The prominent Asian American actress Scarlett Johansson has given her backing to the Elizabeth Warren presidential campaign.
The Ghost in the Shell star revealed her support for the Native American senator from Massachusetts in a Hollywood Reporter interview:
‘Characteristically, Johansson has resisted pressure from her politically minded friends to take a wait-and-see attitude to the Democratic primary. “Other Democrats have said to me, ‘Oh, it’s really early to back someone,’ ” Johansson says. “That kind of worries me because it doesn’t feel that early to me. I’m like, ‘Really?’ It’s disconcerting that there’s not a clear candidate at this time.” Johansson says she is supporting Elizabeth Warren. “She feels like someone who is thoughtful and progressive but realistic,” Johansson says. “It’s not like her campaign is making these crazy, outlandish promises that seem impossible to reach. There’s a strategy there.”’
It brings a tear to Cockburn’s eye to witness this historic moment, when a highly-respected actor of Asian origin can stand in solidarity with the first ever female Native American presidential candidate. Truly a triumph of intersectionality.
Despite Johansson’s claims, other celebrities have been leaping off the sidelines in support of their preferred 2020 Democrat. Director David Lynch has been tweeting about Tim Ryan, Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro hosted a concert for Marianne Williamson who he believes is a ‘revolutionary thinker‘, while Bradley Whitford from Get Out and Johansson’s Avengers co-star Gwyneth Paltrow put on a fundraiser for Mayor Pete. But then, all those celebrities are white, so clearly their opinions matter less. Perhaps ScarJo was referring more to the hesitancy that saw fellow woman-of-color Beyonce Knowles wait until midterm election day to endorse Beto O’Rourke’s Senate run.
Johansson may have hoped to make waves by throwing her lot behind Warren – but her epoch-defining moment has been overshadowed by a different part of the interview, where she offers her backing to another bespectacled left-leaning intellectual:
‘I love Woody…I believe him, and I would work with him anytime…I see Woody whenever I can, and I have had a lot of conversations with him about it. I have been very direct with him, and he’s very direct with me. He maintains his innocence, and I believe him.’
The decision to stand by Woody Allen, who has been accused of sexually abusing his daughter Dylan Farrow, is a strange one. Some Twitter users were quick to offer a possible explanation: ‘I assume Scarlett Johansson said what she did because she wants to play Soon-Yi in the Woody Allen biopic,’ one wrote. But of course!
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