Netflix waiting to see how Georgia’s ‘heartbeat’ abortion bill battle plays out
Netflix said it will rethink its ‘entire investment in Georgia’ if the ‘heartbeat’ abortion bill goes into effect in January.
As the state legislative season winds down, many Southeastern states have passed strong pro-life legislation.
Many of these states are also locations for dozens of film and television projects. Due to these laws, some of the largest media conglomerates in the world, such as Netflix, Disney, and Warner, have threatened to cease production in Georgia. Given that Louisiana passed similar legislation, similar threats seem certain.
Both Louisiana and Georgia should be so lucky if the companies follow through on their threats.
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Since 2009 Georgia has given an astounding $4 billion in subsidies for the honor of production crews pretending that Wakanda (Black Panther) is in Georgia. Not far behind, Louisiana has given $1.5 billion while my home state of North Carolina has provided nearly $400 million in handouts to Hollywood, through tax credits and direct subsidies.
If you have ever wondered why any of these states were being thanked at the end of a Marvel film, it wasn’t out of the goodness of Hollywood’s heart, but rather it’s an obligation to be eligible for the millions of dollars doled out by the states.
Why have politicians been so eager to give taxpayer dollars to billion-dollar studios? Hollywood has long promised that these credits would boost tourism, spur economic activity, and lead to a permanent film infrastructure in whatever state was buying what they were selling.
The studies that haven’t been doctored with Hollywood special effects have found the benefits from these Hollywood handouts to be sorely lacking, returning only roughly 30 cents on the dollar. Furthermore, the swift willingness and ability to move from state to state indicates a lack of long-term infrastructure investment by studios into those states that give so generously with the public’s money.
As far as any non-economic benefit, Georgia is currently experiencing firsthand how much goodwill they have bought with their billions of taxpayer dollars. Georgia is being bullied by the very corporations that lawmakers tried to lure their through various subsidies.
It seems Hollywood was happy to lobby for more and more of citizens hard earned money. But the second those very same citizens decided that protecting life was important to them, Hollywood has gone out of their way to denounce the very people who built their beach houses.
If that hypocrisy wasn’t bad enough, the shock that Hollywood is feigning over southern states being pro-life is richer than Bob Iger. While these bills are aggressive about protecting life anyone with even basic political knowledge isn’t surprised by them. Majorities of the population of states which have enacted such legislation are pro-life, some overwhelmingly so. Thus, it’s no shock that the elected officials they send to their state House are also pro-life. And this pro-life attitude cuts beyond partisan politics as Louisiana’s bill was signed by Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards and sponsored by an African American Democrat Katrina Jackson.
Were these beliefs of the elected officials perfectly fine as long as they were shoveling money to Hollywood and not acting on their pro-life beliefs?
What Georgia is currently experiencing and what Louisiana may soon experience is unfortunately nothing new to the people of North Carolina.
While North Carolina has currently avoided the wrath of Hollywood, it wasn’t so long ago that similar things were happening to the Tar-Heel state. The NCAA and the NBA pulled events from North Carolina, and PayPal withdrew plans for a corporate expansion over legislation these organizations deemed anti-LGBT.
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This whole saga goes to show the folly of trying to buy favor with liberal corporations and organizations with taxpayer dollars. These organizations are happy to fly in, hire expensive lobbyists, and tout the benefits of giving them millions of taxpayer dollars to grace your state with their presence. But the minute your state’s politics differ from their liberal orthodoxy; you’ll be met with threats and accusations while they simultaneously continue to cash their checks.
States have been funding those that detest their values with taxpayer dollars for too long. Here’s hoping Georgia calls Hollywood’s bluff and starts acting fiscally responsible at the same time.
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