The Death of the Blacklist (and the Organized Left)

The end of Bernstein's memoir really gets into the heart of the blacklist and the post war crisis in the American left. I was most impressed by the work that Bernstein and his friends did on the television series You Are There. They were able to write almost all of the scripts for the show despite the blacklist, and managed to deal with controversial issues of war, civil rights and repression. Berstein writes that their “scrupulous research” and the approval of “distinguished history professors” allowed them to get away with it. However, that does not overshadow the fact that many industry professionals knew that Bernstein and his blacklisted friends were writing the scripts. This, paired with the studio executives' disavowal of the blacklist, shows that it only had to exist in appearance. Bernstein repeatedly states that his contacts on TV shows only needed a body that they could show to higher ups and investors.

As the communist witch hunt continued, it became increasingly difficult to maintain the fervor of the red scare. I would imagine that the lack of talent in the entertainment industry was difficult to maintain economically as well. With so many of the best actors, producers, directors and writers blacklisted studios were almost forced into breaking their self imposed censorship in order to continue making worthwhile (and lucrative) programming. Even though fear of losing advertisers led to the blacklist, the real costs of losing talent seems to have brought about the end of studio blacklists in the entertainment industry due to its unending hunger for new material and talented people.

I think that Bernstein's final thoughts about communism show the ultimate success of the red scare. When talking about communism, he always discusses the intense feeling of community among fellow party members, especially those who faced political persecution. However, he eventually left the party, as did most of his friends. In part, Bernstein blames this on Khrushchev's revelations at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party shedding light on the atrocities committed by Stalin. But even before this, Bernstein hints at growing dissatisfaction within the party, especially due to unquestioning allegiance to the Soviet Union. In many ways, this could be seen as the success of the blacklist and the red scare in general. Since any communist affiliation was taboo (especially to ambitious, intelligent individuals), the party could not develop or grow in America. The blacklist almost certainly prevented many young people entering the entertainment industry after WWII from supporting anything that could be perceived as “red.” As a result, the red scare was pretty successful. Even with blacklisted writers and actors working again, it choked many leftist movements to death.