It’s awards show season, which means that celebrities have taken it upon themselves to use their time on stage to deliver liberal speeches slamming Donald Trump and his administration. For the most part, the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night were no different… except for a shocking speech from this actress.
Taraji P. Henson currently is starring in the movie “Hidden Figures,” about three black female mathematicians working for NASA in the 1960s. The women featured in the movie — Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson — were vital to NASA’s efforts to put a man on the moon, as well as the early space program in general. The film won the award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
Rather than focusing on politics, though, Henson gave a more unifying, positive, uplifting speech that was incredibly moving.
"They are hidden figures no more!" –@TherealTaraji #SAGAwards pic.twitter.com/YIcWKhSDKe
— Variety (@Variety) January 30, 2017
“This film is about unity,” she said. “The shoulders of the women that we stand on are three American heroes: Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson. Without them, we would not know how to reach the stars. These women did not complain about the problems, the circumstances, the issues. They focused on solutions. Therefore, these brave women helped put men into space.”
“This story is about what happens when we put our differences aside, and we come together as a human race,” she concluded. “We win. Love wins every time.”
It was a stark difference from speeches given by other celebrities, who made sure to do some political posturing at the ceremony.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus: I want you all to know that I am the daughter of an immigrant. #SAGAwards
— Debra Birnbaum (@debrabirnbaum) January 30, 2017
Ashton Kutcher opens #SAGAwards thanking people in airports "that belong in my America." #NoBanNoWall
— Alicia Dennis (@AliciaCDennis) January 30, 2017
Simon Helberg Supporting #Refugees On #SAGAwards Red Carpet https://t.co/ohQjs4ffXU pic.twitter.com/2Lic6QCba4
— Gossip Cop (@GossipCop) January 30, 2017
It’s fine for celebrities to speak out about their opinions, even at awards shows. Every American has that right. But while people have the right to speak out, common sense dictates that there are appropriate times and places to do so. Hijacking an awards show to cram their beliefs down the throats of Americans watching when it’s completely irrelevant to the setting is rude and tone-deaf, at the very least. And when the country is already so divided and angry, is it really so much to ask that we have the occasional night free of politics and posturing?