looking again, the viewer is enticed to examine more closely and hopefully begin to analyze the content. It is an effective way to bring under-served causes or problems to the forefront. Reel to Real – A Political Reflection of Hollywood Film Posters features posters that use well-known movie themes and imagery to tackle ongoing struggles for social change at home and abroad. They employ satire, mockery and various devices to draw attention to current issues. Posters often ask rhetorical questions, and political ‘movie’ posters answer lavishly. Some are amusing while others are outrageous, and they are often quite over the top. Whether they are protesting war, affirming women’s rights, lampooning politicians, or drawing our attention to sweatshop labor, these posters provide an critical alternative view of reality. In addition, Los Angeles’ unique relationship to the entertainment world makes this exhibition one of the most unusual in the repertory of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics. This exhibition has been made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles, Cultural Affairs Department and individual donors.
1. The Bamboo Prison Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. and National Screen Service Corp. Lithograph, 1954 United States 20985 The only actual film poster in Reel to Real, this poster is no less political than the other posters in this exhibition. Although not as well known as Invasion of the BodySnatchers (1956), the classic anti-communist Hollywood production, the Bamboo Curtain is one of the earliest films to raise the issue of brainwashing. The concept of brainwashing developed during the Korean War, and was used to explain why 21 American GIs refused to accept repatriation to the US, and chose to remain in China. P People choosing communism over capitalism was a major ideological conflict for the US government, and Hollywood came to the rescue to help explain how it could happen.
2. Welcome to America THINK AGAIN Offset,1999 San Francisco, California 10219
3. This Attraction Is In Your Neighborhood Robert Schmitt Offset, 1991 St. Paul, Minnesota 9762
4. Huey P. Newton in Peacock Chair Black Panther Party Offset,1967 Emeryville, California 3194
5. Huey P. Newton in Peacock Chair "Panther" film poster, Polygram Films Offset, 1994 Los Angeles, California 2064 In the 1960s and 1970s, the Black Panther Party USA (BPP) used dramatic posters of armed party members to call attention to their organization and its goals. Mario van Peebles’ 1995 film Panther recreates one of the most famous and iconic BPP posters. The original poster of Huey Newton, co-founder and Minister of Defense of the BPP, is on the left while actor Marcus Chong is on the right. It is interesting to note that despite a faithful recreation of all the props and pose, the lighting is so different that Huey appears menacing in the real BPP poster, but timid in the film poster.
6. Vietnam Artist: Nordahl Issuing Agency: Gross National Product Offset, 1968 Wayzata, Minnesota 5665
7. Rally Against Reefer Madness! Dana Franzen Offset, 1985 New York, New York 705 Reefer Madness (1938) was originally produced as an anti-marijuana propaganda film that claimed the drug made people go insane. Since then it has become a cult classic. This poster appropriates the title of the movie but redirects the accusation of “madness” to legal prohibitions against marijuana. One of the demands, “Stop the Witch Hunt” shows First Lady Nancy Reagan riding on a pig, dressed in her signature “Reagan Red” high couture, and zapping an array of counter culture characters including Groucho Marx, writer Tom Wolf, and stoner-comic “Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers” Phineas, Fat Freddie, and Frank. The Smoke-In that the poster announces took place in 1985 during Ronald Reagan’s “war on drugs” and Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign. The sign-off “YiPPiE” stands for the Youth International Party founded by Jerry Rubin, Abby Hoffman, and others.
8. Bedtime for Brezhnev Eighty-Two Corporation Offset, 1981 Boston, Massachusetts 6079
The title refers to the 1951 film, Bedtime For Bonzo, starring Ronald Reagan at the height of his acting career. When this poster was made in 1981, Reagan was President of the U.S. and Leonid Ilich Brezhnev was the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The US and Soviet space and missile programs were highly competitive, and each spurred the other country to make increasingly expensive investments. The poster names the “film’s” production company, Free Enterprise, referring to capitalism’s preference for a free market economy, and the Old West style of the poster refers both to the East versus West element of the Cold War, while playing into Reagan’s familiar cowboy roles.
9. Gone with the Wind Bob Light and John Houston Offset, 1980s Hampton, Connecticut 6468 Based on 1982 poster produced by Light and Houston for the Socialist Workers Party (London).
