But actress Jane Fonda took a different turn when she accepted the prestigious award for the set of her work at the Golden Globes on Sunday night.
Fonda began by extolling storytelling as an art form and praising the work of the actors and directors behind many of the nominations this year. She ended up calling for better leadership in Hollywood to make sure everyone’s stories are told.
“Stories – they can really change people. But there is a story that we are afraid to see and hear about ourselves in this industry – a story about which voices we respect and elevate, and which we ignore,” said Fonda.
“Thank you to all members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. I am – I am very excited to receive this honor. Thank you.
You know, we are a community of storytellers, aren’t we? And in turbulent and crisis times like this, storytelling has always been essential.
See, stories have a way of … they can change our hearts and our minds. They can help us to see us in a new light. To empathize. To recognize that, despite all our diversity, we are human in the first place, right?
You know, I saw a lot of diversity in my long life and I was sometimes challenged to understand some of the people I met.
But inevitably, if my heart is open and I look beyond the surface, I feel an affinity.
That’s why all the great channels of perception – Buddha, Mohammed, Jesus, Laotzi – they all spoke to us in stories and poetry and metaphor.
Because the nonlinear and non-cerebral forms that are art speak at a different frequency.
They generate new energy that can open us and penetrate our defenses so that we can see and hear what we may be afraid to see and hear.
Only this year, “Nomadland” helped me to feel love for the wanderers among us. And “Minari” opened my eyes to the experience of immigrants dealing with the realities of life in a new land.
And “Judas and the Black Messiah”, “Small Acts”, “US vs. Billie Holiday”, “Ma Rainey”, “One Night in Miami” and others deepened my empathy for what it means to be black.
“Ramy” helped me to feel what it means to be an American Muslim.
“I May Destroy You” taught me to consider sexual violence in a whole new way.
The documentary “All In” reminds us of how fragile our democracy is and inspires us to fight to preserve it.
And “A Life on Our Planet” shows us how fragile our little blue planet is and inspires us to save it and ourselves.
Stories: They can really change people.
But there is a story that we are afraid to see and hear about ourselves in this industry. A story about which voices we respect and raise – and which we turn off.
A story about who offered a place at the table and who is kept out of the rooms where decisions are made.
So, all of us – including all groups that decide who is hired, what is done and who wins prizes – will all make an effort to expand this tent. So that everyone gets up and everyone’s story has a chance to be seen and heard.
I mean, to do that simply means to recognize what is true. Being in tune with the emerging diversity that is happening because of all those who marched and fought in the past and those who took the baton today.
After all, art has not only been in tune with history, but has also paved the way.
So, let’s be leaders, okay?
Thank you thank you very much.”