Earlier this year like so many other people I wrote
about the so-called controversies surrounding Sydney Sweeney. To wit, that she
appeared in an TV advertisement for American Eagle Jeans, a company that is
associated with conservative politics and that she was a registered Republican
in Florida. I may have gotten the order in which was revealed to the media
first but at the end of the day that's irrelevant: the left wing jackals of
Hollywood chose to start to tear Sweeney apart.
I noted the irony of the fact that
Hollywood and much of left-wing America was perfectly fine with the near
pornography that was at the center of Sweeney's breakout hit Euphoria but
that the moment she started doing things that were closer to being aligned with
right wing America that was beyond the pale for them. Now it is the practice of
the industry to actively root against Sweeney, who just last year was the idol
of so many. The box office failures of her most recent critically acclaimed movies
are considered a statement by the masses against her politics even though films
like Eden and Christy have never been historically the kind that
drive huge box office, particularly now. The failure of the latter alone has caused
both Jon Stewart and Ruby Rose to essentially tear Sweeney apart, though for
different reasons.
When these kinds of
'controversies' surround prominent names in Hollywood – really so many people
in the age of social media – there have always been two approaches. The first
is that you go on an 'apology tour' even if you've done nothing that you should
have to apologize for in an effort to win back the masses. The second is that
you choose to double down on her beliefs and blame everyone but yourself, an
approach taken far more with Republicans and some progressives in politics. The
industry would be fine if Sweeney chose to do either: they could welcome her
back into the fold with the former and choose to shun her with the latter.
The problem is that ever since the
American Eagle ad occurred Sweeney has infuriated both Hollywood and the left
by choosing an option that almost no one does any more and therefore an
industry built on it is unprepared for it. She has chosen to basically ignore
it and say its not important. This was clear in the immediate aftermath when
Sweeney was seen with castmates from Euphoria and she chose not to
really talk about it with the press. As far as she was concerned it was a
non-story.
I should mention that for all of
the faux outrage that has come from Hollywood and the media over the last
several months we have heard no backlash from anyone who works either behind
the scenes or with Sweeney on camera in Euphoria. Considering just how
prolific all of these actors have become and considering how many of them are
very vocal about their politics I find this fascinating. Considering how vocal
Zendaya is on any subject matter and that her politics almost certainly are the
opposite of Sweeney's that she has been radio silent on the matter is striking.
(It's not like she hasn't gone out of her way to court controversy albeit in
the opposite direction as her co-star.) It's not that I believe in the happy
cast story of Euphoria any more than other shows but in this era I'd
have expected at least a tweet or Instagram post one way or the other. Whatever outrage there is against Sweeney in
Hollywood it isn't coming from her co-stars.
(To be sure in private Zendaya has
said she's outraged by Sweeney's doing the ad and taking the attitude she has.
I'll deal with that hypocrisy in a minute.)
This past week Rolling Stone sat
down with Sweeney to 'address the controversy'. I've no doubt that the reporter
Larisha Paul was expecting her to be belligerent or apologetic. Instead Sweeney
basically chose to say that she was apparently the only person in America who
didn't care. Paul tried to get her to say she was supported by Trump and Vance.
Sweeney's response was: "I wasn't thinking of it. I just kind of put my
phone away. I was filming Euphoria…working sixteen hour days…so I didn't
really see a lot of it."
Furthermore she pointed out that
the idea that there was some kind of backlash was a myth. She paid attention to
the sales and she made it clear the controversy "was all made up…It was
all just a lot of talk."
These are mature responses that
answer the questions the reporter asked. But they're not clickbait and they
don't make people angry. It's clear the reporter wanted to talk about that but Sweeney
was more interesting in talking about her movies. "I've always believed that
I'm not here to tell people what to think. I'm just here to kind of open their eyes
to different ideas." There's nothing that different between what
Sweeney has said in this and really anything else that any major celebrity says
about any film or show they make. Republicans they really are just like other
people.
Finally in a clip that's already
become a meme the reporter really tried to get her to say something controversial:
"Do you want to clarify anything about the ads for her great jeans and
great genes?" It was bait. And Sweeney yet again didn't take it: "I think
that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear."
This goes against everything Hollywood
and the media has been trying to do in the last decade in particular even
though it’s the kind of behavior that society should in theory smile upon. As children
we're taught that when you are being pressured and/or bullied the best thing
you can do is either ignore it or don't engage. Professional politicians have
behaved cooler under pressure than Sweeney did in this interview with Rolling
Stone. And the bullies, er, left-wing media circle are infuriated by it.
I find the reaction of certain
people very telling particularly Aimee Lou Wood who commented on a post arguing
that Sweeney was not commenting on something about white supremacy this post said:
At least say you how horrified you
were by how this campaign was amplified and celebrated by unrepentant racists
who believe in eugenics. At least recognize the harm your jeans campaign has
caused black folks."
Now I agree there are many things
in the world that are harming African-Americans and black people in society today.
The idea that Sydney Sweeney appearing in a jeans ad that was used to by conservative
media caused even close to the damage that the current administration is doing
to African-Americans is basically the kind of thing that you'd expect from Hollywood
in where, even after the results of last year's election, they are still
convinced has an affect on how the world works.
