Chris Evans decided to ‘listen more and speak less’ in the #MeToo era
March 25, 2018
I only read highlights from Chris Evans’ New York Times interview last week, so I thought the two most vital pieces of information were A) that he and Jenny Slate are over again and B) that he sounds very much done with Captain America. The Captain America thing was, I believed, pretty f–king obvious because they all have contracts that they’re hoping to fulfill in a hurry so they can move on with their lives. Chris has sounded completely over Cap for years. Anyway, Chris gave the New York Times’ interview to promote his turn on Broadway in Kenneth Lonergan Lobby Hero, a play about gender inequality, sexual harassment, abusive relationships within professional settings and more. Chris plays the abusive cop. Buried within this NYT piece is this interesting little aside:
The role has unexpectedly submerged Mr. Evans in questions of gender inequality and the distribution of power just as those same questions are roiling his industry. The actor, who said he didn’t base his performance on anyone in particular (“It’s awful to admit, but I know plenty of guys who fit this mold”) has been studying how to better conduct himself as an ally to women in his profession.
One book he found eye-opening was Rebecca Solnit’s “The Mother of All Questions.” Mr. Evans read it while dating the actress Jenny Slate… and decided that he needed to listen more and speak less.
“The hardest thing to reconcile is that just because you have good intentions, doesn’t mean it’s your time to have a voice,” he said.
I’m of two minds about this. One, I wish someone like Matt Damon thought this way. I wish Matt Damon and all of the dumbass bros would take a moment and be reflective and actually LISTEN to the conversations. On the other side, it’s powerful when a man with power uses his voice to really SHOW that he’s an ally. It’s not an either/or proposition: either you say something or you don’t. It matters what you say. If Chris came barging into the #MeToo conversation and made it all about how he deserves a cookie for being an ally, then yes, he would need to take a seat. But he also has the tools and resources to refocus conversations and to shine a light on injustices and abuses. But I’m just glad that Chris seems to be on a learning curve, which is better than we can say about so many men.
Photos courtesy of Joseph Marzullo/WENN.com.