10. Der Letze Aller Filme! [The Film to End All Films] Artist Unknown Offset, 1983 Germany 11978 German version of the Bob Light and John Houston poster.
11. Disney's 101 Sweatshops Mike Konopacki Offset, circa 1996 New York 11718 101 Dalmations, originally released as a feature cartoon in 1961, was reissued several times. This poster refers to the live action version released in 1996, starring Meryl Streep and Pierse Brosnan. It refers to a line in Disney’s press release stating, “Our Animals Were Treated Better Than Most Humans.”
12. The Birth of Feminism Guerrilla Girls Silkscreen, 2001 Los Angeles, California 17610
The Guerrilla Girls are an anonymous group of women artists, writers, performers, and filmmakers who fight discrimination. Dubbing themselves the conscience of culture, they declare themselves counterparts to the mostly male tradition of anonymous do-gooders like Robin Hood, Batman, and the Lone Ranger. They wear gorilla masks to focus on the issues rather than their personalities. They use humor to convey information, provoke discussion, and show that feminists can be funny. “The Birth of Feminism” mocks the movie industry, which avoids substantive portrayals of women in favor of sexualizing their bodies. The “film” pays homage to feminist vanguards—Gloria Steinem, Flo Kennedy, and Bella Abzug but has them played by sexy bathing suit clad actresses wearing the feminists’ trademark oversize hats (Abzug and Kennedy) and oversize glasses (Steinem). Gloria Steinem was one of the founding editors of Ms. Magazine. Flo Kennedy (who frequently wore cowboy hats with pink sunglasses) was one of the first black women to graduate from Columbia Law School. As a lawyer, she represented Black Panther members. As an activist, she led a mass urination at Harvard to protest the shortage of women’s restrooms. After graduating from Columbia Law School, Bella Abzug took cases supporting civil rights and civil liberties as well as other social causes. She opposed U.S. and Soviet nuclear testing and opposed the war in Viet Nam. In 1970, Abzug was elected to Congress, and was one of only a handful of women Representatives.
13. Nightmare on Bush Street Clinton-Gore '92 Offset, 1992 Little Rock, Arkansas 5849
14. Solidarnosc Tomasz Sarnecki Offset, 1999 (copy of 1989 original) Warszawa, Poland 11004 The Poles have a special affinity for US Westerns. Not only because a single courageous individual often takes on the corrupt system and the good guy usually wins, but also because cowboy films epitomize the “West”, capitalism, free enterprise, and rugged individualism, and are thus seen in direct opposition to communism. The image of Gary Cooper from “High Noon” (1952) is consistent with this formula of the lone marshal combating dangerous outlaws in a small town— where everyone is afraid to support him. The use of this film is ironic, however, because Carl Foreman wrote “High Noon” as a parable for the House UnAmerican Activities Committee’s (HUAC) anticommunist attacks on Hollywood, and the timidity of the film industry to support its community. Cooper is holding a ballot for the forthcoming election, the union’s logo is both above his badge and above his head. It is important to note that Cooper’s gun was deleted from the poster because guns in Poland were often seen as representing cold-blooded killers, Nazis, or Stalinists.
Sarnecki was a 23 year-old art student in Poland, working on a class project using collage from U.S. Western films. His teacher called in an organizer from Solidarnosc (Solidarity) to see his work. The organizer picked one of his several mockups and took it with her, without giving any indication why. That was the last time Tomasz saw his art until the Sunday of the 1989 elections. While visiting Los Angeles in 1999, Sarnecki described the following event: “ I was walking to church with my parents, with whom I lived in Warsaw, and suddenly saw my poster everywhere. My breath was taken away and my knees started to buckle.” Ten years later, the poster was reprinted on the cover of the Polish version of "Time Magazine" and titled, “The Poster that ended Communism in Poland.” When Tomasz called the magazine to say he was the artist, they responded, "this poster belongs to Poland" and hung up on him. Not until the Autry Museum of Western Heritage produced an exhibition on “Polish Poster Art and the Western” (1999) did Sarnecki receive recognition for his poster. Thousands of copies of “High Noon for Poland” were printed in Italy, airdropped into Warsaw in the middle of the night, and wheat-pasted everywhere. Since Polish Solidarity did not have the resources to carry out this level of action, it is assumed that the CIA or another agency of the U.S. government was involved. This critical election helped bring the outlawed Solidarity Union and its leader, Lech Walesa, to power.
