Jennifer Lawrence lays out a plan to ‘save America’
SETTLE down, class: Professor Lawrence will school you now. That would be Jennifer Lawrence, the Oscar-winning actress slash political activist last seen in the Russian spy drama “Red Sparrow,” who is fed up with America’s broken system and isn’t going to take it anymore.
Lawrence, a board member for the non-profit anti-corruption organisation Represent.Us, delivers a 12-minute lecture in a short film released on Wednesday that’s part civics lesson and part rallying cry, dramatically titled “Unbreaking America: Solving the Corruption Crisis.”
“I know it’s hard to talk about politics these days,” says Lawrence, who announced last year that she would take a temporary break from acting to focus on her advocacy. “But look, the government is ours. We pay for it, so it needs to work for us, and right now, it doesn’t.”
For the rest of the video — which briefly co-stars Represent.Us director Josh Silver — the “X-Men” star lays out just how screwed up the US political system is, including the minuscule amount of influence everyday Americans have in policymaking versus the wealthy and special interest groups.
“So the question is how do we unrig this system?” says Lawrence, who clearly doesn’t just play a superhero on the big screen. “I’m obsessed with this idea — not just of unrigging it, but actually fixing it.”
The solution, according to Lawrence and Silver, is the American Anti-Corruption Act. It aims to wrestle power away from billionaire donors with key changes such as ending gerrymandered voting districts, establishing automatic voter registration and overhauling lobbying laws.
“If you do nothing,” Lawrence says in the YouTube video, “nothing changes.”
I know it’s hard to talk about politics these days. But look, the government is ours. We pay for it, so it needs to work for us, and right now, it doesn’t. So the question is how do we unrig this system? I’m obsessed with this idea — not just of unrigging it, but actually fixing it. Jennifer Lawrence, actress