Rather than an act of forgiveness, the announced honorary Academy Award that legendary film director Elia Kazan will receive this March should be considered an act of justice.
     Kazan, a "friendly" witness for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), has long been criticized for telling the committee the facts about communist activities in Hollywood and the American theatre.
     Kazan's testimony was the act of a courageous, principled man, not an "informer." He was revealing facts about how an evil ideology, communism, was influencing Hollywood and the American theatre; an ideology favoring America's enemy, the USSR. HUAC was examining this threat to national security.
     By joining the Communist Party, filmmakers, screenwriters, playwrights and actors were not merely making an ideological statement. They agreed to take orders to commit criminal and treasonable actions, since the Party, and the Soviet government it served, was openly dedicated to the overthrow of the U.S. government and all of America's freedoms, including the freedom of speech and thought. The blacklist that followed the HUAC investigations was a proper response by the film studios.
     Kazan, in short, did nothing wrong or immoral. He acted as a patriot in the face of evil. "Forgiving" Kazan just compounds the injustice done to him by Hollywood Reds.