Ryan Murphy's film, 'The Prom' was an extremely risky choice for a vociferous actress such as Meryl Streep, not because it was a musical but because of the love she garnered in 2017 after her moving speech at the Golden Globes Awards. Without naming US President Donald Trump, she criticised the world leader for his inhumane acts of laughing at a specially-abled person.
Hence, for an audience who have adored her as the brave woman of the west, when she delivers dialogues such as 'oh what's trending on Twitter which can give me publicity', 'what activism is going to give me the Tony Award' was indeed a risky exposure.
With releases such as Hollywood, Boys In The Band, Ryan Murphy has established himself as a director who does not beat around the bush but explains the situation for what it really means, and the real agenda behind a certain outrage.
However, in The Prom, Murphy slightly became more sensitive and allowed the narcissistic celebrities to part ways from their selfish lifestyle and look at homophobia and how it reaches to the point where a usual dance-loving teenager had to be humiliated most offensively merely for choosing to come out from the closet.
In Bollywood
In the Hindi film industry, the situation is widely different. Actors, superstars tend to become temporary activists only when it suits their agenda. Barring a few artists such as Swara Bhasker, Richa Chadha, Kangana Ranaut, Sonam Mahajan, Anurag Kashyap, Anubhav Sinha, Hansal Mehta to name a few well-known ones on Twitter, most of the actors tend to become activists when they need enough publicity to garner attention for their films.
Earlier this year, superstar Deepika Padukone's presence in Delhi's JNU gave leftists of India a massive hope that finally, the powerful people from the Hindi film industry are developing a spine to take a stand on what they felt to be wrong. She had her hands folded and tears in her eyes during her physical presence at the university. However, when a few political activists from the same University were later arrested in 2020, Padukone's silence had surprised everyone. While a certain section screamed that her only agenda was to promote her film Chappak, others chose to accept the fact that being a citizen of India she also has the right to remain silent.
Earlier this year in June, Varun Dhawan who usually maintains a vast distance from politics and controversial situations was seen using the hashtag CBI for Sushant. This probably arose from the fear that his film Coolie No 1 which is expected to release in December would fail to make it big just like his colleague Alia Bhatt's film, Sadak 2.
Kareena Kapoor Khan and Sonam Kapoor Ahuja who usually maintain their distance from controversial issues were seen holding placards when the heart-wrenching Kathua incident shook the nation, but they both maintain their silence when someone from their circle gets accused in the MeToo movement. The same actresses (along with a few others) became participants of the #BlackLivesMatter movement which shook the US, all the while being brand ambassadors of fairness creams.
While there are genuine personalities from the Hindi film industry who believe in being vociferous activists, unfortunately, the majority turn into temporary activists to gain woke points on social media. This revelation was well-narrated in Ryan Murphy's 'The Prom' where the only purpose for a celebrity's sudden visit and usage of hashtag is not to use her publicity to expose the dirty side of society, but to garner publicity as a woke, progressive woman and hopefully get an award for that.
This also explains why various talented actors, directors haven't yet received their Oscars.