15. Protesta a la DNC Sandra de la Loza Offset, 2000 Los Angeles, California 17169 Translation: All Latinos, Protest the DNC–Democratic National Convention, Rise Up for Justice, Festival of Resistance, Direct Action, No Violence! Monday to Thursday, August 14-17. Come together everyday in Pershing Square in the center of Los Angeles. Yes to Human Needs, No to Corporate Greed. March August 14, 4 pm in Pershing Square. Protesting the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, this poster spoofs a popular Mexican film, "Juan Charrasqueado" ("Scarface" Juan) (1948), starring Pedro Armendariz, Miroslava, Fernando Soto Mantequilla, and Conchita Carracedo. Directed by Ernesto Cortazar.
16. Ley Ciega [Blind Law] Adrián Rubio Computer generated, 2004 México 21024 Translation: The Law is Blind. The Municipal Police see nothing hear nothing. The Murdered Women of Juarez Demand Justice. Kill me with impunity (without punishment). Since 1993, hundreds of women in the Mexican bordertown of Juárez have been kidnapped, raped, murdered and grotesquely maimed. After years of official apathy and police incompetence towards solving and ending these brutal murders, a group of graphic designers from Mexico City invited colleagues to express their concern and outrage by designing posters around the slogan The Women of Juárez Demand Justice!. This poster is one of 60 large-format digital images traveling throughout Mexico, educating about the murders and forcing the authorities to become involved. The complete set can be seen on www.politicalgraphics.org
17. River Of No Return Die Grünen Offset, Date Unknown Frankfurt, Germany 20635 Sandoz, Ciba-Geigy, Basf, and Hoechst AG (listed as the film’s producers), are pharmaceutical and chemical companies based in Germany. In the banner across the bottom, Die Grünen (the German Green Party) makes its stand as environmental advocates with the claim, “We drop this film!” Marilyn Monroe starred in River Of No Return (1954), a western/adventure film. Die Grünen, appropriated the title to refer to water pollution and to support environmental protections.
21. The Mexican Lalo Alcaraz Computer generated, 2001 East Los Angeles, California 21026 The Mexican is the name given to a gun that Brad Pitt’s character is hired to bring across the border in the 2001 film by the same name. Lalo Alcaraz spoof’s the border crossing by comparing it to immigrants crossing the border.
22. Phantoms of the DNC (Democratic National Convention) Sandra de la Loza Computer generated, 2000 Los Angeles, California 21027 The 2000 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party, also known as the DNC, nominated Vice President Al Gore for President and Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman as his Vice President. The convention was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California from August 14 to August 17, 2000, and was confronted daily with colorful and spirited demonstrations. The poster spoofs the “Phantom of the Opera�, and the figures include artist Frida Kahlo, actor/comedian Cantinflas, and the Zapatistas, revolutionaries from Chiapas, Mexico.
23. The Day the DNC Came to LA Sandra de la Loza Computer generated, 2000 Los Angeles, California 21028 This poster protests the 2000 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Los Angeles by spoofing the classic 1951 anti-war science fiction film, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.� The original film was made during the Cold War, and starred an alien (Klaatu) with his mighty robot (Gort). Gort is shown carrying a screaming scantily dressed woman a la King Kong, whose hand can be seen holding the world.
24. Estar Wars Lalo Alcaraz Offset, 2002 East Los Angeles, California 21029
25. Bin Laden Lalo Alcaraz Offset, 2001 East Los Angeles, California 21030
26. Gulf Wars Episode II Artists: Arie Kaplan and Scott Sonneborn Issuing Agency: MAD Magazine Offset, 2002 United States 20968
27. Demolicion Artist Unknown Spain Offset 1980s 12481 Translation: Demolition 8th march to Torrejon Sunday 13 March, depart 10:30 No Treaty with the U.S. Get them all out NO NATO! Bases Out In the 1930s, slapstick film duo Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy rose to stardom by routinely bumbling their way through misadventures. This 1980s poster protests the US NATO base in Torrejon, near Madrid. The US closed the base in 1993.