Furthermore the phrasing by some
people was critical. "If you don't have a stance on white supremacy you 100
percent have a stance on white supremacy." Again this is put in the attitude
of the left who argues unless you are 100 percent with them you are against
them – and even they will turn on you in a second.
And it is worth noting there are
more than a few people who truly do think that this is absurd. One fan on
Twitter said, "Seriously we're at the point for a young woman needing to
be apologetic about being attractive because she inferred she likes her genetic
code….There's no racist undertone, unless you choose to put it there."
I also find it striking that one
of the people who came out against Sweeney was Aimee Lou Wood, who as my reader
know full well might very well appear under the dictionary next to the term
'snowflake'. Remember last April when Saturday Night Live while satirizing
the Trump administration in The White Lotus made fun of Aimee Lou Wood's
character? The next day she went on
social media, said the sketch was unfunny and that the show was clearly attacking
her which was, according to fans “c’nty and uncalled for” You’d think Wood would have been flattered to be made
fun of on Saturday Night Live – supposedly that was a badge of honor
among some people. But apparently now her feelings have to be taken into
account. The same, of course, does not apply to Sydney Sweeney because she took
a point of view that Wood disagrees with.
Listening to the reaction against
Sweeney by so many in Hollywood I couldn't help but be reminded of another
performer in an HBO series that has been taking increasing fire, this time from
the conservative media: Bella Ramsey of The Last of Us. Ramsey has been
the target of both body shaming and homophobia from the internet and that only
increased when they came out as non-binary in the aftermath of the first
season. The vitriol Ramsey has endured must be even more toxic then the kind
Sweeney has endured in the last few months and I have applauded them for their
strength.
With all this furor one would have
expected Ramsey to want to try and shore up support from both the left and the
LGBTQ+ community. That made their remarks to Variety on a subject of some note
in Hollywood all the more telling. Ramsey was asked about the subject of
gender-neutral awards in Hollywood. This is what they said:
“I don’t have the answer and I wish
that there was something that was an easy way around it, but I think that
it’s really important that we have a female category and a male category,”
Ramsey said, adding that it’s important that ‘recognition for women in the
industry is preserved.”
Even though Ramsey does not
identify as a female and says being labeled as an ‘actress’ does not feel quite
right, they are comfortable being put in the actress category at the Emmys for
‘The Last of Us’. At least for now.
“I have a guttural, ‘That’s not
quite right instinct to (being called an actress) Ramsey said. “But I just
don’t take it too seriously…it doesn’t feel like an attack on my identity.” (italics
for emphasis).
This response shows a maturity
beyond Ramsey's years and is a start contrast to the attitude of another
non-binary performer Liv Hewson of Yellowjackets. When it came to Emmy
seasons Hewson refused to submit under any genre and made it clear
"there's no place for me in Hollywood."
I've had my issues with the politics
of today's Hollywood more often then I can count so I have to say I truly wish
that more performers had the class and maturity of Sweeney and Ramsey then the attitude
of Wood and Hewson. Wood can't take even the idea of being torn down as a joke but
has no problem doing the same thing to someone in the theater of social media.
Hewson wants to tear down the system that's given them a place because they
won't fit their standards to the industry at the expense of all others. Sweeney and Ramsey are acting like grownups
and many in the industry have chosen to bully Sweeney because she won't toe the
party line. Ramsey's a different case but I can't imagine that Asia Kate
Dillons and the Emma Corrins of the world were thrilled with them when Ramsey made
the issue of non-binary awards as far less important as they want it to be.
Hollywood is by far the most
visible representation of the left in America but they are also far more out of
touch with the rest of America by nature of their wealth and celebrity. By and
large they have never seen the contradiction nor the fact that in the age of
Trump they have done far more to hurt the causes they advocate for then help
them. The last year has made it more clear that they have learned nothing from
the results of the 2024 election and if anything are doubling down on positions
that the electorate has repeatedly rejected. That this increasingly been damaging
their business model is something they have also chosen to ignore.
That Hollywood is increasingly
trying to make villains out of its own for choosing to - gasp! – put entertainment ahead of advocacy
and politicking shows how much they themselves have lost sight of their
original purpose. Sweeney has made it very clear that she has not lost sight of
that and that she has no interest in engaging in the political theatrics of her
co-stars and fellow performers. The fact
that she refuses to engage in controversies that by and large are essentially
imaginary and creations of Hollywood itself infuriates the various factions of
the left, who are increasingly making divisions not on race or gender but on
increasing positions that contradict the ones they've had the day before. And
by arguing that if you don't take a side, you're taking a side Hollywood is
increasingly engaging in the practices that do more and more isolate the left
historically.
As someone who really thinks that
Hollywood would be better served if it focused on making an entertaining
product and left personal politics at the set I find Sweeney's relative high
road refreshing. The fact that is pisses off so many people in Hollywood and
the left doesn't shock me: as I've said the left lives in a stage of perpetual
rage and Hollywood thinks that they are the center of the universe because they
have cameras on them half the time. Sometimes an ad for jeans is just an ad for
jeans. And for the record if you're fine
with the kind of sexual depravity that goes on in the average minute on Euphoria
but Sweeney doing something with her clothes on is a bridge too far,
honestly I'm not sure you can lecture anyone about personal morals. I mean every time you see Sweeney onscreen in near
nudity and you can only picture her in American Eagle jeans…that's a really weird
kind of moral standard.
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