We are in a sad, sad state of affairs. Our country is in turmoil. There is a deep divide between political parties, races, and genders. This is extremely evident, but do we need to continue to be reminded of it? It seems like there is nowhere to escape the conflict and political disagreements.
I'm at the point where I can no longer stand to listen to Joy Behar and her team of leftwingers on The View, running into X-Rated Trump stories while just trying to take a personality quiz on Buzzfeed, or being drowned in political articles and posts on social media.
Some people like to discuss politics, including myself. I actually see no harm in doing so, as I feel like it can ultimately lead to the pacification of the deep divide. However, we all need an outlet to escape to when we can no longer stand to hear about all of this political angst. Usually, or in the past, we would be able to turn to entertainment (TV, radio, etc.) to steer our minds away from everything negative. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.
Let's take Meryl Streep at the 2017 Golden Globes for example. I am all for free speech, as it is what our soldiers fight for. I also do not have a problem with celebrities using their status to give themselves a bigger voice. But I think it would be in everyone's best interest for celebrities to use their common sense to decide when is the best time to exercise their voice.
In early January, we all tuned into the Golden Globes not expecting to be reminded of all of the terrible things that our President has said and done. If we wanted to do so, we would have turned on CNN. But it wasn't CNN, it was one of the most anticipated award shows that intends to celebrate the best of the best of film and television. What was intended to celebrate the positive, ended up dwelling on the negative. I mean, whatever happened to thanking all of the "little people" and your 3rd-grade acting coach during acceptance speeches?
The other night during Super Bowl Sunday, we all once again turned on FOX, not to watch the O'Reilly Factor, but to watch the Falcons take on the Patriots. I can't speak for everyone, but I personally tuned in expecting to, once again, not be bombarded by anything political. I was unfortunately disappointed with the lack of humorous, light-hearted commercials, which were instead replaced with political messages. God forbid we are able to have a laugh on a Sunday night without being reminded of our country's embarrassingly deep divide. Of course, it needs to be discussed, but there are a time and a place. Super Bowl commercials are not the place nor time.
And then came the Pepsi Halftime Show. I am a huge fan of Lady Gaga (except for the fact that she single-handedly ruined American Horror Story, but that's a different article). I couldn't wait for her to perform during halftime, but part of me feared that she would also decide to jump on the political bandwagon, straying away from the entertainment aspect. I was pleasantly surprised to see Gaga keep her performance strictly about her content, and that she didn't use one of the largest platforms ever to try and start a political movement.
The morning after the Super Bowl, I woke up to seeing Facebook and Twitter posts shaming Lady Gaga, claiming that she didn't get political enough during her performance. I was in disbelief, and since it was still kind of early in the morning, I thought I might have been in the middle of a dream. Are we never satisfied..?
Is being bombarded with politics through magazines, the internet, and television not enough for us? Are we not allowed to have one night of leisure to forget about our absurd political leaders? Claps for Gaga for singing her music, and not getting political. She wasn't at the DNC, she was at the Super Bowl. It wasn't the time or place.
With all of that being said, I don't want to appear ignorant to what is happening in our country. It is bad, and I know it is. We ALL know it is bad. But we can't keep reliving it over and over again when we are trying to get our minds off of it.
KEEP YOUR POLITICS OUT OF MY ENTERTAINMENT.
