Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 02/02/24

An actor who won’t pretend. If there was ever a natural actor it’s Ricky Schroder. He was just nine days shy of his ninth birthday when, without ever having taken a single acting lesson, he made his film debut in 1979’s The Champ. His role, as the devoted son of Jon Voight‘s doomed boxer, led to him becoming the youngest performer to ever win a Golden Globe award. From there more movies followed, leading to his starring role in the hit eighties family sitcom Silver Spoons playing the responsible son of a less serious toy tycoon (Joel Higgins).

Unlike many child actors, he successfully transitioned into adult roles (often billed as Rick Schroder) turning in numerous memorable performances. His impressive resume includes in the blockbuster western miniseries Lonesome Dove (part of an all-star ensemble that included Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Diane Lane, Robert Urich and Anjelica Huston) the big screen military drama Crimson Tide (holding his own in a stellar cast that included Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman and James Gandolfini), hit TV shows such as NYPD Blue, Scrubs, Strong Medicine and 24 as well as successful TV movies like The Lost Battalion (a personal favorite of his), Our Wild Hearts (a Schroder family affair that he also co-wrote and directed) and Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors and its sequel Christmas of Many Colors. Beyond acting, he established himself as a writer, director and producer with credits that include the aforementioned Our Wild Hearts and the miniseries The Fighting Season.

Yet for all his undeniable acting ability (and other talents), he could not pretend to endorse the negative values he believes Hollywood spews out on a regular basis – which brings us to the Reel American Heroes Foundation, a nonprofit development and production house he views as a sort of PBS for patriotic conservatives.

JWK: So, tell me about the Reel American Heroes Foundation.

Ricky Schroder: Reel American Heroes is a nonprofit charity whose mission is to tell stories about the values, principles and people who built this great nation called the United States of America. I saw Hollywood falling away for a long time, not telling some of the stories that I wanted to be told…This is a way to counteract some of that negative programming. Our goal is to tell stories (through) films and documentaries and build sort of a nonprofit kind of mentality with all the films. All the resources go back into helping other storytellers and other filmmakers, hopefully with scholarships, to tell their own stories.

JWK: You describe it as sort of a conservative or patriotic PBS.

RS: Yeah, like a patriotic PBS would be the goal – where we have counterprogramming to the mainstream narrative that comes from Hollywood and, unfortunately, sometimes even PBS.

JWK: It seems to me to be like a crowdfunding concept, something like Angel Studios with perhaps slightly less focus on faith and slightly more on patriotism.

RS: That’s a for-profit venture. This is a nonprofit, a 501c3. Anytime we release content – people purchase our content – it’s a tax-deductible event for them. So, the resources that will come into the foundation will be used to produce other  stories and tell other people’s good worthy tales

JWK: I was on your website and see that you have three films currently in development. Would you care to talk about them?

RS: Mile Zero is the true story of a Navy SEAL named Chris Ring. He came home from combat in Afghanistan…He wanted to do something to reconnect with America and why he fought for this country. So, he swam 2400 down the Mississippi River – from the headwaters in Minnesota at Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico which is Mile Zero. That’s essentially one mile for every service member killed in combat operations out there. It’s a story about him reconnecting with his love for the country along the Mississippi River. It looks at the downstream effects of war, the PTSD issues that warriors face sometimes. So, that’s Mile Zero. It’s a true story.

JWK: Another film you have in development is called Wanat. What’s that about?

RS: Wanat is the story of a combat patrol that was left hanging out to dry. They weren’t given the resources to complete their mission. It was a terrible tragedy that happened, a true story. It happened on July 13th, 2008. There were 13 killed in a village called Wanat (in Afghanistan). These young men were sent to build a combat outpost but not given the resources they needed to complete their mission – but they were sent out anyway. It’s their story.

JWK: The third project I see listed is a documentary series which, I guess, is being used to launch the Foundation’s Council on Pornography Reform (CPR).

