Earlier this year, MTV decided to remove sex-specific categories from its award shows and remain neutral. The network held its annual MTV Movie & TV Awards show this weekend, which gave outspoken feminist Emma Watson the first “genderless” Best Actor in a Movie award. From CNN:
“MTV’s move to create a genderless award for acting will mean something different to everyone,” Watson, who played Belle in the film, said of the network’s decision.”But to me it indicates that acting is about the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and that doesn’t need to be separated into two different categories.”
She won the award for playing Belle in Beauty and the Beast:
“I think I’m being given this award because of who Belle is and what she represents. The villagers in our fairytale wanted to make Belle believe the world was smaller than the way that she saw it, with fewer opportunities for her. I love playing someone who didn’t listen to any of that,” Watson said onstage as she accepted the award.
To top it off, MTV chose actress Asia Kate Dillon to present the award. Dillon has claimed that she identifies as non binary.
While genderless categories might appear to be a great way to satisfy the social justice warriors and the snobby Hollywood elite, but we all know that nothing can fully keep them happy.
Look at how many award shows Hollywood has to honor themselves. Genderless categories means less nominees, which means less recognition for some actors and actresses. They may cry out for social issues, but you know they love the spotlight. The fight for gender-neutral everything will take a backseat if those actors and actresses feel the system has denied them the proper recognition they believe they deserve.
Also, what happens if a male wins? You better believe the feminists will scream sexism and misogyny. Who knows? They may demand switching back to Best Actor and Best Actress categories.
After I wrote this, I noticed Piers Morgan voiced similar sentiments at The Daily Mail, but he went further when he noted the irony of the movie she won the award for:
Beauty and the Beast is about a savage male beast who kidnaps a beautiful woman. She falls in love with him due to some weird Stockholm Syndrome type situation, forgives him for all his terrible behaviour, and then tries to make him a nicer person.So, she’s basically in an abusive relationship in which her only asset is her sexuality and the movie’s subliminal theme is therefore that if a woman is pretty and sweet natured she can change an abusive man into a kind and gentle man.In the end, the beast turns back into a handsome prince because, presumably, ugly people cannot possibly be truly happy.If I said that on Twitter, Emma Watson and her Harry Potter mates like JK Rowling would crucify me!Also, as in the original fairy-tale, Belle is stuck at home doing the housework.Ms Watson, being an ardent feminist, demanded Disney turn her version of Belle into an ‘inventor’.Very laudable, but what did she invent?Ah yes, a washing machine. So she could do even more housework in a more efficient way!
MTV explained its decision to Vulture last month:
In an interview Wednesday, MTV president Chris McCarthy, who also oversees VH1 and Logo, told Vulture the decision to tear down the old walls was simply a reflection of how the music-focused channel’s under-25 target audience views content (and each other). “This audience actually doesn’t see male-female dividing lines, so we said, ‘Let’s take that down.’ They don’t see lines between theatrical releases and television— they just see it as great content — so let’s take that down,” McCarthy said. “And they don’t really care whether it’s scripted, reality or a theatrical release. They just want to celebrate great content.”
But this is not the only way MTV has changed in order to appease the social justice warriors. The network chose to remove “Best Fight” and implement “Best Fight Against the System.” Vulture continued:
It will feature three movies (Get Out, Hidden Figures, and Loving) and two TV shows (Luke Cage, Mr. Robot) in a category designed to honor a “film or show whose characters best exemplify fighting against a system that tries to keep them down.”McCarthy says the transformation of the tongue-in-cheek “Best Fight” category into something more serious is “the best example” of how the new Movie & TV Awards are changing to keep up with the MTV audience. Best Fight, he said, “made a ton of sense at the time,” in the relatively calm and peaceful 1990s. “But today is such a different story,” McCarthy added. “We’re seeing what’s happening in culture. Young people are rising and forcing change … and we’re seeing a voice of activism that’s just so different and so refreshing. We wanted to support that, and so the idea of a best actual fight almost was an antiquated idea. We thought it was much more celebratory to honor the stories and characters that have fought against the system that they thought was oppressing them. It felt more modern and more reflective of the audience and how they see fighting.”
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY