Intolerance is intolerant

As an activist and cinema enthusiastic, I loved watching the Oscars last night. It is fantastic to see people that are under the radar by the rest of the world talk about women’s rights, discrimination based on race and sexual orientation, suicide and depression, ALS and Alzheimer’s. There was a lack of humour in the show, but I think it was good considering all the hate we are witnessing around the world – hate based on differences. I am not talking only about religion, but also the whole racial discrimination in the US.

On a different note, the Academy is being accused of being unfair because all nominees where white, and most, if not all, writers and producers were male. On one side, I do not understand why no actors from Selma were nominated when the movie itself was nominated. Moreover, you also have to focus on the bigger picture. The nominees are based on what movies there are out there. There is not diversity when it comes to protagonists, unless the race or sexuality or gender is important to the plot. For example, if the protagonist is gay then the plot is around this fact. It would be refreshing to see Birdman being portrait by a lesbian or Sniper by a black American man or even woman. Yes, it is important to tell stories about discrimination, but I also find important that there are blockbusters with characters that are more diverse.

When it comes to producers and writers, it is more than obvious that they are mostly male. For instance, Marvel’s Agent Carter – at first sight it is fun to watch a heroine who is struggling in a man dominated environment in the 1940s. On the other hand, it is written and produced only by men. Men telling stories about women. White men telling stories about slavery. Straight people telling stories about gay struggles. Yet, I find that gay stories are usually told by gay people, but a story about women struggles are still mostly told by men. This is why actresses/producers like Reese Witherspoon take the matter on their own hands and start a production company.

But things are changing, slowly but they are. Having gay Oscar hosts for two consecutive years, listening to Patricia Arquette talking about women’s rights and then seeing Meryl Streep and J-Lo enthusiastically supporting that speech. Listening to Glory, seeing a huge group of people on stage, that just 50 years ago would not have the right to be there at all. Listening to John Stevens and Lonnie Lynn’s acceptance speech not only talking about racial discrimination but also LGBT rights. And lastly seeing Terrence Howard emotional when presenting nominated movie The Imitation Game about Alan Turing that, even though he helped win WWII, was criminalised for being gay.

I finally feel that I have been heard. These people talked about me yesterday, as a woman, but more importantly as a gay citizen. Former slaves got their rights, but unfortunately people who are black are still discriminated against. On the other hand, millions of LGBT people are still fighting for their rights – the right to mary, the right to love, the right to have children. Yet, things are changing. Slowly, but they are changing. There are more and more people talking about it. The past few years I have seen an extreme change in celebrity’s behaviour. It is no longer tolerant to be intolerant, and that same message is coming across in movies and series – sometimes subtle, other times obvious – and more and more people are being less and less afraid to shout and put themselves out there, either for themselves or others. Thanks to internet, our national and cultural barriers are crashing, we are more informed, we have more tools and an easier time to share, educate, and work together for a better world.