“Shut up and act.” “Shut up and sing.” “Shut up and dance.” “Just shut up.” These are the kinds of phrases flung at celebrities whenever they are onstage accepting an award and voicing their political opinion. Actors, writers and directors (but mostly actors) have used their acceptance speeches to offer their own take on the world for many decades now, but we have seen a huge influx of this coinciding with the rise of the Trump regime. Celebs are now speaking on illegal immigration, LGBT rights, equal pay for women, the incarceration of blacks in America, and so much more. Some are bashing Trump outright.
This has now caused conservative commentators to voice their outrage on social media. Any news story that has a headline like this: “[Celebrity] Wins [Award], Speaks Out Against [Hotly-Contested Partisan Issue]” will feature dozens of commenters writing about “typical liberal Hollywood” or “out of touch elites” or “rich idiots living in a bubble” or my favorite, “stick to acting!” There is this pervading sense that artists have no place voicing their political opinions, the equivalent of “dance, monkey, dance.” In fact, I’ve seen this attitude thrown around on more than one occasion, saying actors play make believe and they’re simply “here for my entertainment,” nothing more. They’re here to come in the room with their jester hat, make a few goofy faces, and leave without another word. Why would I want to hear the opinions of a mere jester, they argue. Of course, when one of those jesters happens to agree with their political beliefs, say, Clint Eastwood or Jon Voight, the problem suddenly washes away and they root them on.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards that aired earlier this year featured predominantly political acceptance speeches, having taken place a week after Donald Trump’s inauguration. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep) spoke on being the daughter of an immigrant. Orange Is the New Black star Taylor Schilling spoke on the show’s diverse cast and how showing what unites us is stronger than those who try to divide us. Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) discussed being a Muslim in America. Sarah Paulson (The People v. O.J. Simpson) encouraged those watching to donate to the ACLU. Stranger Things star David Harbour suggested essentially punching people in the face who continuously seek to destroy the marginalized. This felt like the apex of political relevance at an award show in recent years, but it looks like we may be heading into yet another apex in a few weeks.
The Primetime Emmy Awards are coming on Sunday, Sept. 17 with host Stephen Colbert. Colbert has been one of Trump’s biggest critics over the past year, frequently dedicating long monologues on The Late Show to his incompetence. This may foretell another big monologue about the various travails of the Trump administration. Oddly enough, such a topic would be more relevant here than any other award shows, considering many of the series nominated covered the election and the presidency throughout the television season. In addition to The Late Show there’s Saturday Night Live, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Late Late Show with James Corden, and Real Time with Bill Maher, plus shows that cover politically relevant topics, like Veep, House of Cards, The Handmaid’s Tale, Transparent, Atlanta, black-ish, Billy on the Street, and The Night Of.
It would not be a surprise to see a very political Emmys this year, with how politics has completely dominated the conversation throughout 2017. As Samantha Bee said in a recent chat with Gold Derby, “there’s never been a time that I’ve been aware of where people were more engaged, politically,” since she began doing political satire so many years ago. People on both sides of the aisle are fired up. They’re voicing their opinions, they’re bringing awareness to what’s gone wrong with the country (definitions vary greatly depending on which side you favor), and they’re advocating for change. As such, we should expect many political, fiery speeches, especially if we have wins from the stars of the aforementioned shows. They’re not going to shut up just because some Trump supporters are telling them they have to.
My main issue with those who criticize actors for making their speeches political is in how it dehumanizes them. Many of these stars are just as human as anyone else, even if some earn more money in one year than any of us will make in a lifetime. They have feelings about the state of the country just like everyone. Some of them do live lives far removed from “regular” America, yes. But first, we should establish that not all actors are living such fabulously wealthy lives that they’ve lost touch with the reality of our situation. Secondly, the idea that celebrities should not be able to voice their political opinions simply because of their profession is absurd. Everyone has that one relative that posts political stories on Facebook around the clock every day and gives their input. Their world may be more insulated to a couple hundred Facebook friends, but it’s still the same kind of thing.
While award shows do have the luxury of being watched by millions of people, those on both sides of the aisle probably aren’t going to change their minds just because the producer of Modern Family advocated against the Muslim ban. However, It may change some minds, or cause people to look deeper at an issue they haven’t truly examined before, like when Leonardo DiCaprio talks about climate change. It may cause some to donate to a nonprofit organization looking to make productive change in the world. Stars have that kind of a platform where they can reach millions of fans, but those angry with them for voicing their opinions should determine why they are mad at the stars, specifically. If you say there’s no place for politics at award shows, what would you rather they do? Read a list of names of people to thank that you haven’t heard of? Are you scared their words will impact others? Well maybe you’re taking issue with the media’s coverage of their speech instead. Do you think they’re in a bubble? They’ve worked with people from all walks of life in their careers and traveled all over the country. Are you mad that they’re expressing their freedom of speech? Well then that’s just straight up un-American.
Here’s the deal. It can be frustrating when a group of people disagrees with your political views but their opinions are being expressed to millions of people, who likely agree with them. I deal with this every day whenever I turn on the news and see Trump or a Trump lackey tearing at the fabric of what made this country great. I sometimes voice my opinions on this matter, as you can clearly tell. So I get the frustration. And I get that award shows are different from actual politics. But people that suggest politics don’t have a place at award shows are, to me, asking artists to ignore what drives them, especially in these times. Elisabeth Moss and Ann Dowd have said in interviews that their show, The Handmaid’s Tale, is its own form of activism in a way, something that helps them cope and put their pent-up energy into the world. It is a cautionary tale that forces people to wake up and think critically about our leaders and what’s going on in our country.
Politics is inextricably connected to art. Big, dumb blockbusters like Transformers have a pro-military stance. Many of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films for children have undertones of protecting the environment. There is some sort of message in every film produced in Hollywood or otherwise, and if stars take it upon themselves to use an acceptance speech to voice their opinion on the state of the world today in more literal terms, then let them. You don’t have to watch if it makes you uncomfortable. There are some speeches that aren’t that thoughtful and come off as rants, which can have an adverse effect. But when you watch Mahershala Ali’s speech on being a Muslim, or Meryl Streep’s pleas for basic, human empathy, or any Best Documentary winner who urges people to pay closer attention to the atrocities going on in this country or around the world, you are simply seeing another human being looking to reach out, speak truth to power and make the world a better place.