Tea at Trianon: The 2018 Golden Globes

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, January 13, 2018

The 2018 Golden Globes

I never watch it, but the commentary about it on the Daily Wire gives some fascinating cultural insights. From Ben Shapiro:

During Oprah’s speech (she of the multiple pictures kissing Harvey Weinstein), we watched a cutaway to Meryl Streep (she of “God, Harvey Weinstein” fame and the standing ovation for Roman Polanski). If that doesn’t say all that needs to be said about Hollywood, nothing does. But we’re supposed to cheer Hollywood for its newfound wokeness. We’re supposed to pretend that their message of empowerment has nothing to do with being caught with their hands up skirts. We’re supposed to believe that these thoughtleaders who cheered Woody Allen just six years ago when he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Golden Globes should continue to be our thoughtleaders on issues of protection against sexual abusers. (Read more.)

From Matt Walsh:

Personally, I agree that women should be celebrated. But I find it hard to celebrate these particular women. It seems that many of these particular women were more than willing to overlook the rampant sexual abuse happening all around them if it meant they could star in a Weinstein production or work with any of the other prominent abusers in their industry. Now they have rediscovered their feminist convictions only because those convictions are suddenly helpful to their careers. Their careers were their primary concern when they aided and abetted the sex abusers, and begged to be in films directed and financed by them, and their careers are their primary concern today. I see very few true "heroes" in the female film star camp. There are probably as many heroes in their ranks as there are among the men. That is to say, hardly any. (Read more.)

From Emily Zanotti:

Argento, however, was the one who summed it up most effectively, claiming that the group was deliberately excluded because real victims just aren't glamorous enough for the red carpet — everything about "Time's Up" has to be heavily orchestrated and sanitized. “It would have been too much of a downer… an embarrassment,” Argento wrote. “Victims aren’t glamorous enough.”

The New York Post reached out to the actresses to determine whether they really weren't invited — it seems shocking that the women responsible for igniting the #MeToo movement, even if they weren't officially the founders, weren't invited. After all, among the accused entertainment industry bigwigs, Weinstein and Kevin Spacey (whose accusers also were not at the Golden Globes) are the both the most notorious and the movement's biggest scalps.

If they truly weren't invited — and it seems, by all accounts, that they weren't — it's yet another dent in the theory that Hollywood's A-list female stars are truly taking the issue of women's rights in their own industry seriously. The black gowns and the lapel pins are merely a facade, a way of expressing surface-level support while the issue of sexual harassment and sexual abuse is a hot topic, but not a serious commitment to any real change. Although they're happy to confront E! hosts about a pay dispute red carpet hosts are neither responsible for, nor have any power over, and spout long-debunked myths about the "wage gap" in softball interviews with entertainment reporters whose experience in economic policy is either skin deep or non-existent, standing next to a real victim is much harder. (Read more.)