Mark Wahlberg Breaks Ranks with A-List Hollywood (Big Time)
'Father Stu' star slams Cancel Culture, demands path to forgiveness
Hollywood’s biggest stars use every pulpit possible to send a message to the masses.
- Save the planet
- Vote out Trump
- Defeat “Don’t Say Gay” legislation
- Black Lives Matter!
That’s just a small sample.
One topic rarely comes up during these moments, though, even if it impacts virtually every star in the Hollywood galaxy.
Cancel Culture.
Some celebrities do address the issue, either directly or indirectly. Think Bryan Cranston, Ricky Gervais and Bill Maher.
Members of the unofficial A-list, however, stay mum on the subject. Some, like Scarlett Johansson, have been directly impacted by the toxic trend but quickly apologized rather than fight back.
Others, think Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt and Dwayne Johnson, would rather avoid the topic entirely.
Enter Mark Wahlberg.
The rapper turned movie superstar is on the promotional circuit for “Father Stu.” The fact-based drama casts him as the title character, a ne’er do well who turns his life around by embracing Christ.
The film co-stars Mel Gibson, an actor whose off-screen behavior crushed his career for a spell. Gibson’s talent, and willingness to atone for his actions, allowed him back into show business.
Wahlberg shared his views on forgiveness, and Cancel Culture, during a frank interview with Faithwire.
“This movie has a very clear message that we are not going to give up on people,” he said. “We are not going to turn our backs on people because of mistakes that they’ve made. We are going to tell people and encourage people that nobody is beyond redemption and that we support you, we love you, we accept you for who you are.”
Cancel Culture, the actor said, short circuits that path.
“You cannot give up on people,” the A-lister continued. “And people are so quick to turn their backs on people. And negativity as a whole has just been amplified in a way that it’s really hard to remind people of the importance of loving and supporting people. People can do incredible things.”
RELATED: Colbert Denies Cancel Culture Exists … Then Says It Should
Wahlberg knows a thing or two of how Cancel Culture works. As a teenager, Wahlberg physically attacked other teens and pelted them with racial slurs. He spent a short amount of time in jail and, by all accounts, straightened his life out from there.
He’s now an Oscar-nominated actor who bounces from popcorn films (the “Transformers” franchise) to awards-worthy dramas (“The Fighter,” “Boogie Nights”).
Yet the woke mob tried to cancel him after he sent out a benign plea for peace following the death of George Floyd in 2020.
That may explain why he’s speaking out now with such force. Then again, it could directly tie into his faith. His spirituality drove him to make “Father Stu,” and he even invested some of his cash into the film.
That’s breaking Hollywood’s golden rule … never invest in your own movies.
Here’s the key takeaway.
A-list stars may not move the needle on Climate Change, the upcoming mid-terms or other matters they preach about from their pulpits. If enough of Hollywood’s elite speak out forcefully against Cancel Culture, though, it could make a difference.
Wahlberg just took that first, crucial step. Now, will his peers follow his lead?
“Don’t I need this whole system? What about you? Then you don’t need it either. Or need it even less. But you get in bed with them too. Why do you do it? Because they can destroy you too, despite your talent and your faith. Because they decide what we play, who is to act, who can direct.” That’s Christa-Marie Sieland to Georg Dreyman in The Lives of Others, the classic film about East German totalitarianism and its impact on theater artists, dramatically set in the mid-80s, prior to the Wall coming down.
But couldn’t nearly the precisely same line be said in Hollywood today? That’s why what Christian Toto says here about the A-listers, and their moral cowardice/corruption, is so important.