Bryan Cranston took home an Olivier Award last night for his performance in a West End stage adaptation of the classic film Network.
You may know his character, Howard Beale, as The I’m Mad As Hell And I’m Not Going To Take This Any More Guy.
This guy gets it.
Before he won, though, he gave a red carpet interview that made headlines for what’s actually a pretty basic idea.
Asked about the black and white Time’s Up pin on the lapel of his sharp rust-brown tux, he said: ‘Because time’s up. The idea that older white men are controlling the world and having free rein is over.”
See? He gets it.
This is an improvement on the lip service being paid to the #TimesUp movement by men wearing pins on the red carpet and, say, refusing to disavow Woody Allen, or not knowing how to talk about it.
It’s an improvement on genuine, enthusiastic support that talks about women’s strength and their suffering without actually talking about who’s been making them suffer.
It’s a hell of an improvement on saying nothing.
Cranston, in referencing the fact that it was older white guys who had not just most of the power but also an absolutely wild amount of freedom to behave as they wished with minimal consequences, acknowledged that the problem is (say it with me now!) a systemic power imbalance.
Harassment, rape and abusive behaviour aren’t just a thing men (and everyone) need to choose not to do (though that sure as f**k would help), and Time’s Up isn’t just about raising awareness of how common those abuses are.
It’s also about upending the systems that give them so much power over other people – people who aren’t white and aren’t men and aren’t rich – that they can get away with abuse.
Or put another way: women (and survivors in general) are as mad as hell, and we’re not going to take this any more.
“With every person that is brought to the [public’s] attention, and the aggressors – whether sexually or power oppressors – when they fall, we have the opportunity to rebuild on a foundation of mutual respect,” Cranston went on.
Count ‘em off: that’s understanding of the movement, an acknowledgement of his own privilege, and recognition of how positive the goals of Time’s Up are without making it sound like a vague, feel-good ribbon campaign.
Now, how bloody hard was that?