#METOO and #TIMESUP – From the Red Carpet to the Movement against Sexual Harassment at OSCARS 2018

March 15, 2022

Author/Author: Ph.D.  ,  

Translator/Translator: Doan Thi Ngoc – Teacher-Lecturer, Hoa Sen University (HSU)

The Oscars on television often do conventional work such as: having passionate speeches interwoven with melodious orchestral music, having winning opening monologues, and ensuring The duration is sufficient or exceeds the speaking time. But this year’s ceremony brings with it potential challenges to this conventional tradition. Before the #MeToo and #Times Up movements, people were still unclear about who would be welcomed at this solemn ceremony, what artists and act resses would wear on the red carpet, and what the results would be. Which bomb of truth will be dropped in acceptance speeches?

Tarana Burke, the civil rights activist who first politicized the phrase “Me Too” explains that the expulsion of Oscar winner Harvey Weinstein from the Academy was a welcome relief for actresses who have had to “pretend” in his presence at past awards shows. 

James Franco, whose sexual assault allegations (which he has denied or denied) may have derailed his Oscar hopes, also did not attend the solemn ceremony. His absence is a clear signal that Hollywood will no longer take lightly accusations of abuse of power and position, despite his Golden Globe-winning success The Disaster Artist.

However, with allegations from a former employee of sexual assault against him, which he has denied, Ryan Seacrest has decided to do red carpet interviews for E! News, which shows that a history of ignoring potentially questionable behavior by celebrities like Woody Allen and Roman Polanski hasn’t been completely overcome.

At this year’s Golden Globes, women showed solidarity with victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault by wearing black. Eight actresses, including Emma Watson, were accompanied by activists who deal with sexual harassment and gender inequality. At the Grammy Awards, musicians including Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper wore white or white rose outfits.

The presence of activists at the Golden Globes suggests that the sexual harassment movement needs to move beyond symbolic costumes to real change. The Time’s Up movement does not wear black outfits on the Oscars red carpet. Filmmaker Ava DuVernay says this is because it’s “not about the red carpet,” but about “being activists.”

The Time’s Up movement was sparked by 300 privileged women in the entertainment industry, but it also encompasses women’s global struggle to avoid sexual assault and sexual harassment in the workplace. A letter from Alianza Nacional de Campesinas sent to the founders of the Time’s Up movement on how the issue of sexual assault and sexual harassment has affected more than 700.000 women, these women are the vulnerable people with no public profile. Since then, Time’s Up has raised more than $21 million to empower vulnerable women in underprivileged professions to pursue sexual harassment and sexual assault cases in the workplace.

Time’s Up’s expansion toward more marginalized people was evident in this year’s Oscars segment and introduced by three famous actress victims who accused Weinstein, namely Salma Hayek, Ashley Judd, and Annabella Sciorra. Hayek paid tribute to “the eternal souls who are resilient and dare to overcome stereotypes about their gender, race, and ethnicity, to tell their stories of harassment.”.

In addition to montage, prominent writers, directors, producers, and actors have advocated for diverse stories on film to reinforce the call to reduce the permanent presence of white men in film. entertainment industry. Academy Award-nominated and Pakistani-American writer Kumail Nanjiani suggests that we should not ignore the notion that only stories about white men are relevant to audiences: “Some films My favorites are movies by white guys and about real white guys. Now those white guys can watch movies that I star in and you guys can relate to that. It’s not that difficult. I’ve been doing that my whole life. ”

Contrary to the Golden Globes, allowing women to speak out about sexual harassment was a wise decision, but the majority of men remained silent about it. Jimmy Kimmel, the host of the Oscars, could not ignore the emphasis on Weinstein’s removal from the Academy. Kimmel acknowledged that the film industry is a test case for ending sexual harassment in all workplaces. In a testament to the far-reaching effects of gender inequality, Kimmel humorously said: “If we could do that, women  would just  have to face harassment all the time.” only when they are present.”

Best Actress winner Frances McDormand used her win to celebrate all women in the film industry. While the women in the audience stood and applauded, she encouraged those in the film industry to support women in the creative projects they wanted to pursue. She also emphasized the obvious fact that until now only one woman has been awarded the title of best director at the Oscars. 

The 90-year history of the Academy Awards shows that there is still a belief that women are less valuable or lack commercial potential than men. This will continue to reinforce the misconception that women are incapable of turning stories into movies.

There is no doubt that the decline in female experience and capacity leads to the misperception that they are only background and useful for sexual attraction. In the film industry, simply changing the films can change the reality of gender inequality.

The Conversation newspaper and author  ,  allowed Gendertalkviet to translate into Vietnamese and post the full text. On behalf of the Gender Talk Editorial Board, we would like to send our sincere thanks to the Author and The Conversation Newspaper for allowing us to republish the full text. The contributions of The Conversation Newspaper and the author are very valuable and meaningful.  

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Original link: //theconversation.com/metoo-and-timesup-move-off-the-red-carpet-and-towards-activism-at-2018-oscars-92723

Vietnamese Link: //gendertalkviet.blogspot.com/2022/03/metoo-va-timesup-tu-tham-o-chuyen-sang.html