Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem criticized President Donald Trump and other despotic world leaders at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, condemning the "male toxic behavior" they exhibit on a regular basis.
Bardem spoke while promoting director Rodrigo Sorogoyen's The Beloved, in which he stars as an acclaimed director forced to reckon with his distant relationship with his daughter. Bardem said the film is itself an exploration of toxic masculinity, namely “the bad education that we have received for many ages."
The actor, a native of Spain, also condemned violence against women in his country, using the phenomenon as an example of what becomes acceptable when toxic masculinity is normalized. His remarks took aim not only at Trump but also at Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Bardem said:
“There is an average of two women killed monthly by their ex-husbands or ex-boyfriends, which is horrible. Just that amount of women being murdered—it’s unbelievable. And we’ve kind of normalized it."
"It’s like, ‘Well, yeah, it’s horrible.’ I mean, are we f**king nuts? We are killing women because some men think they own them? They possess them?”
“So, that problem also goes to Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin and Mr. Netanyahu. The big balls man saying, ‘My c*ck is bigger than yours, and I’m going to bomb the sh*t out of you.’ That is a f**king male toxic behavior that is creating thousands of dead people.”
"We have to talk about it and I think we are talking about it because we are more aware of it, thankfully."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Bardem's remarks resonated with many.
Bardem has been outspoken on behalf of liberal causes for many years so it's not surprising he criticized Trump, Putin, and Netanyahu the way he did.
We hope they get the memo.
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