
There was a time especially during the Cold War when Hollywood and politics were far removed from each other.
If someone tried mixing them the result might mean spending some time behind bars like the legendary 'Hollywood Ten', the scriptwriters who were jailed on suspicion of being Communists.
But this year changed it all, the year that will go down in history as the year when America voted Barrack Obama, a black American as President and political affiliations became a must have accessory, to be flaunted in the tinsel town.
2008 could be termed the year Hollywood met politics and fell in love with it.
Obama's win gave the world many a 'Kodak moments' but the best picture award would go to none other than the talk show queen Oprah Winfrey. Weeping on the shoulder of a stranger at Obama's victory rally, and gushing uncontrollably on her post election show, the host can surely claim a little credit for the triumph of her ‘favourite guy’.
Oprah was one of the first celebrities to have openly come out in support of the now President elect, Obama.
And just like the rest of the world, even Hollywood was broken up into camps, each with a favourite candidate. And the Democratic side outnumbered the Republican camp by a good number.
At the beginning of the year when Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama were still battling it out for the Democratic ticket both sides made sure that they had enough celebrity endorsement to back up their political agendas.
... contd.