Actress and avid activist, Jane Fonda has spoofed the ever-popular AMC ad (originally featuring Nicole Kidman) that is played before each movie showing inside all locations of the American theater chain with the help of comedy organization, The Groundlings, as initially reported by Deadline. She speaks with tone that matches the forerunner as she walks into a theater but the words tell a different story of apprehension with statements like, “We stream to self-silence. To censor. To slop.” and “Somehow corporate greed feels good in a place like this”. A joke is then made by actor, Andrew Leeds after he quietly enters the same theater to point out with mild urgency that she needs to stop what she is doing and leave because of a scheduled demolition of that theater to make way for a data center – a detail to parallel the worries regarding streaming services controlling content created within the industry.
The inspiration behind this performance is fueled by major concern over the recent news of a potential merger of media giants Warner Brothers Discovery and Netflix, where WBD has accepted an acquisition offer from Netflix despite a hostile proposal from Paramount. The fears are that the works many artists and creators supply to the streaming platforms are to be ultimately controlled and profited by their wealthy owners that have no part in the creation of any content. The dialogue in the parody suggests that the content to be distributed could be hand-selected by said owners that may sympathize with the current U.S. President’s views and values, therefore potentially morphing content into forms of expression “that lets your brain not do too much thinky-thinky”. Production support from The Groundlings Theatre is deemed appropriate considering their mission and values to bring integrity back into the artform with the assistance of members of their current company (and maybe even some of the big names that are part of their alumni). News of this acquisition also prompted politicians, like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal to echo these concerns by speaking about how allowing foreign entities to have access to private sensitive information belonging to millions of Americans is threat to national security by breaching antitrust laws while in turn violating anti-monopoly laws, along with the rights to freedom of speech; This sentiment extends to the possibility of the counteroffer from Paramount being accepted, as well (watch Sen. Elizabeth Warren speak on this here).
The increasing risk in artistic repression also inspired Jane Fonda to revive an organization near and dear to her heart to battle these injustices as best she can alongside peers and colleagues – she has helped reactivate The Committee for the First Amendment that her father, Henry Fonda helped form with other stars such as Katherine Hepburn and Gregory Peck as part of the original committee in 1947 (shown in the image below). Current members of this Committee include Ayo Edebiri, Judd Apatow, and the late Rob and Michelle Reiner to name a few.
The overall goal appears to be to prevent further distortion of the American Constitution by not allowing business owners to have access to such sensitive personal information, let alone provide it to foreign entities that may manipulate this compromised information for personal gain, and not allowing the continued oppression of constitutional rights. News regarding these topics keep rolling in daily (this is Deadline’s latest coverage, plus Sen. Warren’s latest video – both posted on December 17) and is sure to continue until a final decision has been agreed upon.
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