This year’s Emmy Awards ceremony was a letdown. It has nothing to do with which show won what awards; being someone who doesn’t watch a whole lot of TV, I can only assume that whatever won did so fair and square based on its own merits. No--my problem has everything to do with the people involved with the show.
From Alec Baldwin’s acceptance speech to the commentary of host Stephen Colbert, those who watched the show may have noticed a running gag. It seems that many of the show attendees were more than happy to make fun of and criticize our 45th President, Donald Trump. Fair enough; everybody has the right to free speech. I myself don’t mind criticism or humor involving President Trump or his administration.
However, whether or not it’s okay to joke around about the President is not the point I’m trying to make. What I really want to say is that there’s a fine line between joking around and pushing your political agenda. And on that evening, Colbert and his Hollywood compatriots crossed it.
I saw this happen at this spring’s Oscars and at this summer’s MTV Movie Awards. It seems that Hollywood celebrities and personalities are no longer content with just receiving accolades. Now, their success is a platform for them to spout their political biases and opinions at the expense of alienating those with alternative opinions.
Allow me to show you what I mean. During the show, Colbert said that Trump only ran for President due to his failure to win an Emmy for his show, Celebrity Apprentice. Colbert then went on to say that those responsible for his loss at the Emmys are to blame for his presidency--insinuating not only that President Trump’s administration is some sort of aberration or mistake, but that those who voted in good conscience for President Trump are a “guilty party” and should be ridiculed.
Contrary to what Mr. Colbert or his most avid viewers may believe, that is not a joke made in the spirit of good fun. Those statements, compounded with the clear anti-conservative rhetoric mentioned by individuals like Baldwin and actress Lily Tomlin--who called Trump a “sexist, egotistical bigot”--are not humor. They are clear insults directed at the hundreds upon thousands of Americans who voted for President Trump. Moreover, they are overly political, overly biased and needlessly aggressive statements that have no place in an awards show.
I find that the real joke is within the character of the celebrities including and similar to the ones I have described. You see, for all their talk about being open-minded and inclusive, these Hollywood celebrities are perhaps the most intolerant, ignorant and one-track-minded individuals in this country.
As a film student, I feel that the entertainment arts are an opportunity to bring people together. From television to film, the entertainment arts are representative of all people, telling stories based in some way or another on the experiences of real individuals. The arts show to us in creative ways the dreams, fears, strengths, weaknesses and emotions of human beings.
Why then, do celebrities feel the need to pull us away from that creative and wholesome intent to forcibly sit us down and strong-arm us into listening to their venomous, over-exaggerated, and relentless political diatribes? Should our entertainment art, the mediums with which we express ourselves and attract wide and diverse audiences, be used as a mere platform for more political commentary that we don’t need?
By no means am I saying that we should compromise the First Amendment to satisfy my own personal needs. In fact, this isn’t about me. This is about the realm of creativity that I love--the world of Hollywood--being stained by biased, nasty individuals who would use their popularity and success as a tool to push and spread their political beliefs, regardless of the beliefs of their watching audiences.
I want our awards shows to celebrate the arts, not politics. I want our entertainment industry to understand that, if you want to draw in the best audiences, if you really want to engage the viewer, you need to step outside yourself and consider what you’re trying to say and how you’re saying it.
I understand having a political opinion. I understand wanting to express said opinion. But I also understand time and place. These celebrities do not.
