As readers of Hot Air know, I’m planning an Anti-Communist Film Festival next year in Washington, D.C. We want to rent out a theater and show anti-communist classics like The Lives of Others and I Was a Communist for the FBI.
We are also inviting celebrities, from James Woods to Alec Baldwin. We have a particular focus on actors and other creative people who have been blacklisted by far-left Hollywood.
High on that list is Kirk Cameron. Cameron, famous for playing heartthrob Mike Seaver in the 1980s sitcom Growing Pains, is now a conservative Christian who stars in faith-based movies like Fireproof and Saving Christmas. His hit Fireproof made over $30 million on a $6 million budget. Cameron has been married for 30 years and has six children, four of whom were adopted.
Cameron also understands and hates communism. He warned Christians about the evils of socialism in a 2020 interview with Fox. “I see people of faith waking up to the scary idea that socialism and communism are knocking on our doors this Halloween season,” Cameron said. He went on to blast the totalitarian COVID lockdowns: “They’re disguised in the costumes of public health and social justice, and our governor just deemed going to church nonessential and Thanksgiving with all my grown children in my living room, nonessential.”
Cameron is also personally a good guy. I interviewed the actor a few years ago when he was about to hold the first of a series of “camp meetings: focused on renewing faith with fellow Americans. “Revive Us.” (Cameron was the original Charlie Kirk.) At the time the interview was supposed to start, I got a call from Cameron’s PR person. He’d been trying to call my office for several minutes, but just got a recording saying the call could not go through. There was a problem with the line. I panicked a little and then told the PR person that I was going to have to call Cameron directly. This is an awkward situation for a lot of well-known actors; they’re understandably reluctant to give their number out, feeling it might result in harassment. It’s a particular concern for a man of faith like Cameron, who’s reviled among the secular left.
Cameron was great about it. I finally got through to him and apologized. I told him I felt embarrassed. Cameron could’ve become irritated or blasted me, but he was kind. We were quickly talking about “Revive Us,” faith, and the fact that he’s named after James Tiberius Kirk of the starship Enterprise. I recall this episode just because many celebrities can be nasty behind the scenes, and Cameron is not one of those celebrities. In short, when no one is looking, Kirk Cameron is a real Christian.
In our talk, Cameron told me that America is facing “a Red Sea moment.” It’s a phrase inspired by the biblical story of Moses parting the Red Sea. “I visit churches all over the country teaching marriage conferences,” Cameron said, “and I hear it all the time from couples. Moms are concerned about the future for their children. Dads know that something is broken, that the nation’s on the wrong track. And they wonder if America is frankly in the last days of being a great nation. And they’re very concerned. And I want to say to them, I think there’s never been a more exciting time in America to be a Christian—to be a person of deep faith in God. Because it’s when hope seems lost that God parts the waters, right? That’s when he splits the Red Sea. I think this could be a Red Sea moment for you, for me, for us in our American story.”
He continued, “I challenged the smartest, wisest, most faithful friends I have to answer the question: At times like this, what can we do? Their answers literally inspired me. They refreshed my mind, they revived my heart, they filled me with hope and optimism. And I said, I’ve got to get this out to other people.”
The Anti-Communist Film Festival is a part of our Red Sea moment and a way to convert hearts and minds, and souls. We will be showing classic films, but also want to inspire a new generation to make new pro-freedom films. There’s no better guest of honor than Kirk Cameron.
Note: You can contribute support for the festival by donating at the GoFundMe page for the project.
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