For years, Mark Ruffalo has been an advocate for the Indigenous peoples’ rights, fighting against oil companies and fracking, and defending the tradition of communities like the Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nations in British Columbia. In his efforts to raise awareness and bring back equanimity between the corporate world and the native one, the actor has stood his ground, strong and firmly immovable.
However, some celebrities even apart from the Avengers star have attempted to avenge the Indigenous population’s right over the lands where they come from. One actor in particular, Benicio Del Toro, has taken matters into his own hands after the recent polarizing Presidential debate between rival candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris that hurled a malignant spotlight on the immigration policies of the United States.
Now, the actor has taken a stance, unable to stand on the sidelines and watch the dominoes fall where they may in the aftermath of the 2024 elections.
US Politics Sheds a Dehumanizing Light on Migrants
In the televised Presidential debate of 2024, held between GOP nominee Donald Trump and Dem. Party nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump passed a colorless remark about how Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, have been ingesting house pets as an argument in favor of strengthening US border policies against immigration in the coming years.
Although Trump’s statement was debunked within the course of the debate, the damage (as reported by Deadline) was already done. Now, the ripples of the disparaging comment in the aftermath of the debate can be felt in the Haitian community, who have collectively agreed to take the high road, even amidst reports of Trump threatening deportation and Hillary Clinton labeling his comments as “blatantly fascist” [via The Hill].
Meanwhile, the Guardians of the Galaxy star Benicio Del Toro has taken a more decisive route by using the power of speech and idealism in a world dominated by aggressive rhetoric. During a masterclass at the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, France, the actor was asked to address the topic that has gained such a significant spotlight and sent aftershocks across the globe.
His words, embedded with the philosophies of an artist as well as the generational trauma of an immigrant, made headlines the next day as he railed against the dehumanizing conversation surrounding immigration that was recorded in the Presidential debate of 2024.
Benicio Del Toro Speaks Out, Makes Mark Ruffalo Proud
In his much-publicized speech at Lyon, Benicio Del Toro – known for international drug cartel/border war films such as Steven Soderbergh’s Oscar-winning Traffic (2000) and Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario (2015) – spoke out against the oppressive political stance that has been directed against migrants in the United States as the Presidential campaign picks up steam in the run-up to the 2024 elections.
You can’t group people and say they’re all bad people. For the most part, what I know is that most of the people that are trying to get to America, they’re trying to improve their lives, because there’s problems in their hometowns, or wherever they come from, they’re trying to better their lives.
That said, I think that borders have to be respected, but when you group people and you put them in a position where they become subhuman, then that’s really scary. I don’t subscribe to treating anyone like they’re less than human because of the color of their skin, because of their religion, because of their origin or whatever.
However, Del Toro ended his harangue against systemic prejudice on a positive note by promoting the power of democracy and encouraging the younger generation to be aware, present, and active in the upcoming elections:
Politics is a dirty game. It’s a tough situation right now, and there’s a lot of people that suffer because of it and it has to be put in check. So, hopefully, there’s going to be an election, and let’s see what happens. But I trust in the younger people.
While Del Toro was not seen marching in protest or getting carried away in handcuffs, there is a certain sense of strength to be found in the power of a platform being used for raising awareness. Mark Ruffalo, for one, would be a proud partisan in the debate against the repressive political atmosphere and stand by what Del Toro claimed in his charged stance on immigration.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
