One of the perks of being a film critic is getting access to the stills
shared by film studios.

Example? The film �Champions� offers multiple photos from the film�s
production to flesh out reviews and features based on the Woody Harrelson
comedy.

One image featured director Bobby Farrelly of �There�s Something About Mary�
fame coaching his young actors while wearing a mask.

It�s not an isolated incident. Similar stills show masked-up artists on sets,
often working with maskless actors. That�s Hollywood, at least as it stands
three years after the COVID pandemic swamped the planet.

The rest of society has mostly ditched pandemic restrictions, many of which
seem to have had little impact on curtailing the virus. Not Hollywood, where
masking, vaccine mandates, and more remain the norm.

And a small group of stars is fighting back.

�The Nanny� alum Fran Drescher, the current SAG-AFTRA president, excoriated
her peers for pursuing vaccine mandates long after their alleged usefulness
was exposed. She shared that message during the recent SAG Awards gala.

SAG AFTRA, or the Screen Actors Guild � American Federation of Television and
Radio Artists, is a labor union representing artists from across the creative
spectrum. Think movie stars, directors, models and radio personalities.

�As the nation declares an end to the COVID emergency this May, I hope we
will see everyone return to work in equal opportunity,� she said during her
podium time, demanding an end of the �bulls***� COVID vaccine mandates.

Her message came roughly the same time as Woody Harrelson uncorked a
�Saturday Night Live� monologue that poked holes in the virus protocols we�ve
been forced to live under for years. The �Champions� star shared a fictional,
funny story about a wacky script in which Big Pharma forced everyone to take
their medication or stay locked in their homes in perpetuity.

And Harrelson wasn�t done disrupting Hollywood�s lockstep COVID narrative. He
told The New York Times that a free country doesn�t force its citizens to
take medicine against their will.

�I don�t think that anybody should have the right to demand that you�re
forced to do the testing, forced to wear the mask and forced to get
vaccinated three years on,� he said. �I�m just like, let�s be done with this
nonsense. It�s not fair to the crews. I don�t have to wear the mask. Why
should they? Why should they have to be vaccinated? How�s that not up to the
individual? I shouldn�t be talking about this [expletive].�

Drescher and Harrelson�s views came months after Oscar-winner Tim Robbins
excoriated his industry for similar protocols.

Robbins admits he sounded like every Hollywood star early in the pandemic. Do
as your told. Lock down indefinitely. Listen to Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Then, the �Bull Durham� star reached out to other people who questioned the
narratives embraced in near uniformity by Hollywood, Inc. And something
didn�t feel right, especially when we learned the vaccines neither prevented
transmission or stopped the recipient from becoming infected.

He shared his growing skepticism with Britain�s Russell Brand, the quasi-
socialist comic who has been aggressively red-pilled in recent years. Robbins
noted talk of science came with an asterisk.

��to continue the policy of lockdowns or mandates after that didn�t seem to
be following the science. It was following a political agenda.�

Robbins also wondered why natural immunity, an established way to combat past
viruses, was dismissed by so many, including Dr. Fauci, the nation�s revered
expert on the matter.

Forcing artists to obey these rules, or else, made Robbins speak out on the
matter. That practice crushed the careers of more than a few stars, including
Clifton Duncan. The Broadway actor essentially left the industry because he
refused to take the vaccine.

By any measure comedian Rob Schneider was ahead of the curve when it came to
protocol skepticism. The �Deuce Bigalow� star, who has drifted to the Right
in recent years, publicly shared his unease with the COVID vaccines on
Twitter in 2021 while nearly all of his peers signed off on the treatments.

�Just say no� And keep saying no� Over Half of the US population is
continuing to say no to this unapproved experimental gene therapy! �My body,
my choice!�

These voices still represent a fraction of the modern Hollywood landscape.
Many stars might agree with them, but they fear professional repercussions
for admitting so. Others cheated, plain and simple. They were part of a
counterfeit vaccine status market where they pretended to play by the rules
but still avoided the COVID jabs.

Others appear happy with the status quo � performing without masks while
others mask up from start to finish.

Stephen Colbert recently told his �Late Show� audience about President Joe
Biden�s decision to rescind the emergency status tied to the pandemic.

