On March 4th, the Hollywood awards season came to a close with the 90th Academy Awards. It was a landmark ceremony for the Oscars: While several montages honored nine decades of past achievements in film, other segments honored the achievements of the #MeToo and TIME’S UP movements, and their promise for greater gender equality in the future. Since the downfall of movie mogul and sexual offender Harvey Weinstein last fall, Hollywood has led the charge in the push for equality and safety in the workplace. Many other famous men of film and television—Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K., and Jeffrey Tambor, to name a few—have lost their jobs and their standing in the community because of the allegations against them. Those opposed to the movement have vilified it as a witch hunt; those in favor have heralded the cause as a turning point for the industry. Without a doubt, the status quo in Hollywood has been upended.
On January 1st, a group of high-profile women in Hollywood launched the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund, with the goal of raising money and awareness for the plight of women in the workplace. Stars showed their solidarity for the organization at the first major awards show of the 2018 season, The Golden Globes, by wearing black gowns and sporting TIME’S UP pins on their suits. (The three women who opted not to wear black to the event were roasted by the press the morning after. The women insisted that they weren’t opposed to the movement, just opposed to others telling them what color dress to wear.) As an actress in this industry, I was glad to see such open support for change in the film and television business. But I was also skeptical of the real effect of TIME’S UP. Was this just a way for Hollywood to pat itself on the back, shake up a few things for the 1%, and leave the rest of us to deal with the systemic sexism that, of course, still exists? What about the millions of women in America, not to mention around the world, who deal with workplace harassment and abuse in other industries? These women are not famous and, for many reasons, cannot simply turn down jobs or walk out of their current job because of men who abuse their power. How does this movement affect anyone but the famous women of Hollywood?
TIME’S UP was front and center at the Oscars, in which presenters were vocal about celebrating the achievements of the female nominees. Emma Watson arrived on the red carpet sporting a temporary tattoo that read “Times Up” in elaborate calligraphy; the missing apostrophe did not go unnoticed by the internet, and Watson later tweeted: “Fake tattoo proofreading position available. Experience with apostrophes a must.” Rachel Morrison was rightly lauded as the first-ever female nominee for cinematography; Emma Stone introduced the directing nominees as “these four men, and Greta Gerwig.” A pre-recorded segment of interviews with actors, producers, and directors, proclaimed a commitment to more diversity among the stories told and the casts and crews who tell them.
Frances McDormand made perhaps the most explicit statement, however. In her acceptance speech for the Best Actress Oscar, she asked every woman nominated for an award to stand up and be acknowledged. She called for the audience, both in the theatre and at home, to see these women—to really see them—and she challenged the men of Hollywood to call them, set up meetings, and hire them to tell their stories. It was a powerful moment. Then, McDormand ended her speech with two words: “Inclusion Rider.”
I was watching the ceremony with a childhood friend of mine, who has no connections to the entertainment industry. She turned to me, confused, and asked what an inclusion rider was. I understood what it was, but I had never seen one. I told her that it was a clause in a person’s contract stipulating that the team for that specific project must be diverse. I think inclusion riders are a vital tool in forcing production companies to change their cis/white/male hiring practices, but they are easily implemented by actors with the star power of McDormand. I would not have the same sway over the producers that I work with as a young Broadway actress in her twenties. McDormand’s speech illustrated my exact issues with Hollywood’s promotion of TIME’S UP: While the entire Kodak Theatre was cheering for McDormand, those watching at home who aren’t tied to the elite industry were scratching their heads.
Still, it appears that the TIME’S UP legal defense fund is truly committed to helping women both in and out of Hollywood. By March 1st, two months after launching the organization, they had raised $21 million, and had received requests for legal help from 1,700 women from over 60 different industries (read more on Deadline). Producer Katie McGrath insisted that even though the movement stems from Hollywood influence, “it was never intended to live on the (red) carpet.” If these powerful women use the money they’ve raised, and the influence they wield, to represent women in less fortunate positions, TIME’S UP could have a massive effect on the American workplace as a whole. The awareness has been raised; I’m ready to see the work begin.
—Lauren Patten, Social Media Editor