“The struggle for justice and equality in America is everyone's struggle, but those struggles are not equal. Arquette on the stage Sunday night told the story she related to — she's not paid equally for the work that she does. Meryl Streep in the front row clapped for a story she personally related to. Arquette got a hearty applause because the 28 percent of women in that room knew that she was right.
That doesn't excuse her comments or her ignorance. But it does explain them. To care about others requires an understanding — however shallow — of the trials they face. But the world we live in doesn't and the movies Arquette and her colleagues largely ignore the stories of people who aren't aren't white, straight, and male.
Arquette's misstep isn't the end of the world. It was an off-hand comment in a press room after receiving the biggest award of her life. But her words were so painful because they twist the knife in a wound that's taking far too long to heal.”
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