“It will be like a military state.” That’s how one security expert described the scene at the 2016 Academy Awards, which was held Sunday night. “You simply can’t take the chance anymore,” the expert said.
So the Dolby Theatre was swarming with hundreds of armed law enforcement officers as Hollywood’s elite arrived. Some celebrities, oblivious to the irony, flaunted an extra accessory while walking the heavily-guarded red carpet—a bracelet promoting gun control, courtesy of the Brady Campaign. It must be a bit easier to protest against guns when you’re surrounded by guns protecting you.
Actors who had planned to wear the anti-gun jewelry—names like Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston and Patricia Arquette—can all be seen using guns on screen. But off screen, they’d prefer you and I be unarmed … believing, it seems, that the “can’t take the chance” message applies only to “A-listers” like themselves.
