Hollywood & Congress: Neither can be Taken Seriously

Members of Congress don’t really seem to get why we hate them as a group. No matter how many times we re-elect incumbents, the approval numbers for Congress as a whole generally remain in the bottom of the toilet. I suspect it has something to do with the stupidity and vapidity that comes out when we put a group of these leaders together.

For example, yesterday the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee held a hearing on legislation to combat foreign violence against women through “humanitarian relief efforts” and more aid to local groups working on the issue in these countries. While the cause might be noble, convincing the public we need to spend more right now may be a tough sell. So what do they do? Call in the celebrities!

And with that, Nicole Kidman was hauled before the subcommittee to talk about the issue. Instead, Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of California wanted to know if she thought Hollywood was to blame for violence. Nicole Kidman, in all of her expert knowledge on the roots of violence, said they probably were responsible.

Nicole Kidman conceded Wednesday that Hollywood has probably contributed to violence against women by portraying them as weak sex objects.

The Oscar-winning actress said she is not interested in those kinds of demeaning roles…

Clearly, Kidman’s character in Practical Magic where she plays a party girl who falls prey to an abusive boyfriend before becoming possessed by his spirit who has to be saved by witches in her family, is a demonstration of a strong woman. Or perhaps she’s referring to the kind of strong female role she took on in Dead Calm where she refuses advice to prepare to defend herself & then sleeps with her captor as her husband tries to rescue her. Or maybe she’s remembering the story behind her character in The Others – a woman who was so distraught over her husband’s death in war that she smothered her children to death and then shot herself. And who can forget the remake of Stepford Wives where women are reprogrammed to always sexually service their husbands while being good little `50’s wives. While we don’t know what kind of strong woman Kidman will play in her upcoming project, How to Marry a Millionaire, I’m sure there will be absolutely no references to women willing to do anything for the security of a monied man. None. At all.

It is obvious that Nicole Kidman steers clear of those weak women, especially those who are treated as a sex objects. So obviously, she is not part of any problem which she condemns Hollywood to partially creating. And clearly Congress needs to open an investigation into these sexually demeaning roles in order to debate a spending program for abuse against women in countries where they have likely never seen a movie.