RS: Correct. Erotic Erosion is a documentary series that we’re in production now on that looks at the harmful effects of pornography and internet porn as it’s been pushed into the American public and the world for forty years now. Did you know that when (internet) pornography first came out it was all in the .XXX pipeline? It was controllable when it was in .XXX but certain people fought the .XXX pipeline and they shut it down. That moved adult content in the .com world. Parents were unable to put a block on the router in their house to effectively block digital content from their homes and their phones.

JWK: That’s interesting. I never knew that. 

RS: One of our goals for CPR is to move all adult content back into the .XXX (realm) where it’s better controlled.

JWK: With regard to the Reel American Heroes Foundation, one reason you’re launching it is that you see a gulf between Hollywood’s values and your own. Tell me about that. What kind of negative messaging do you think Hollywood is putting out that you want to counteract?

RS: What really offends me is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – which I’m a member of since I’m eight years old. They changed the guidelines in the recent past for the Best Picture category. To be eligible for the Best Picture category, the highest award in the land for film, you have to have certain story themes and minorities represented in the cast and the crew…I’m offended by that because we ask soldiers and others that wear the uniform to answer the call and to serve our nation and then, for example, Saving Private Ryan wouldn’t be eligible for the Best Picture category today because it doesn’t have those story themes and (meet) those requirements. Art is free. Art should always be free. Art should not be controlled. When the Academy did that I realized that Hollywood has fallen.

JWK: How did your commitment to military veterans come about?

RS: I come from a family that fought in World War II…I heard their stories. My great uncle was a captain in General Patton‘s army. He was with him through the campaign. As a child I heard stories of Patton’s Third Army and what they did to liberate the Jews and destroy evil.

JWK: And you feel that Hollywood has moved away from recognizing that kind of valor?

RS: I believe that when you try to control the narrative and the stories and try to socially engineer what people think, you’ve lost your way. It’s not from a biblical perspective anymore. Back in the old days – when you watch old movies – the (lead) characters always did good things. They made the right choices. It seems to me Hollywood has gotten confused on their morals, their values, where they stand and what they represent. People that watch these films out in America, these (movies) have an impact on us. They go into our minds and our thoughts. These images are put in our brains from these stories Hollywood puts out.

JWK: They say politics is downstream from culture, right?

RS: Politics is definitely downstream from culture. The front line is Hollywood.

JWK: You have a really great resume as an actor, producer, writer and director. Do you feel that your career has taken a hit because of your conservative stances?

RS: I wasn’t ever invited to the cool parties because I was different. I wasn’t an actor, I was kind of an asset. That’s a different discussion. So, I never quite fit in in Hollywood. I was never in the club, so to speak. I was always on the periphery of the club. I think that sort of shaped my whole career from the beginning. I never wanted to be in the club – which I’m thankful for.

JWK: I guess you kind of had to make the choice. Do you stand by what you believe in or do you go along to get along and maybe have more roles and opportunities come your way? You’ve certainly been part of some really top-notch productions but, as you say, Hollywood has shifted somewhat.

RS: Yeah, Hollywood is a difficult place to keep your values, standards and morals. It’s not an easy place to do that. It wasn’t easy for me – and, believe me, I lost my way out there but, thankfully, I found my way back to Jesus. Jesus isn’t popular in Hollywood.

JWK: You began your career in The Champ playing the son of Jon Voight. He, of course, is also an outspoken Hollywood conservative. Do you two keep in touch?

RS: I’m waiting for a call back. I texted him the other day. Yeah, we’ve kept in touch over the years. We still talk.

JWK: So that relationship has endured. That’s nice. How can people support you in what you’re doing?

RS: We accept donations. We are a nonprofit. So, they can contribute that way. They can also send us their ideas. What we need to build is an army of storytellers. To really get “Patriot PBS” going we need others to bring us their concepts that we can help them develop and put out better content and better programming for the United States and the world.

JWK: What’s next for you?

RS: We’re gonna continue working on Erotic Erosion, getting more content put together. That’s keeping us busy. I have a cattle ranch out here. Our first calf was born like three days ago. So, we’re gonna be doing some farming and growing cows…I’m in love with a woman. It’s amazing. My kids are around a bunch. So, life is really good right now.
_____