�I wish you could see the smiles on the faces in my audience. And I wish I
could, too. Because they�re still wearing masks.�

Colbert may represent the industry�s rigid groupthink on the matter. When
Colbert, a reliably progressive voice, learned that the Department of Energy
determined the lab leak theory tied to COVID is the likely source of the
outbreak he did all he could to deny the truth.

�No! No! Bad Energy Department. No bio-labs until you finish building your
electric car-charging stations. Stay in your lane!�

No matter what Drescher, Harrelson, or Robbins think, the industry�s COVID
protocols will stay in place through April 1 � if not longer.

--
Let's go Brandon!

In article <ttt13h$lj57$1@dont-email.me>,
Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:

> One of the perks of being a film critic is getting access to the stills
> shared by film studios.
>
> Example? The film CHAMPIONS offers multiple photos from the film's
> production to flesh out reviews and features based on the Woody Harrelson
> comedy.
>
> One image featured director Bobby Farrelly of THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY
> fame coaching his young actors while wearing a mask.
>
> It's not an isolated incident. Similar stills show masked-up artists on sets,
> often working with maskless actors. That's Hollywood, at least as it stands
> three years after the COVID pandemic swamped the planet.

Yes, if you're nostalgic for the heady times of the opening of the
pandemic, just visit any Hollywood production. It's like going to a
Renaissance Fair and stepping back in time, except instead of merry old
England, you find yourself in the summer of 2020. And you don't even get
a giant turkey leg to gnaw on.

On the STAR TREK after-show, READY ROOM there were behind-the-scenes
clips of the latest episodes of PICARD and everyone was wearing masks
and face shields and standing across the room from each other while
having conversations.

And any time they pan across the audience for one of those daytime or
late night talk shows, the entire audience is masked, even though, for
example, the bitter hags on THE VIEW are all sitting around a table
shouting into each other's faces unmasked.

There's no science whatsoever behind it anymore, just rote ritual, which
Hollywood refuses to relinquish. Maybe they collectively feel like if
they stop wearing masks, then Trump won, or something equally puerile.

> The rest of society has mostly ditched pandemic restrictions, many of which
> seem to have had little impact on curtailing the virus. Not Hollywood, where
> masking, vaccine mandates, and more remain the norm.

I recently looked into signing up with the companies that handle casting
extras for film, TV, and commercials. Figured it'd be a fun way to pick
up a few bucks, it'd get me out of the house, get a free meal or two,
and maybe see myself in a TV show or something.

So I started the online application only to find out that the rules in
effect at every major studio and production company mandate that every
job on a licensed production requires everyone to be double-vaxxed,
quadruple boosted, and you must wear a mask at all times when the
cameras are not rolling. You also have to take a Wuhan Flu test within
72 hours of your call time (at your expense) and then take a second
up-the-nose-and-scrape-the brain test each day of the shoot.

They also still have all those "zones" where everyone on the production
is assigned a zone and you're not allowed to cross from your zone into
another zone without three levels of permission. Violation of any of
these rules, even unintentionally, gets you fired and blacklisted from
any future work.

Given my level of tolerance for any of that bullshit, I decided to pass
on extra work until some level of sanity is restored to the business.

