Dirty Politics

I’m not one to talk about politics. EVER. It does nothing but infuriate me. It gets me worked up because I don’t understand how having common sense to do what’s best for ALL people is just completely disregarded. How can you govern people and not do what’s best for them?! People say, “well, you can’t please everyone.” Obviously. No, you can’t. But surely you can figure out the best way to set up a system for EVERYONE.

But that’s not even what the worst part of politics is for me. The worst part about politics is that it’s SO FAKE. These people who are in the top tier of the game are only making decisions to better themselves as an individual, or for their business. It’s all money driven. There’s nothing genuine about these “good decisions” they’re making and I have trust issues with that. For example:

President Trump just announced that he is formally designating the KKK and ANTIFA as terrorist organizations. Okay, this is great news. But does it not spark anyone else as funny that he did this the day after a debate where he blatantly ignored that white supremacy needed to be condemned, just as ANTIFA does? Does it not spark any thought that he’s NOT ONCE said the KKK was a terrorist organization after years and years of lynching people? Now all of the sudden, because he is scrounging for votes, he’s going to make that call. Not because he was genuine about it. This is what irks me. He didn’t do this because he wanted to, he did it because he needed to in order to cover his butt this election. That’s a slap in the face. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad this call was made because it is long overdue – the KKK should’ve been considered a terrorist organization long ago. But man does it irk me that this was done purely out of grasping for straws. He doesn’t deserve to make that call.

Another thing that irks me is Biden calling for Kamala Harris to be his running mate. Did she not just go in on him less than 2 months ago for his previous discouragement of diversity? Didn’t Biden’s previous racist remarks come to light, and now all of the sudden he’s working with a black woman? To me, it sounds like he’s grasping for straws just like Trump. I don’t believe these two actually want to be working together.

Another example that I have is the The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (The Oscars). I didn’t know I felt this way before my internship with them, and this summer taught me a lot in terms of how I view the adult world, politics, and money. So, I was in the inaugural class of the GOLD program, which was a program specifically built to support diversity and inclusion within the film industry. This program was amazing. We were introduced to aspects of film we didn’t even knew existed. We were given top notch tours of all of the studios, lots, and theaters you could imagine. We had incredible opportunities to hear from filmmakers themselves and have one on one conversations with them. We were put into rooms that a lot of people worked extremely hard to get a place in. I’m talking Oscar winners, actors and actresses who have impacted the world with the stories they tell, editors and producers of major critically acclaimed films, finance people, writers, directors, sound, you name it! We had networking opportunities that people our age are lucky to get. The GOLD program (and Technicolor) has done nothing but bless my life with opportunities that literally were in my dreams. I cannot imagine what life would’ve been without this internship, and I think it’s one of the best programs the entertainment world has to offer.

With that being said, this is also when I started noticing that there’s a lot that goes on behind closed doors when it comes to politics in businesses. While I had some thoughts throughout my internship, I turned away from those thoughts because I had nothing to back it up, nor did I want to ruin this amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience with a negative thought that crossed my mind. Ya know? I didn’t want to believe that this entire program was created just to make them look like they were doing something about the lack of diversity because they started getting backlash of the Oscars being too white. I didn’t want to believe that we were essentially being used as a cover up and a marketing strategy to make them look better. I didn’t want to believe they were giving us this great treatment with the best of the best so that we would be too clouded with shiny things and famous people that we wouldn’t take notice of how corrupt they really were. I didn’t want to believe any of it.

As time has passed and I’ve gotten more experience within the industry, I very much so believe all of this now. I think there’s a lot of clean-up happening in Hollywood right now – a lot of people trying to get ahead of the curve before they’re caught and cancelled – and I was apart of one of the clean-ups. I also think Black Panther was an Oscar/Marvel collaboration of cleaning up… in which they received A LOT of money for.

“Let’s get the first all black cast in a Marvel movie, it’s going to be great because it’s Marvel, it’ll rack in a ton of money, and it will also get the black community on our side. Then we’ll go ahead and give them the best praise and the best awards and make them think they’re the best and the industry is finally inclusive!!!! YAY!!!”

No. I don’t want any hand outs because you’re trying to make yourself look better. I want it because I deserve it. I want it because I am the best and there’s no denying it. Politics optimizes racism by making money with it, and they’re just attempting to cover everything up by giving handouts, and I want no part of that.

With that being said, I am EXTREMELY glad The Academy does have people who care in it. Our program leaders and directors were absolutely amazing and I have no doubt in my mind that they are in this for the long haul and are continuing to put up a fight to make this world a better place. The Academy has already made MAJOR moves by putting a limit on the term length of their board member positions. Was it an after thought? Yeah. It didn’t happen until George Floyd was murdered and BLM became a massive movement throughout the entire world. But hey, at least they made this change, because that’s huge – and there are some really good people that work for the Academy that deserve a chance to serve in those positions.

So yes, a lot of good things come from after thoughts. But there are certain matters that should be a forefront thought. Matters that systematically objectify a certain group of people should not be an after thought. Changes shouldn’t be made simply because it’ll make a person or business look better, they should be made because you’re a humane person and you care about the well being and the equal treatment of humanity.

Trump making the KKK a terrorist group was an after thought.
Biden choosing Kamala as his running mate is an after thought.
The GOLD program and Black Panther were very strategic before thoughts. They got themselves in a good position that way when their higher up positions start popping up as racist, pedophiles, frauds, or whatever it maybe.. they have covered a little of their ground already.

I’m over politics. I’m over how fake they are. I’m over the lack of empathy. I’m over the manipulation.

That is all. Goodbye.

Thanks for reading my rant, lol.
Mal