The glitz and glamour of Hollywood never seems to disappoint those that follow the world of high-fashion, celebrity gossip, and of course, achievement in film. But somehow I find that Hollywood's biggest night of the year is always tainted with sadness to me. This year was no exception.

Okay, so it wasn't as bad as 2005, when Brokeback Mountain, a movie about two cowboys having a homosexual relationship, was nominated for more awards than any other, and won three, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. But on a night that started off with a tribute to Hollywood Musicals and hosted by a man who has one of the longest-running happy marriages in the entire film industry (Hugh Jackman is still married to his bride of 20 years, which is the Hollywood equivalent of inhaling a piano), I guess it came as a slap in the face when Sean Penn won Best Actor and proceeded to scold the majority of the population, who voted in support of the recently passed referendums on marriage. After thanking the Academy for being “commie homo-loving suns of guns,” he proceeded to say that those who supported the ban on gay marriage should “sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support. We've got to have equal rights for every one.”

Okay, I know I'm preaching to the choir to an extent here, but this really irks me. Apparently Mr. Penn forgets that the “equal rights” that he clamors for would be, by nature, universal. If some of the population has the right to believe that homosexuals should have the right to marry, then the rest of the population has the right to believe that they should not. But, whatever--Sean Penn is an Oscar-winning actor, so he must have a better pulse on what America needs than the majority of Americans, who voted their wishes in November, and in every state where a proposition on marriage was on the ballot, they stood in support of the protection of heterosexual marriage.

So, to Mr. Penn and all the other “disenfranchised” people out there in Hollywood, I have a little lesson in politics for you today. There are only two explanations for a vote to not go your way: you are either failing to communicate your idea, or the majority just doesn't agree with you. In this instance, the media was all over the issue, and for the most part were grossly slanting the news in favor of homosexual marriage, so you can't claim that people didn't understand the idea. Therefore, the only explanation is that the majority doesn't agree with you. Now, when the majority doesn't agree with you, you have two choices – you either accept that majority rules, or you decide to practice some sort of aristocracy, or oligarchy, where an elite few decide the fate of the masses. And of course, Mr. Penn has decided to go with the latter, attempting to use his lofty post as Oscar-Winning Actor to shame the rest of us into submission.

I have news for you, Mr. Penn: I am not ashamed. And I believe that neither are the rest of those who supported the marriage propositions across the country. We had our reasons. Many of us had differing reasons, but we all had them. They were enough then to overlook our sadness for the individuals who would have their feelings hurt by our decision, and to instead focus on what we gain by protecting marriage. For you to now attempt to ignite some fire of shame in us, and some fire of contempt toward us in those who are persuaded by your call for shame, is as immature as it is irresponsible.

But honestly, Mr. Penn's comments at the awards were not the biggest deal of the night to me – It was the applause of the audience in response to his comments that really send a sense of urgency to me. It made me realize something really poignant: Hollywood is not going to stop.

You see, I sometimes allow myself to think that Hollywood is like New York. In New York, they film “Saturday Night Live,” and a host of late night shows. These shows make fun of every president. They made fun of Bill Clinton's lasciviousness about as much as they made fun of George W. Bush's poor oratory skills.

But Hollywood is much more constant. They have their liberal president now, right? In the same speech that Penn tried to incite some voters to shame, he went on to take a stab at all the past presidents of the United States of America, saying that “I'm very, very proud to live in a country that is willing to elect an elegant man president.” This, of course assumes that no president until this one has been elegant. But I digress.

So they have their president now, and yet they are not happy – they must push through every agenda that they have, and when they are out of agendas, they will find another one. They will continue to infringe on the rights of the majorities in order to champion the rights of the minorities, whether those minorities be homosexuals, convicted murderers and terrorists, or the spotted owl. And their voice will continue until there is no one to buy their films and give them the stage that they have.

Given this information, I send out my urgent plea to those within the scope of my influence: let's not let Hollywood choose the shape of our nation. Let us choose.

Let us choose to make and support good entertainment. This means that when something comes along that is completely in line with our values, let us attend the film, purchase the DVD or Blu-Ray or CD or iTunes album or whatever, and if the thing is NOT completely in line with our values, let us NOT attend it, purchase it or support it. Have we really thought about the consequences would be if we did that? Think about it!

Hollywood is not going to make a movie that decries the effects of socialism in our society, such as a film version of “Atlas Shrugged.” But we can.

Hollywood is not going to make a movie celebrating the man who lost his job in a Los Angeles theater company because of his stance on gay marriage. But we can.

Hollywood is not going to make a movie that extols the men and women who fight through tough times to stay married. But we can.

Yes, we can.

Oh, and more importantly, we should.

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