Wearing Black is it Hollywood Fakery or Genuine Concern?

Several female actors turned up wearing black at the Golden Globes 2018 in protest of sexual harassment, despite the jabs of Hollywood Fakery. The protest was a continuation of last year’s #MeToo campaign which outed the heinous side of many powerful men in Hollywood like Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Dustin Hoffman, Louis CK, Steve Seagal and many more.

The action that led to the dark reaction

The thing that stumped most people was that the Hollywood fraternity let these men get away with appalling behaviour for decades.

They used their power to gag voices of numerous women. All Hollywood cared for was money. As long as these men were loved by the audience, or able to bring in money, the fraternity was willing to help shove the allegations levied against them.

Now the women in Hollywood have realised that together they can make sure this does not happen again. Apart from setting up a fund to financially support survivors of assault and harassment, they are gearing up for life in Hollywood post #MeToo. One such initiative was when female actors decided to wear black for the Golden Globe awards 2018. Many men chose to join them.

The sea of black symbolising the phrase “Times up” was their way of letting harassers know, that their behaviour was no longer going to go unchecked.

But did this fashionable protest really make any difference? Well, whether the glass glints or not depends on where you are standing.

Hollywood Fakery or genuine empathy?

Actor Rose McGowan was never impressed with the call to wear black at Golden Globes to begin with. She went on to label it “Hollywood fakery” in a tweet, on the awards night.

And not one of those fancy people wearing black to honor our rapes would have lifted a finger had it not been so. I have no time for Hollywood fakery, but you I love, .@AsiaArgento #RoseArmy https://t.co/9e0938y5sI

— Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) January 8, 2018

In a way, Rose is not wrong in calling out Hollywood Fakery to mourn their abuse, instead of preventing such incidents from happening. It is too little too late. Merely wearing badges and showing up in designer black dress' is not enough to keep the Weinsteins of Hollywood in check. A piece of black cloth is not enough to cover the hypocrisy and gender disparity which runs deep in its system.

So is there anything else we take away from this protest, apart from the glossy fashion magazine covers, and a lot of shimmer and shine?

 Hollywood women refuse to be intimated anymore

The growing stature of women in Hollywood is one thing. Another is the display of solidarity. Imagine standing on that stage and facing a sea of Hollywood A-listers and activists in black. Names like Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Natalie Portman, Meryl Streep…This protest was more about making a visual impact without uttering a word. The night did see a powerful speech by Oprah Winfrey and a well-timed jab by Natalie Portman at the All-male nominees line up for Best Director category.

Yet, all we could see was black. All anyone could talk about was black.

That is the power of silent protests. The men stayed quiet, and the women didn’t need to say anything.

I think we need more initiatives like this, if we want the #MeToo movement to remain relevant in near or distant movement. We must make sure that the conversation around this issue never stops. Be it by wearing black, or by calling it Hollywood Fakery.

Pic Source: People

Also Read : Actresses Wore All Black To Golden Globes

Dr Yamini Pustake Bhalerao is a writer with the SheThePeople team, in the Opinions section.  The views expressed are the author’s own.