The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards are a series of accolades given to actors and actresses to recognize outstanding performances in film and primetime television.  With so many other award ceremonies out there, it is hard to say if winning a SAG award is all that special. Not to mention, this year’s awards ceremony had political overtones when Stranger Things actor David Harbour gave a passionate speech about fighting for the disenfranchised after the show won the award for best ensemble. This act leaves many wondering: should an event aimed to congratulate actors’ hard work be used to spread political ideology?

Being nominated for a SAG Award can mean a lot for both the actor and the film.  After being nominated, an actor is taken more seriously and begins getting offered more work in bigger films. This could also be said for many other award ceremonies like the Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, and Tony Awards just to name a few. The emphasis of the night should be the achievements of the actors; not their political views. People enjoy watching great television shows and movies to  escape the reality of politics which many would rather ignore.

“The SAG Awards give people the motivation to keep working hard which not only benefits them because they get an award but it benefits us because we get to keep seeing really good shows and movies,” junior Anel Garcia said.

Harbour was not the first actor this year to make such a political statement at an award ceremony such as this. Meryl Streep took it upon herself to voice the resentment shared by many towards president Donald Trump at this year’s Golden Globes. Streep’s speech highlighted how American culture is worried about outsiders and minorities such as foreigners. Although her speech may not have directly related to the award show, it brought attention to important issues our nation faces.

Another issue with the SAG awards is that it gives majority of attention to movies solely based on their box office income and not the quality of their work. If movie making is a form of art, then surely the amount of money it generates should not matter so long as the message of the piece is well delivered. If movies are unpopular, they do not have enough money to pay for advertising meaning they will never get the opportunity to be nominated for an award.  Not to mention the Television Nominating Committees are made up of members who already have an idea on what they believe the film should look like from previous nominations.

“The awards give movies an unfair chance to win because if they are really good movies but don’t make enough money in the box office then they will never get nominated,” sophomore Amanda Rodriguez said.

Ultimately, there is a time and a place to bring up one’s political views and an award show such as the SAG Awards is not one of them. Harbour of course utilized his right to freedom of speech to share his opinions openly and should be commended for taking the courage to share that in front of the audience. Harbour as well as the rest of the cast of Stranger Things gained recognition for their hard work at the awards, which should have been the emphasis of his acceptance speech.