Angelica Babiera | Arts Editor
Featured image: Celebrities wear black for the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. | Courtesy of ABC News
When the awards season approaches, it can be hard to avoid the media’s coverage. Social media feeds are plastered with red carpet looks, who’s-going-to-win arguments, and the controversial topics that arise with every show, film, and album.
In 2016, the Academy Awards was accused of being racist for not nominating enough Black, Latino, and Asian actors and films. The 2016 Academy Awards host, Chris Rock, coined the Academy Awards as the “White People Choice Awards” for their lack of diversity. Many wanted Rock to boycott the event and quit the job, in order to send a message of protest.
In 2017, the Grammys became one of the most political shows in its history. It gave musicians a platform to stand up against the U.S. government for their policies on immigration laws that President Donald Trump made regarding his “Muslim ban.” The night was filled with signs, symbols, and slogans that represented solidarity and power.
This year, the awards season primarily focused on sexual assault. This all began with the sexual allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, which sparked a conversation about sexual assault in the workplace. Since then, thousands of women and men have shared their own experiences with sexual assault and harassment, outing others for their crimes. The Larry Nassar trial has been the most recent addition to the conversation.
The recent #MeToo campaign and Time’s Up movement has filled the awards season with talks of powerlessness, social change on the way people raise their children—especially young boys—and female empowerment. The awards season, more than ever, has become the catalyst for social change.
During the 2018 Golden Globes, many celebrities wore black attire as an homage to the Time’s Up campaign, a movement founded by Hollywood celebrities to fight against systemic sexual harassment.
Actors like Meryl Streep, Emma Watson, and Natalie Portman each donated money to the movement to start a fund for less-privileged women and men who have experienced some form of sexual harassment, abuse, and assault in the workplace.
The movement’s initiatives are as follows: A $13 million legal fund administered by the National Women’s Law Center to help low-income women and men seek justice for sexual harassment and assault in the workplace, advocating for legal punishment on companies that allow for persistent harassment and assault to continue, a movement toward gender parity in studio and talent agencies, and for women to wear all-black attires on the red carpet and speak about their own experiences of sexual assault.
The room for the 2018 Golden Globes was a sea of black gowns and black suit and ties, standing in solidarity with those who have experienced such a cruel fate.
Even celebrities who attended the Grammys this year wore the Time’s Up pins, with signs or symbols on their outfits to convey that they too are standing up against systemic oppression and sexual assault.
John Mercado, a fourth-year Marketing undergraduate, explains his thoughts on the matter: “I was just thinking that the #MeToo movement is really something that empowers other women to stand up and have their voices heard, but I feel that in some aspects, it’s gone too far.
“Take Hedley for example—because of several unproven allegations, they had to cancel their Juno appearance, and will most likely lose lots of fans.
“What I’m trying to say is, who do we believe? Just because someone alleges that a certain celebrity was involved in misconduct, does that mean we take their word right away? We as a society should be neutral, and try to search for the truth and listen to both sides of the story. Otherwise, the validity of some cases may be diminished.”
Mercado proves a very strong point. There are many who may not have the most honest information or sources, and a person may perhaps be lying about their experiences, in the sake of tainting another’s reputation.
However, at the same time, the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements are still continuing the much-needed conversation on sexual harassment and assault.
It’s definitely better to have a platform to voice one’s opinions and experiences and shed a light on a heavy topic, rather than not have one at all.