28. Beauty Overcomes the Beasts Steff Geissbuhler New York, New York Silkscreen ca. 1985 12506
29. Condozilla Josh MacPhee Chicago, Illinois Spray painting & stencil 2000 14851
30. We Create Our Own Monsters Josh MacPhee Chicago, Illinois Spray painting & stencil 2001 16979
31. When Did the War in the Persian Gulf Really End? Artists for Limited Military Spending New York, New York Offset ca. 1992 6343
32. Hi-Yo-Nader David Willardson Los Angeles, California Offset 1974 20634 The masked man and “Hi-yo-Nader” derive from the mask wearing Lone Ranger and his trademark call, “Hiyo-Silver”. The Lone Ranger was a popular radio, film and television hero, first seen in 1949. He maintained his anonymity while saving the west from greedy evil doers. In 1974, decades before running for President, Ralph Nader was frequently compared to the Lone Ranger. He was widely regarded as the protector of the worker and consumer and the enemy of the automobile companies and other corporations. Nader’s work over the years has included the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environment Protection Agency (EPA).
33. Pete Wilson Mike Konopacki California Offset 1994 20636 When Pete Wilson was mayor of San Diego (1971–1982) and during his first term as governor of California (1990–1994), he supported moderate to liberal views on poverty and the criminal justice system. However, because of the state's declining economy and the rise in popular anger about crime, Wilson reinvented himself as a tough crime fighter and successfully turned around his failing 1994 election campaign by supporting Three Strikes (Proposition 184) on the 1994 California ballot. He was re-elected Governor and served until 1999. Three Strikes requires the California state courts to hand down a mandatory and extended period of incarceration to persons who have been convicted of a serious criminal offense on three or more separate occasions. The concept swiftly spread to other states, but none of them chose to adopt a law as sweeping as California's, where a third felony conviction brings a sentence of life in prison, with no parole possible until a long period of time, most commonly twenty-five years, has been served.
34. Pete Robbie Conal California Offset Circa 1994 3302
35. Dickey Mouse Artist Unknown United States Offset Circa 1971 12603
36. El SIDA Va Con Todos Es Tu Salud Entérate Comision Anti-SIDA De Alava Spain Offset 1990s 20966 Prevention is for your own Good AIDS is Everyone’s Problem—It’s Your Health Inform Yourself Let’s Figure out What this Story is all About
37. No a la intervención en Centroamérica Artists: A. Ruiz and I. Bustos Issuing Agency: Evangelical Committee for Agrarian Advancement Nicaragua Offset 1980s 6756 Translation: No Intervention in Central American God chose the weak in the world to shame the strong— Ist Corinthians 1.27 Nicaragua will be victorious, will neither be sold nor surrender.
38. Reaganstein Dan Thibodeau United States Offset 1983 12614
39. Son of Reaganstein Matt Wuerker Minneapolis, Minnesota Offset 1988 3113
40. Ronocchio Artist: Dan Thibodeau Issuing Agency: Utopia Graphics Austin, Texas Offset 1985 737
41. Iran to the Contras Three to Make Ready Graphics New York, New York Offset 1987 12096
42. Todos Contra El Visitante Comite Regional de Madrid and Partido Comunista Madrid, Spain Offset 1985 708 Translation: Everyone against the Visitor — For National Sovereignty — Communist Party — Madrid Regional Committee Produced for Reagan’s 1985 visit to Spain, this poster is a take-off of the U.S. television series "V", which is about reptile aliens disguised as humans who want to colonize the earth and use humans as a food source.
43. America's Desperate Journey Gilman Street Books Madison, Wisconsin Offset Date Unknown 20593
44. Reaganbusters Kristin Prentice and Andrea Kantrowitz Berkeley, California Offset 1980s 12607
45. Wanted for Terrorism Artist Unknown United States Silkscreen 1980s 6008 Throughout the 1980s, the Reagan administration created and funded the "Contras," a mercenary army aimed at destroying the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua. In 1986, the U.S. bombed Libya. The text on the poster "from the Nicaraguan border to the shores of Tripoli" is the beginning of the U.S. Marine Corps hymn written in the 19th century. In the 1980s this had very contemporary meaning, as under President Reagan, the U.S. attacked both Nicaragua and Libya.
