Bret Easton Ellis might seem an unlikely critic of the left. He portrayed a Wall Street financier as a killer in his 1991 novel, “American Pyscho,” and yuppies as ruled by the dollar and cocaine in his 1985 novel, “Less Than Zero.” But today Easton is attacking the liberalism he used to “semi-align myself with” as hysterical, ideologically bankrupt and anti-free speech.
“As someone who considers themselves a disillusioned Gen-X’er, I think there IS a backlash brewing against leftist hysteria,” he told the Observer. “What I used to semi-align myself with has no answers for anything right now, just constant bitching and finding ways to delegitimize an election.”
Ellis has previously been critical of hysterics over Trump. He said last year political discussions were “ruining” his conversations in Hollywood, and that he was called a “Trump apologist” and accused of “colluding with Russia,” while leaving his hotel in Los Angeles. He suggested liberals should “get a grip” on their feelings about the president.
But Ellis has not backed down. He told the Observer Hollywood is being “hysterically emotional about its liberalism” by refusing to accept the reality that voters put Trump into office. “You can dislike the fact that he was elected, yes, definitely, and yet still understand and accept ultimately that he was elected,” he said.
Ellis said it’s hypocritical for liberals claim they’re proponents of creative freedom and not making money: “[Hollywood] is one of the least inclusive capitalist societies that exist—pure corporate culture with corporate rules. It’s about caving in creatively to the global marketplace and, for example, if that means no gay characters in movies because they won’t play in certain territories then so be it.”
He warned of a “backlash brewing against leftist hysteria,” citing Kanye West’s support for the president, and was dismissive of Democrats’ confident predictions that they will take over the House and Senate in the 2018 elections.
“If I was a hardcore Democrat I’d be very worried despite the blue wave of 2018, that may or may not fully arrive,” he said.
His political leanings are unclear at this point, though his assertion he is not a “hardcore Democrat” suggests he is a moderate liberal. Regardless, the backlash against him validates what he and others have asserted about liberals trying to muzzle free speech. By reacting hysterically rather than engaging Ellis in reasoned debate, they validate his assertion that the president has made them unhinged.
Sometimes the biggest recruiter for the conservative cause seems to be the hysterical left. Ellis may or not be a born-again-conservative like James Woods and his fellow writer David Mamet, but he is spot on that hysterical leftists are losing their grip on reality and letting the attention junkie that is Donald Trump be the center of their universe.