Time’s Up Campaign

April Cuarenta, Asst. News Editor

 

On Sunday, Jan. 6, Hollywood’s biggest stars attended the 75th annual Golden Globes, many of them wearing black in solidarity to advocate against sexual harassment. Actors and actresses, such as James Franco, Justin Timberlake, Aziz Anzari and Natalie Portman, were wearing pins with the logo “Time’s Up.”

How dare they wear the color black and work with movie director Woody Allen, a man who married his step-daughter and has been accused of raping his adopted daughter Dylan.  I knew that this “movement” was fake when Justin Timberlake tweeted a picture of him and his wife wearing black with the hashtag #metoo. All I could think was “Wait, aren’t you in that new Woody Allen movie?” Allen a man who married his stepdaughter and has been accused of sexually abusing his adopted daughter Dylan.

In my opinion, if someone is advocating for the MeToo cause then they probably shouldn’t be working with people who are alleged sexual predators. But if actors like Timberlake and Blake Lively, who claim to be supporters of the Time’s Up campaign, still work with directors who are like Woody Allen and Harvey Weinstein, then are they really against sexual harassment?

I know it’s a lot to ask of a celebrity to drop a project in order to fight for a cause, but if the cause is truly important to them, they should be willing to make the sacrifices.

Wearing the color black doesn’t mean anything, unless you’re taking action. The actors and actresses made it seem like it was more of a trend instead of a movement.

The speeches and remarks made on behalf of the Time’s Up movement caused a lot of emotions and controversy for fellow viewers, myself included. Oprah Winfrey’s speech was empowering to women, and Natalie Portman even took it a step further by complaining that there were only male nominees for the directors award. But overall I felt that celebrities were being hypocrites.

Some people might say that one is always innocent until proven guilty. I know it’s hard to look at these allegations and take them all as seriously as we should.

Many mistake uncomfortable sexual situations for sexual misconduct and some of the accusations may end up not being true. Allegations made against  actors James Franco and Anziz Anzari haven’t been decided yet.

I still have questions such as “why didn’t they say anything before?” or “Are they just trying to get attention and money out of this?” Still, my biggest issue remains with the hypocrisy displayed by Hollywood.