As Hollywood taps into American empathy, conservatives call it a sin
' Freakier Friday ' hits theaters on Aug. 8 and I can't wait — and not only because I'm expecting it to be a lot of fun, but because I think our country needs a dose of good-hearted humor, the same way we needed Superman reaffirming the values of 'truth, justice and the American way.'
'Freakier Friday' is a sequel to ' Freaky Friday,' which came out 22 years ago, during President George W. Bush's first term. Honestly, that feels like a lifetime ago. Come to think of it, it's more than half a lifetime ago for me.
If you haven't seen 'Freaky Friday,' you should. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan were brilliant, and it's exciting that they're both back in the movie's starring roles, along with most of the original cast.
Fantasy comedy movies, like superhero movies, are about delivering good times, not political messages. At the same time, movies and television shows and other kinds of storytelling succeed by tapping into common experiences and our shared hopes and aspirations.
The best of them can make us think and laugh at the same time. That was the genius of shows like ' All in the Family,' created by my organization's founder, Norman Lear.
'Freaky Friday' was essentially about empathy — seeing the world through someone else's eyes in order to better understand their thoughts, feelings and actions.
In this case, it was about a mother and teenage daughter who were often at odds before a bit of mystical magic swapped their identities and bodies, literally forcing them to experience the world as the other does.
The movie succeeded in being both funny and thought-provoking, silly and moving on a basic human level.
In promotional materials for 'Freakier Friday,' Curtis and Lohan tell us that the identity swaps and complications in the new movie are even more complicated — freakier all the way around.
That feels appropriate, because things in our country are certainly freakier now than they were 22 years ago — and not in a good or fun way.
It's impossible to say what aspect of President Donald Trump's MAGA movement is most horrific, but it could very well be its hostility to empathy.
The policies of the Trump administration require the systemic suppression of empathy.
How else could you support taking health care away from people who are barely making ends meet so you can shovel more money into the bulging pockets of billionaires?
How else could you be so delighted about brutally abducting people who have raised families and contributed to their communities for decades that you turn the operations into music videos?
How else would you take such joy in the hopelessness of people kidnapped and sent to concentration camps that you pose for photos and sell merchandise celebrating their suffering?
It's disturbing to me as a Christian that so many conservative Christians, who make up a big part of Trump's base, are along for the ride. I understand that people have widely differing interpretations of how their faith informs their political opinions. I understand that people of integrity can disagree on what policies will create the best outcomes.
What I don't understand is how so many Christians in the MAGA movement not only accept the Trump administration's cruelty as a necessary evil, but seem to actually revel in it.
I imagine that many Americans instinctively feel revulsion when witnessing official lawlessness and brutality. They feel empathy for the suffering of struggling and disrupted families. In other words, they feel empathy.
That's not useful to Team Trump, so they tell their followers to reject those empathetic impulses.
That's how we get the sickening spectacle of right-wing influencers warning against ' toxic empathy ' and MAGA-minded preachers declaring that empathy is a 'sin ' — a sin!
That's a hard sell for this Christian. I see empathy at the core of the golden rule, and of the commandment to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
I love the reaction I've seen appear on church message boards and hand-drawn protest signs: 'If empathy is a sin, sin boldly.'
That's the kind of joyful defiance we need more of these dispiriting days.
We also need humor and good company to keep us going. That's why I'm looking forward to laughing along with a crowd watching Freakier Friday.
See you in the theater.
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