was actually subversive. I even thought she was good in The Help, for Christ’s sake.
Nonetheless, I must acknowledge the absurdity of this very goofy post that fails to mention her nepo-baby privilege and has way too many mentions of “we” and “us” when describing the career trajectory of most actors. Twitter was quick to call out Howard for her tone-deaf post, labeling her comments as “nonsense” and pointing out her illustrious surname. Many of the comments under her Instagram post are similarly critical.
Putting aside the obvious disparity between average folks and people with rich, well-connected parents, there’s plenty of other factors that determine the success or failure of someone in Hollywood, including race, gender, sexuality, size, etc—not to mention, the current flop state of Hollywood itself, with fast-disappearing shows and soon-to-be AI-generated projects.
I’m not going to dig into all of that, though, because Howard’s post is ultimately harmless—just ill-advised. And I’m sure some budding actors out there would rather have some (albeit very obvious) advice from Howard about building communities and “being your own boss,” if it’s readily available.
I also know the internet gets similarly annoyed when actors go out of their way to address their nepotism. Even Twitter fave Allison Williams’ initially well-received remarks about her nepo-baby status have grown a bit tiresome. It’s similar to when white people acknowledge their privilege to me as if I benefit in any way from knowing that they’re self-aware. Venmo me $10,000, instead!
Danny Moloshok
Still, Howard should’ve at least anticipated how this post would be perceived. I personally think shilling a guaranteed “path to making it” in an industry that has proven to be anything but meritocracy is overall misleading. But a brief statement addressing the exclusive resources she’s had access to throughout her career would presumably reduce some of the backlash.
Overall, I applaud Howard for somehow one-upping that terrible NAACP campaign she participated in during 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests, where she and a bunch of other white celebrities “took responsibility” for racism. You never cease to amaze me!
