It’s almost comical how Jane Campion went, in the court of Twitter opinion, from feminist superheroine to total racist in the span of just a few hours.
The curious case of Campion’s bewildering awards weekend had her winning the BAFTA, DGA and Critics Choice awards. She and her film “The Power of the Dog” are no doubt now holding the Oscar momentum.
In between all that, Campion called out Sam Elliot as a “homophobic, misogynist, xenophobic” and a “bitch” for expressing distaste towards her film. Social media cheered her on. Feminism!
Then, the following night, Campion accepted her Critics Choice Award and took the time to acknowledge Serena and Venus Williams’ presence: “Venus and Serena, you’re such marvels. However, you don’t play against the guys, like I have to.” Social media subsequently condemned her to shame. Racist!
Campion publicly apologized the following day.
You just can’t win as a public figure anymore. All you can do is publicly speak as little as possible and hopefully social media’s dissection of every word you uttered will come back clean.
Welcome to 2022.