Cate Blanchett Has Nothing To Apologize For

The award-winner was angry when filmed from the ground up - but there is nothing demeaning about capturing the sweep of your gown in an industry obsessed with what women wear.

But maybe the Blue Jasmine star should really stop for a second and apologize for humiliating the blameless photographer.

Pardon my English, but bullshit.

We have way too many examples of individuals from the top down excusing their bad behaviour on social norms - it's okay to drink and drive if you're a politician, because everyone does it.  There's nothing wrong with employers using interns as free labour; it's just a thing these days.  Slandering minority groups?  Come on, everyone does it - you can't blame me for that!  So what if this photog was treating Cate Blanchett like a plastic mannequin?  That's his job, right?

There's a great quote from the movie Kingdom of Heaven we should all be taking the time to understand and internalize:

Remember that howsoever you are played or by whom, your soul is in your keeping alone, even though those who presume to play you be kings or men of power.  When you stand before God, you cannot say, "But I was told by others to do thus," or that virtue was not convenient at the time."

I don't care whether you're religious or not - how about having faith in yourself?

Yes, Hollywood is obsessed with what women wear.  It's media machine is obsessed with demeaning women for exploitative images, giving plenty of ink to the Miley Cyrus' of the world while only glancing over the hard work many actresses do within their profession but also relating to social issues they hold dear.

People like Lynden Barber can blame the actresses themselves for giving them fodder to film, but it's the reverse that is problematic.  When young women looking for success in a given field see that the only ones who get ahead and get acclaim allow themselves to be objectified, you end up with a race to the exploitation bottom.

Yes, Politics is a blood sport and everyone loves a good scandal, but it is incumbent on our leaders to set the standard they wish to see in the world, not follow along.

Time was, women weren't considered deserving of the right to vote.  Black people weren't even considered people.  In more than one example in history, the majority turned a blind eye to the oppression and murder of minorities in good conscience, because that's what everyone else was doing.

We have to be better than that.  We're capable of being better than that.  

It's high time we start remembering that there are no individual rights without social responsibility.