Before being honoured at tonight's ELLE Women in Hollywood celebration, Margot Robbie watched a Hollywood classic, The Breakfast Club, and found herself inspired by the on-screen high schoolers' assignment to write a 1000-word essay on 'who you think you are'.
So in lieu of a traditional speech, she wrote that essay—to Hollywood.
Read her letter below:
Dear Hollywood, We accept that we had to sacrifice a whole week standing our ground and defending our rights as women. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are when you still see as you want to see us: in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. Being a woman in Hollywood means you will probably have to fight through degrading situations and will be offered chauvinistic roles by men who think that that's all anybody wants to see us play. But even those of us lucky enough to have established a career in the hallowed grounds of show business are still in the shadows of the big trees, constantly reminded that we only grow in the sunshine they allow us. These difficulties we face are to share the same spirit of those faced by countless women all over the world who struggle for the right to earn a living, the right to be heard, and even the right to be safe from harm.
In recent years, superhero films have been all the rage, and I should know as I have benefitted from the trend. I only wish we could transfer a little bit of that heroism into reality. That those heroes we admire in movies would defend us against the villains in government, in the workplace, in the entertainment industry, and even in the most basic human interactions. There are women in and out of Hollywood that have proven this week that they are those real heroes. Their bravery and courage to speak truth to power has made a powerful impact that can be the start of real change. It is our decision, and those of us that have a platform can choose to use it for those in the world who do now. Which means that, we can not only highlight the painful inequities, but we can continue to speak out as long as they exist. And we can keep drawing attention to injustice wherever we find it and to use our talents and intellects and privilege to help a new chapter of women, a chapter for all of us.
So thinking about being a woman in Hollywood reminded me that when you take away Hollywood, we are all just women, all facing the inequalities that being a women brings with it. And, what I've come to understand is that, though we are unique and powerful as individuals, we are invincible when we come together. So, some may have seen us as objects and other individuals, but never as equals. But, in the words of The Breakfast Club, each one of us is a brain and an athlete and a basket case and a princess and a criminal. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, The Girls Club.