> THE NANNY alum Fran Drescher, the current SAG-AFTRA president, excoriated
> her peers for pursuing vaccine mandates long after their alleged usefulness
> was exposed. She shared that message during the recent SAG Awards gala.
>
> SAG AFTRA, or the Screen Actors Guild-- American Federation of Television and
> Radio Artists, is a labor union representing artists from across the creative
> spectrum. Think movie stars, directors, models, and radio personalities.
>
> "As the nation declares an end to the COVID emergency this May, I hope we
> will see everyone return to work in equal opportunity," she said during her
> podium time, demanding an end of the "bullshit COVID vaccine mandates".
>
> Her message came roughly the same time as Woody Harrelson uncorked a
> SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE monologue that poked holes in the virus protocols we've
> been forced to live under for years. The CHAMPIONS star shared a fictional,
> funny story about a wacky script in which Big Pharma forced everyone to take
> their medication or stay locked in their homes in perpetuity.
>
> And Harrelson wasn't done disrupting Hollywood's lockstep COVID narrative. He
> told The New York Times that a free country doesn't force its citizens to
> take medicine against their will.
>
> "I don't think that anybody should have the right to demand that you're
> forced to do the testing, forced to wear the mask, and forced to get
> vaccinated three years on," he said. "I'm just like, let's be done with this
> nonsense. It's not fair to the crews. I don't have to wear the mask. Why
> should they? Why should they have to be vaccinated? How's that not up to the
> individual? I shouldn't be talking about this [expletive]."
>
> Drescher and Harrelson's views came months after Oscar-winner Tim Robbins
> excoriated his industry for similar protocols.
>
> Robbins admits he sounded like every Hollywood star early in the pandemic. Do
> as your told. Lock down indefinitely. Listen to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
>
> Then, the BULL DURHAM star reached out to other people who questioned the
> narratives embraced in near uniformity by Hollywood, Inc. And something
> didn't feel right, especially when we learned the vaccines neither prevented
> transmission nor stopped the recipient from becoming infected.
>
> He shared his growing skepticism with Britain's Russell Brand, the quasi-
> socialist comic who has been aggressively red-pilled in recent years. Robbins
> noted talk of science came with an asterisk.
>
> "...to continue the policy of lockdowns or mandates after that didn't seem
> to be following the science. It was following a political agenda."
>
> Robbins also wondered why natural immunity, an established way to combat past
> viruses, was dismissed by so many, including Dr. Fauci, the nation's revered
> expert on the matter.
>
> Forcing artists to obey these rules, or else, made Robbins speak out on the
> matter. That practice crushed the careers of more than a few stars, including
> Clifton Duncan. The Broadway actor essentially left the industry because he
> refused to take the vaccine.
>
> By any measure comedian Rob Schneider was ahead of the curve when it came to
> protocol skepticism. The DEUCE BIGALOW star, who has drifted to the Right
> in recent years, publicly shared his unease with the COVID vaccines on
> Twitter in 2021 while nearly all of his peers signed off on the treatments.
>
> "Just say no... And keep saying no... Over Half of the US population is
> continuing to say no to this unapproved experimental gene therapy! "My body,
> my choice!"
>
> These voices still represent a fraction of the modern Hollywood landscape.
> Many stars might agree with them, but they fear professional repercussions
> for admitting so. Others cheated, plain and simple. They were part of a
> counterfeit vaccine status market where they pretended to play by the rules
> but still avoided the COVID jabs.
>
> Others appear happy with the status quo-- performing without masks while
> others mask up from start to finish.
>
> Stephen Colbert recently told his LATE SHOW audience about President Joe
> Biden's decision to rescind the emergency status tied to the pandemic.
>
> "I wish you could see the smiles on the faces in my audience. And I wish I
> could, too. Because they're still wearing masks."
>
> Colbert may represent the industry's rigid groupthink on the matter. When
> Colbert, a reliably progressive voice, learned that the Department of Energy
> determined the lab leak theory tied to COVID is the likely source of the
> outbreak he did all he could to deny the truth.
>
> "No! No! Bad Energy Department. No bio-labs until you finish building your
> electric car-charging stations. Stay in your lane!"
>
> No matter what Drescher, Harrelson, or Robbins think, the industry's COVID
> protocols will stay in place through April 1... if not longer.

On 3/3/23 1:14 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
> In article <ttt13h$lj57$1@dont-email.me>,
> Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
>
>> One of the perks of being a film critic is getting access to the stills
>> shared by film studios.
>>
>> Example? The film CHAMPIONS offers multiple photos from the film's
>> production to flesh out reviews and features based on the Woody Harrelson
>> comedy.
>>
>> One image featured director Bobby Farrelly of THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY
>> fame coaching his young actors while wearing a mask.
>>
>> It's not an isolated incident. Similar stills show masked-up artists on sets,
>> often working with maskless actors. That's Hollywood, at least as it stands
>> three years after the COVID pandemic swamped the planet.
>
> Yes, if you're nostalgic for the heady times of the opening of the
> pandemic, just visit any Hollywood production. It's like going to a
> Renaissance Fair and stepping back in time, except instead of merry old
> England, you find yourself in the summer of 2020. And you don't even get
> a giant turkey leg to gnaw on.

Nice to see you've finally sunk to the proper level. You and Pubie
deserve each other.