I still remember the feeling I got sitting in the theater for the first time in 1989, watching as one of my favorite heroes graced the screen. The final showdown between Michael Keaton’s Batman and Jack Nicholson’s Joker will live on in my mind as one of the greatest moments of cinematic masterpiece the world has ever seen, even if it really wasn’t. Nevertheless, because of that scene, I wanted to get out of my seat and go out and save the world that day. I was five years old.
In 2002, who can forget the moment Uncle Ben says to Peter Parker, “…with great power comes great responsibility.”? That scene made me want to be a better person. It made me want to right all the wrongs I’d ever done.
Twenty nine years later and I love going to the movies just as much. Whether it’s a good horror movie that makes me jump, a superhero movie that inspires, a comedy that gets me laughing, or something that keeps me on the edge of my seat guessing until the very end, it is two-ish hours that I can escape the realities of everyday life and relax. I can be transported to a different time and place, all while enjoying a tub of popcorn. Yes, a tub.
You have given me that, Hollywood. And I love you for it.
And then the other shoe dropped.
The dark side of Hollywood has given us some disturbing truths. And those truths came to light first through the #MeToo movement, and now the #TimesUp movement at the Golden Globes. Those truths are unforgivable. You’ve taken young, vulnerable women and exploited them. It is no better than a sex-trafficking ring. It is a sex-trafficking ring.
What’s worse is that you did it by abusing your power and handing out false hope. Some of these women allowed themselves to be violated because they thought it was genuinely the only way you would accept them as artists. They thought it was the only way they could break through into the elite and inspire millions themselves. You preyed on their dreams.
There’s a term that exists in today’s society that I think needs discussed at this point.
A Social Media Influencer is a user on social media who has established
credibility in a specific industry. A social media influencer has access to
a large audience and can persuade others by virtue of their authenticity
and reach.
Hollywood, you are the original influencers. Long before Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, or Instagram, you possessed the ability to reach out and touch an audience. We gave you that power. We accepted the risks, and you’ve slapped us in the face for it.
Even now, however, in an age where every day sees a new, rising star, most of you are strong on social media. You have the followers, you have the voice, and you can be the inspiration for today’s society, so you HAVE to do better.
If decency and human standards aren’t enough to motivate you to provide additional accountability, let’s talk numbers. By 2020, the projected revenue stream from the global film and movie industry is projected to hit fifty billion dollars. Fifty billion. Holy shit, right? And yet, you can’t keep it in the pants, Hollywood. You can’t display a level of decency that we expect from our four year olds.
But we really need you to.
Society is struggling right now. And since, it seems, you’ll most likely be providing our pool of Presidential candidates for the foreseeable future, please clean up your act. Please protect each other. And most of all, be who you are up on that screen-be someone that when we look up at, we can admire.
Please.
#WordsThatMatter
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