Actor Joaquin Phoenix used his acceptance speech after winning an Oscar for his role in "Joker" during Sunday night’s Academy Awards to go on a rambling, emotional rant against sexism, nationalism and…milk?
Phoenix used his few moments at the podium to espouse the “fight against injustice," which apparently includes humanity’s inexcusable treatment of cows.
"We're talking about the fight against the belief that one nation, one people, one race, one gender or one species has the right to dominate, control and use and exploit another with impunity," he said.
“I think that we’ve become very disconnected from the natural world. Many of us what we are guilty of is an egocentric world view: the belief that we're the center of the universe,” he went on. “We go into the natural world, and we plunder it for its resources. We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow, and when she gives birth, we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. Then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf, and we put it in our coffee and our cereal.”
To his benefit, Phoenix did at least appear to throw a bit of shade on modern "cancel culture" that seeks to hold anyone to an unreachable standard of "social justice" perfection, saying that humanity is best "not when we cancel each other out for our past mistakes, but when we help each other to grow."
"I've been a scoundrel in my life. I've been selfish. I've been cruel at times, hard to work with, and I'm grateful that so many of you in this room have given me a second chance," Phoenix said. "And I think that's when we're at our best -- when we support each other. Not when we cancel each other out for past mistakes, but when we help each other to grow, when we educate each other, when we guide each other towards redemption. That is the best of humanity."
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