When George Clooney delivered his speech after winning the 2006 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, he pointed out that Hollywood has a history of raising awareness of major issues facing the world. The speech was met with derision by the media and the general popular alike.
While Clooney’s phrasing was, yes, a bit smug, his point was valid. Artists have a profound ability to influence change. From war to the gay movement, the world has taken positive steps forward thanks, in part, to art.
That’s why I was left very disappointed by Funny or Die’s 50-minute long parody of Donald Trump.
The film – which has been watched over 2 million times in the last 24 hours – makes light of Trump’s so-called ‘self-made’ success and noxious demeanour, but stops way short of calling Trump out for what he really is: a bloated, vicious, lying racist who threatens to destroy the United States if he gains the presidency.
That’s no exaggeration. Trump runs a campaign not based on policy, but on fear, fuelled by the insults directed at him. He does not ignore them, he embraces them, telling his supporters that those who oppose him only do so because they are part of the problems that have ruined their great country. They believe him too. Trump manipulates their ignorance of the world by spewing doctrine that threatens to turn neighbours into enemies, and he’s being getting away with it for far too long.
The filmmakers know this, as do the media outlets who still treat his run for presidency as some great joke. By continuing their course, they feed the fire in such a way that you’d be forgiven for thinking they secretly supported him.
When The Huffington Post announced back in December that it would no longer be running stories on Trump in their Entertainment section so that readers would take the threat he posed seriously, it should have marked the beginning of the end. Instead, just a couple of days ago, Trump won the New Hampshire primary, and looks almost certain to be the Republican candidate in the November election if allowed to continue.
As an Australian, I’ve seen this kind of situation only recently. Tony Abbott set Australia back to the stone-ages, and we let him sit in power for two years. As arrogant as Abbott was, he was nowhere near as dangerous as Trump threatens to be.
Artists must use their influence to put an end to Trump’s crusade NOW.
United with those who are already voicing their concerns, they must address the people and spell out the situation:
We live in uncertain times, and it’s easy to be afraid. In the 1940s, the country locked up Japanese-Americans because of fear. In 2003, US Armed Forces entered Iraq based on presumption and fear which has only grown since. If history has proven anything, it’s that the only antidote to fear is unity, not division. Conversation, not violence.
Donald Trump wants to drive out those who are different because he refuses to accept that they are just as human as he is. He thinks, in that way, he is like the majority of Americans.
It’s time for you to prove him wrong.