There was a time (when dinosaurs roamed the land) of box televisions that only played in black and white. Today, we may have ‘flat-screens’- but not much else has really changed. Now, the film industry is slowly rolling into the modern, evolving world- not with the technology, but the people. Your television finally stopped playing black and white motion pictures as people of colour are now being included in mainstream projects. However, if you watched the 75th annual Golden Globes, all you saw… was black.
In light of the recent sexual harassment allegations of various hollywood stars and actors, the women of the industry decided to take their opportunity at the awards’ show to take a stand against the matter. The stars of Hollywood attended the event wearing nothing but black- this includes names such as Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey, and Emma Watson. This silent protest was held in support of the women and men who have spoken out in the past few months over events of sexual harassment and assault that has been swept under the red carpet for decades- as well as for women and men in other industries who do not have the power, money, or power to impeach their predators. This has been branded as the “Time’s up” movement.
Rose McGowan, one of the first actresses to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, and since inspiring other victims to come forward and speak out about the entertainment industry’s impropriety on the matter. She sent an open message on ‘Twitter’ saying “not one of those fancy people wearing black to honor our rapes would have lifted a finger [had she not broken the silence]. I have no time for Hollywood fakery”. Some agreed with her and argued that the response to the issue was a ‘fake’ one. Some questioned why these stars turned up at all- if they really wanted to send a message, they should have just skipped the show altogether. Some saw wearing black as simply pointless. However, instead of choosing to sit at home quietly, these stars made the decision to turn up to the event, and use whatever power their name, fame and status held to magnify (to anyone who watched) the cry for help our society so desperately needs.
Oprah Winfrey- arguably one of the most influential people in the world, energised a politically fuelled speech at the awards’ ceremony. Her speech called on Hollywood to ensure that no other woman would have to suffer such gross mistreatment. The speech was received enthusiastically by both the room and on social media. She continued to stir and inspire the audience upon receiving the Cecil B DeMille lifetime achievement award, she said “I want all the girls watching here and now that a new day is on the horizon”. Winfrey brought the crowd to their feet with her acceptance speech, and highlighted the importance of the fight to equality whilst simultaneously reassuring the audience that “when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say, 'Me too' again.”
The issue of sexual harassment has been brought up by various media companies many times prior to the Harvey Weinstein allegations; like-stories are still continued to be published. Although the attention of many more people has been caught, the growing equality of women still needs occur at a quicker rate to ensure that another girl is not hurt. To ensure that another girl is not kept awake every night with the risk of the same nightmare taunting her in her slumber. To ensure that another girl does not wash her face with her own tears every morning, only to face another day of the same torment. How many more nights must they cry themselves to sleep each night before the remorseless behaviour of certain men finally ceases?
