An antidote to Hollywood's depravity

By Sam Sorbo

Participating on a panel as a filmmaker last summer, I was asked, "How would you define Hollywood?"

"Hollywood leads the culture," I answered. Reading those words back now, in light of the disgusting and disheartening allegations and accusations flying around the Hollywood/media establishment, makes me cringe. But there is hope on the horizon.

As a society, we have grown to worship Hollywood. We have a fascination with stars, movies, TV shows and all the glamor and pomp. Hollywood and the media, for obvious reasons, encourage this idolization. While I don't think that's inherently wrong – people need heroes and role models – it's time to reconsider our standards.

As a young actress, I was asked to do stripteases for auditions. I was propositioned as well, but I was both too naïve to recognize the "value," and too oblivious to feign interest – the consequences of a sheltered upbringing and some pretty staunch feminist values. I believed in merit-based success.

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Ayn Rand famously advocated that people's selfishness could be harnessed for the good of all. Without principles, however, people will use their power to get what they want. Laws don't stop criminals – they punish them after the crime. Virtue and fear are the only impediments to illicit behavior, and Harvey Weinstein lacked both.

Jane Fonda admits to having known about Weinstein's disgusting behaviors and not saying anything for over a year. The woman who posed before the guns of Hanoi was too scared. Others, also, have confessed they feared for their careers and livelihoods. The New York Times reportedly sat on the Weinstein story for over a year, and NBC spiked a similar story, ostensibly because they feared repercussions and/or implicitly approved of the so-called casting couch. Brad Pitt defended his girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow against Weinstein's unsolicited advances, but left the other women to their own defenses. Why?

Many people in Hollywood knew it was the way the game was played and, with their silence, approved. Don't challenge the Church of Cinema's high priests.

The number of people now coming forward to offer insights into what they knew and for how long makes my head spin. Too little, too late. It isn't enough to disclaim it now, if you weren't willing to speak out when it was happening. For evil to flourish, good men simply do nothing, which begs the question: What is a good man or woman?

It is someone with virtue enough to conquer both his or her fear and selfishness.

A man recently said to me, "Those young women had to know better. You don't go to a man's hotel room like that. …" Interesting sentiment, but the permissive culture in Hollywood encourages such ill-advised behavior. The hedonism celebrated in this town and in its product, entertainment, belies the #fakevirtue its devotees claim to have.

Hollywood embraces a culture of depravity, as seen in technicolor, thanks to at least two of its most prolific and celebrated. After all, this might be an entirely different conversation if Weinstein and Roman Polanski, the feted (you may read fetid) child rapist, had been shunned, right?

This is the culture it exports to the rest of us and all around the world, and it's time for a change.

It wasn't always like this. Classic films like "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Sound of Music," told uplifting stories with good moral messages – painting targets for society to aim for, heroes to emulate and moral dilemmas to rise above. We can demand and strive to regain that stature, because we have a choice at our local theaters, and with our ticket purchases, we can send a message to Hollywood and independent producers that we want our entertainment to reflect our values.

I recently produced, with my husband, Kevin Sorbo, a faith-based movie called "Let There Be Light." It is the story of a man who, struggling through grief, has an experience that forces him to reconsider his beliefs about family, fatherhood and life. I cowrote this film to engage, elevate and offer hope in a world where darkness encroaches. In many respects, this film represents a shining light in the gloom of current-day Hollywood filmmaking. It exemplifies what can be right in filmmaking, instead of celebrating wantonness. It inspires and uplifts, as audiences already attest.

Virtue encouraged can triumph over fear and selfishness. We should all seek to promote a culture of virtue, through film, media and any other means.

People who choose my film and other films like it will be encouraged to stand up for what is right and decry bullies like Weinstein. In contrast, people fully immersed in the culture of Hollywood manifestly don't.

See trailer for "Let There be Light":

Sam Sorbo cowrote and produced the film "Let There be Light," currently in theaters.