Focusing his tome hollywood left and right how movie stars shaped american politics on 10 of the movie industrys larger than life figures from the early 1900s to the present he makes a convincing case that hollywood has largely written and continues to write the script for modern american politics. Steven j ross challenges two pieces of conventional wisdom about hollywood and american politics that the film industry has always been a bastion of the poli. Hollywood left and right how movie stars shaped american politics in hollywood left and right steven j ross tells a story that has escaped public attention the emergence of hollywood as a vital center of political life and the important role that movie stars have played in shaping the course of american politics. In hollywood left and right steven j ross tells a story that has escaped public attention the emergence of hollywood as a vital center of political life and the important role that movie stars