46. Glasnost Artist Unknown Soviet Union Offset late 1980s 6651
47. The Fascist Gun in the West Vic Dinnerstein Los Angeles, California Offset 1980 9470 Designed in 1966 when Reagan was governor of California, and reissued during the 1980 presidential campaign. This poster was in an exhibition traveling in Mexico in 1981. When the exhibition returned to the U.S., this poster was confiscated by customs agents as “treasonous.�
48. The Gipper Artist: C. Pysher Issuing Agency: Students For America Raleigh, North Carolina Offset 1984 20538
49. ReaganHood Wants You! Artist: Horsman Issuing Agency: Carter Productions United States Offset 1981 741
50. Reagan, Reagan He's No Good Jon Mustard United States Offset 1980s 14126
President Reagan is represented as Major Kong, the antiCommunist cowboy of Dr. Strangelove: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964), riding a missile to its Soviet target. The poster is in response to the Cold War and arms race that brought the world close to using nuclear weapons. “Reagan, Reagan, he’s no good, send him back to Hollywood” was a popular chant yelled in demonstrations opposing Reagan’s policies.
51. Russians Are Coming! Artist: Tape Issuing Agency: World Peace Council United States Offset 1981 738
The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (1966) film satirizes the paranoia of the Cold War. The poster plays on this theme, and questions the validity of the roles played by U.S. officials by depicting President Reagan, Vice President George Bush, and Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger in Soviet garb. The image directly parodies a famous 19th century Russian painting by Ilya Repin, "The Volga River Boatmen", showing Russian peasants reduced to animal labor.
52. Die Russen Kommen! Artist: Tape Germany Offset 1981 11983
The German version of Tape’s The Russians Are Coming! The poster differs from the English version by presenting Ronald Reagan and George Bush with Secretary of State Alexander Haig instead of Caspar Weinberger.
53. Nixon's Peace Lazaro Abreu Cuba Offset 1972 4661 This is another reference to “Dr. Strangelove”
54. Uneasy Riders Celestial Arts San Francisco, California Offset 1970 12605
“Easy Rider” (1969) was a popular counter culture film starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper as motorcyclists out to find America. President Richard M. Nixon and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew are now the bikers, and “We Blew It” refers to their failure to end the Viet Nam War.
55. [LBJ as Clyde Barrow] Alexicon Corp. New York, New York Offset 1968 10724 Lyndon Baines Johnson was Vice-President under John F. Kennedy and took over the presidency after Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. The following year, L.B.J. won the election. To protest the Viet Nam War, this poster portrays President Johnson, his wife Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson, and Vice-President Hubert Humphrey as the often charming but murderous Bonnie and Clyde gang that operated during the Great Depression. The still photo comes from the popular crime film, “Bonnie and Clyde” that premiered in 1967.
56. "South Pacific" Redletter Press Australia Silkscreen ca. 1995 9615 David Lange, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1984-89), promoted nuclear disarmament nationally and internationally. In 1984, his government passed legislation banning nuclearpowered and armed vessels (including aircraft) from New Zealand (NZ) territory, and promoted the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty. The US reacted to this policy against weapons of mass destruction by canceling all defense exercises, cutting intelligence sharing and demoting NZ from ally to "friend," effectively making the ANZUS security alliance (Australia, NZ and the US) inoperable. Subsequent New Zealand governments have persevered with the anti-nuclear policy, which remains in place today. “I’m gonna wash that man right out of my hair,” is the title and chorus of one of the songs in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific (1958). It refers to Lange standing up to pressure by Reagan. “Aotaearoa” is the Maori word for New Zealand.
57. La Nuit Etait Belle Boogaerts France Offset 1990s 20633
[The night was beautiful, the sky full of stars and Shéhérazade forgot a condom.] Scheherazade was the story teller in “The Book of One Thousand and One Nights,” which includes the story of “Aladdin", the cartoon parodied in this poster.
58. I'm Back! State Building and Construction Trades Council of California Sacramento, California Offset 2003 20435 In 2003, California Governor Pete Wilson was cochair of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign to replace Gray Davis as governor of California. By placing Wilson’s head on top of Schwartzenegger’s body (from the 1986 film “Predator”), the poster claims that there were no political differences between the two Republicans. “I’m Back” is an oft repeated phrase from Schwarzenegger’s three “Terminator” films.
