goldie hawn
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She might not consider herself a “movie star,” but Goldie Hawn has cemented herself as a Hollywood fixture. Hawn admits that Hollywood has evolved since her career started, and the change hasn’t necessarily been good. In a new profile for Variety, Hawn said, “I think that it’s important to stand vigilant on people’s behavior and really understand when they’re out of line and be able to handle it.”

Hawn continued, “But I’m concerned about these areas: Suddenly, you don’t have a job. Suddenly you can’t date a woman within the business, or you’ll get fired. They’re canceling books – classic books that no one can read. I don’t like that. There’s mistrust everywhere. So not only is there cancel culture but there are culture wars. Schools are being politicized. But for the greater good of our children? No one’s really looking at that.”

The 77-year-old questioned, “There’s a disruption now. Disruptions are good. But an imbalance isn’t. I hope to get back to some level of sensibility and fairness. So ‘cancel culture.’ The word itself scares me more than anything. It’s rigid, concretized thinking, which is not good. It’s got double edges on it. And who has the right to cancel?”

Hawn believes that cancel culture is one part of a bigger problem. She said, “The level of sensitivity is so high that comedians are afraid to tell certain jokes the way they used to. And it’s a bit of a quandary for comedians; there are things you can’t say, and so on and so forth. I mean, it’s fine. There are certain areas that I agree with. But the level of sensitivity is unforgiving. That’s not a good feeling when you’re in a creative mode.”

Hawn also shared her thoughts on the Academy Awards and how the new mindset affects the awards show. She explained, “It used to be elegant. I’m not old-fashioned, but sometimes jokes are off-color. And I’m missing reverence. Things have become politicized. I want to see people in awe. I want to see people believing again. I want to see people laughing more in a way that isn’t just at someone else’s expense.”

At last year’s Academy Awards, Will Smith infamously slapped Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s alopecia. Hawn spoke of the incident, saying, “It’s indicative of our culture right now. I mean, you could look at it and say, ‘What the hell just happened?’ Somebody lost control. They lost their self-regulation. Their bigger brain wasn’t thinking, and they did something that was horrendous and also showed no remorse. That, to me, is a microcosm oftentimes of our world.”

Hawn said Chris Rock handled the situation the best he could but believes the issue is the withering of “old Hollywood.” She shared, “The old-fashioned movie star creates excitement. We used to be able to say, ‘I’m gonna take a break because I think I’m overexposed.’ A lot of these people that are coming up are making more money than anybody ever made as an actor, but they’re not known.”

With cancel culture becoming more prevalent, celebrities like Goldie Hawn are speaking out about it. Hopefully, Hollywood and cancel culture won’t be so synonymous in the future.

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