Actor and Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey gave a passionate speech
from the White House press room yesterday asking, “How can we make the
loss of these lives matter?”.
McConaughey invoked the lives of the 19 children and two teachers
murdered by a mass shooter two weeks ago in the town where he was born
and where his mother was a school teacher. He described visiting Uvalde,
“You could feel the pain, the denial, the disillusion, anger, blame,
sadness, loss of lives, dreams halted.”
The Oscar-winning actor was in Washington to talk to President Joe Biden
and other lawmakers about stricter gun laws. Something the GOP clearly
doesn’t even want to talk about. Last week, one Republican announced he
would not run for reelection because of the backlash from his own party
over his support for gun control. How dare he.
McConaughey said, “We can’t truly be leaders if we are only living
for reelection.” He will now face backlash from Republicans and the NRA.
McConaughey and his wife, Camila Alves McConaughey, displayed a pair
of green Converse high tops that were worn by ten-year-old Maite
Rodriguez, one of the victims of the Uvalde massacre. She had drawn a
heart on the right shoe over her toes. McConaughey said, “These are the
same green Converse on her feet that turned out to be the only clear
evidence that could identify her after the shooting.”
I’ve never been a fan of Matthew McConaughey. He’s a very likable guy
but I always felt like he wasn’t acting. To me, he has always seemed to
play the same character, himself. I think he did that yesterday. Yes,
it was powerful and it was a presentation, but he wasn’t acting. What he
said came straight from the heart.
Shortly after his speech, I saw memes made by goons trying to
discredit him. They can’t take down his message so the only thing they
had to destroy was him. There were the usual complaints of a movie star
telling us how to live. There were memes taken from McConaughey’s movies
where he’s pictured with a gun as if that makes him a hypocrite. It
doesn’t.
Actors can give us their viewpoints. What makes you think our elected
officials are more qualified? Have you seen the caliber of our elected
officials? Have you heard the shit that comes out of the mouths of the
likes of Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Ted Cruz, or Marjorie Taylor
Greene? I mean, if freedom means we can have any gun we want then it
also means an actor can express his opinion publicly. Unlike Senator
Tommy Tuberville, I bet Matthew McConaughey knows the three branches of
government are NOT the House, Senate, and presidency. Maybe next time
McConaughey comes to town, he can tell us how to lose a senator in ten
days.
And McConaughey isn’t a hypocrite for playing a guy with a gun in a
movie and being in favor of gun control. Anthony Hopkins probably isn’t
in favor of cannibalism either. It’s called acting. Actors play
characters. But the people calling McConaughey a hypocrite didn’t listen
to his speech or they’re liars. He’s not for eradicating all guns. He’s
a gun owner. Life is too complex for conservatives to understand. A gun
owner can be in favor of gun control. You can own a car and believe
drivers should be licensed and that cars should have tags, seatbelts,
windshields, etc.
I don’t think I’ll ever be a huge fan of Matthew McConaughey as an
actor or of his movies, although The Gentleman is kinda epic (I may have
to rethink my position). But I like the man and I like where his heart
is. He has principles and he’s using his star power to make a
difference. Yesterday, his press conference was carried live by CNN,
MSNBC, and…this one really surprised me, Fox News.
Quite frankly, I think that’s alright alright alright.