59. The Mexterminator Lalo Alcaraz Offset, 2003 East Los Angeles, California 21000
Proposition 187 was an anti-immigrant ballot initiative passed in California in 1994, and signed into law by then governor Pete Wilson who strongly supported it. A federal court judge subsequently declared most sections of the initiative unconstitutional, and in 1998, the measure was dismantled through mediations between anti-187 activists and newly elected Governor Grey Davis. In an historic 2003 recall election, California voters ousted Davis and actor/body builder Arnold Schwartzenegger became Governor.
60. Where's Your Head Sherry???? Women's Action Coalition Los Angeles, California Offset 1993 9740
Sherry Lansing became the first female head of a major studio in 1980 when she was hired as President of 20th Century Fox. In 1992, she was named chairman of Paramount Pictures’ Motion Picture Group. While at Paramount Pictures, she caused disappointment by producing Indecent Proposal (1993), in which Demi Moore’s character is pimped-out by her husband to a billionaire. Women’s Action Coalition responded with Where’s Your Head, Sherry making a call for “real roles for reel women”. In an article for Green Left, Karen Fredericks commented on a scene that included a shot of Susan Faludi’s Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Women. Pointing out that Faludi had referred to Indecent Proposal’s director Adrian Lyne as part of the backlash, Fredericks interpreted the use of the book to be an “up yours”.
61. $3 Million $6 Million Women's Action Coalition Los Angeles, California Offset 1990s 14283
Scene from film "Frankie and Johnny" (1991) starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino.
62. In His Prime? Already Peaked? Women's Action Coalition Los Angeles, California Offset 1990s 14277
Pictured: Actors Michael Douglas and Meryl Streep
63. End Mickeymouse Bargaining Artists: Andrea Lang and Michael Gurka Issuing Agencies: American Federation of Television & Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild Los Angeles, California Offset 1980 10576
In May 2000, SAG and AFTRA launched a strike against the advertising industry over a dispute regarding residual payments earned by performers for radio and television. Actors including Susan Sarandon and Rob Schneider pointed out that the average earnings of actors who appear in commercials are $5,000 per year. As the strike continued, an AFL-CIO endorsed boycott of Proctor & Gamble products was added to the protest because that firm uses non-union actors to make commercials. Lasting almost six months, the SAG/AFTRA strike was the longest work stoppage in Hollywood history.
64. No Goofy Bargaining! Screen Actors Guild Los Angeles, California Offset 1987 10560 Made for the Screen Actors Guild Animation Strike (June 15 - July 24, 1987)
65. We're Not Dumbo Screen Actors Guild Los Angeles, California Offset 1987 11306 Made for the Screen Actors Guild Animation Strike (June 15 - July 24, 1987)
66. Not Another Latino Movie Lalo Alcaraz East Los Angeles, California Offset 2001 21001
67. AIDSPHOBIA Michael Albanese and Josh Wells Los Angeles, California Offset 1991 3123 Produced by ACT UP/LA for demonstration at the 1991 Academy Awards ceremony to protest the dearth of films about AIDS.
68. Don't White Wash The Blacklist Henry Niller Garcia and Alex Moloutas Silkscreen, 1999 Los Angeles, California 10173
This poster opposes giving Elia Kazan a lifetime achievement award at the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles in 1999. Kazan, whose films include On The Waterfront (1954) and East of Eden (1955), created a furor in 1952 when he testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). At first he admitted to his own membership in the Communist Party, but refused to give the names of others. After four months, he changed his mind and identified eight fellow directors and actors as members. Kazan's refusal to apologize for that testimony or for the hardships it caused his friends made him an outcast in many Hollywood circles. The executive council of the Eastern unit of the Writers Guild of America voted to protest against the Academy's decision to present an honorary Oscar to Elia Kazan, accusing Kazan of causing irrevocable harm to the lives and careers of several professional colleagues with his HUAC testimony. Approximately 700 protested outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion, while inside, the audience was divided and many refused to join the standing ovation or applaud. The Oscar used in this poster was awarded for the film Bridge On The River Kwai, but withheld from blacklisted screenwriters Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman, until after their deaths.
Reel to Real – A Political Reflection of Hollywood Film Posters is available as a traveling exhibition. For more information about bringing this exhibition to your institution, please contact us at admin@politicalgraphics.org or (310) 397-3100.