Being an early 80s baby, but a 90s kid, I got to sample the best of both worlds, having grown up just enough in that magical golden age we are all so nostalgic for these days, that I got to enjoy classic sitcoms before political correctness destroyed everything coming out of Hollywood. One of my favorites, even as a youngin’, was “Family Ties.” What kid in that era didn’t have a crush on Mallory? And how about Michael J. Fox playing Alex P. Keaton, a conservative high schooler in a family of liberals? Glorious.
Usually, when it comes to aging sitcom stars, as pop culture commentator Christian Toto states in his new piece for The Daily Wire, their careers in the modern era amount to either a stint on some awful reality show — or many of them — or produce really sad, tragic headlines for tabloid publications.
But not Justine Bateman, the actress who played Mallory on “Family Ties.” Instead of going down either one of those roads, she’s become, as Toto says, “Tinsel Town’s voice of uncommon reason.” I definitely didn’t have that one in my 2025 Bingo card. Did you?
And given the sorry state of the entertainment industry, which was infected with the woke mind-virus a long time ago, sacrificing creativity and meaning for liberal, politically correct sermons, it desperately needs as many of these kind of voices as possible.
Her breakout role in “Satisfaction” (1988) didn’t catch fire. She still appeared on the big and small screen for the next two decades. She eventually switched to gigs behind the camera, writing and directing indie films that didn’t crash the zeitgeist (2021’s “Violet.”) but attracted reputable stars (Justin Theroux, Olivia Munn). Still, she was working on her craft and, more importantly, observing the cultural landscape. Now, she has a lot to say and plenty of people are nodding along.
Bateman started speaking out in 2023 against AI’s reach into Hollywood fare. She became a voice during the dueling Hollywood strikes, warning what it meant to remove humans from the creative process.
“I think generative AI is one of the worst ideas we’ve ever had in this society,” she said in an interview with Deadline after the SAG AFTRA strike finally drew to a close in 2023. Full of confidence and having a clear point of view when the vast majority of Hollywood actors might have been scared to comment on the plethora of ways that artificial intelligence could impact creativity, she suddenly got ushered back into the spotlight.
However, according to Toto, the moment that really thrust her into the general public was her comments after the election results flooded in last November.
“Decompressing from walking on eggshells for the past four years,” she said in a post published on social media platform X. The post pulled in 6 million views.
Decompressing from walking on eggshells for the past four years.
— Justine Bateman (@JustineBateman) November 8, 2024
Seems Alex P. Keaton may have converted his sister after all.
That cryptic quote touched a nerve. And, like a Hollywood veteran who understands her audience, she leaned into the sentiment. She excoriated Cancel Culture and the “woke mind virus” without using those specific terms. She sensed a free speech comeback under a second Trump administration without ever putting on a red hat.
“I feel like there was this kind of suffocating cloud that was kind of over us… Regular people who had questions about decisions that were being made were threatened subtly or obviously into silence. And I feel like that’s been broken, that sort of suppression has been kind of broken,” the actress said.
Not long after that, Bateman started posting more content on x and Substack, also making appearances on different shows and podcasts, including Megyn Kelly’s program. Bateman has made it clear she has no loyalties to any political party, insisting that it isn’t about politics, wanting to reach more folks with an open mind.
“She also began a series of tongue-in-cheek video reviews where she assessed amateur filmmakers melting down over the election results. She wasn’t cruel or cutting, but she offered professional advice that similarly went viral,” Toto goes on to write.
Toto then provides us with a couple of examples:
“The second major issue is the unpredictability of the camera movements. Because the emotions are high, the scene would have benefitted from a locked-off camera position, or a slow, graceful movement. The jiggling of the camera doubles down on the emotions and is overkill.”
– The second major issue is the unpredictability of the camera movements. Because the emotions are high, the scene would have benefitted from a locked-off camera position, or a slow, graceful movement. The jiggling of the camera doubles down on the emotions, and is overkill. 2/
— Justine Bateman (@JustineBateman) November 7, 2024
Bateman recently weighed in on the incompetence of California Democrats due to their mishandling of the Los Angeles wildfires, taking shots at comedian Jon Stewart and others like him for trying to spin things in their favor. And this firebrand spares nobody’s feelings, not even if you’re royalty. The actress toasted Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle for being “disaster tourists” and putting themselves smack in the middle of this horrific tragedy.
“She’s even struck a blow against Hollywood ageism. She’s refused to get plastic surgery or Botox, letting the world see her 50-something face without apology. It’s not easy to greet the public as a fresh-faced teen on a hit sitcom and age like the rest of us. She’s proud of her accomplishments over her vanity,” Toto said.
He then added, “One irony stands out. Bateman’s brother, Jason Bateman, has been one of Hollywood’s more popular stars through the years. He, too, cut his teeth on sitcom fare like ‘Silver Spoons’ and ‘The Hogan Family.’ He kept working on high-profile projects, from iconic comedies (‘Arrested Development’) to comedic film franchises (‘Horrible Bosses’).”
Her brother continued his comeback by being the main star of the hugely popular Netflix drama, “Ozark,” and has also starred in films like “Air” and the popular Netflix film, “Carry On.”
“Jason Bateman has been mostly silent on the culture war front. He’s a Democrat but he hasn’t shouted his views from the rafters. He proved more sly, literally lending his voice to the progressive cause. He appears to be of a different mindset than his older sister, but the two speak fondly of one another in public forums,” the cultural commentator writes.
Thankfully, it appears his sister has far greater influence on folks than he does, which is a huge win for common sense.