Hooray for 'Poliwood'

Showtime debuts an interesting "film essay" by and starring Academy Award winner Barry Levinson, who explores the intersection of politics and celebrity in "Poliwood" (7:30 tonight).

Levinson muses about the influence television has had in the political culture and how Americans see celebrities who get involved in political causes (answer: not in a positive light).

"Political shows learned from entertainment shows that conflict is important," Levinson says. "That's what drives the drama and now we're taking conflict into the political shows. So we have a Democrat and a Republican and they go at one another and that conflict becomes more interesting and that's what ultimately drives the ratings and ultimately that may be what creates this polarization that's taking place."

Interesting point, although I think it's one Jon Stewart made a few years ago.

In addition, the film follows members of the Creative Coalition -- who knew? it's non-partisan, I figured it was the decidedly liberal group it comes across as in this film -- some of whom exhibit mighty thin skin (cough, Josh Lucas, cough) when meeting with a Fox News Channel producer who tries to teach them more effective communication tools.