Maggie Gyllenhaal speaks her mind at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival: ” I think America has done reprehensible things and is responsible in some way and so I think the delicacy with which it’s dealt [in the film] allows that to sort of creep in.“
She is a fool, but even fools have the right to publicly proclaim whatever they want. (And this website is a PRIME example.)
We live in America, after all, and despite doing “reprehensible things” and being “irresponsible in some ways,” America does not haul people off to jail for letting loose whatever flits around their brains. More’s the pity.
Still, that pesky free speech thing notwithstanding, American celebrities do not have the guaranteed Constitutional right to steady box-office receipts in the face of controversial political discourse. If consumers disagree with Maggie’s opinion, they have the right to choose not to buy tickets to her movies. And movie executives have the right to notice this and decide not to cast Maggie in their movies.
Such financial shunning is not prohibited in the Constitution (I checked) unless it is ordered by our government.
If Bush asks consumers to boycott Maggie’s movies, then we’ll talk. But unless that happens, what REALLY ticks me off about this situation are the public demands for an apology.
If Maggie volunteers an apology, fine. Good for her. Everyone makes mistakes. We’ll forgive you, Maggie!
But to demand an apology from someone who exercised the right of free speech–what good will that do? Will it change her? Will she say the words and then suddenly spout, “hey, y’all, now I really do believe American has never done a reprehensible thing! Not ever!”
Course not. What the apology demanders are really asking is this: that everyone think and believe the way they do. And if dissenters don’t, they should keep quiet. And if dissenters don’t keep quiet, they should apologize.
To me that’s much worse than one pretty little actor spouting off about something of which she knows absolutely nada.