Posted in: Movies | Tagged: Alyssa Milano, donald trump, mark ruffalo

Mark Ruffalo, Alyssa Milano, and More Celebrities Fight Back Against Donald Trump, WWE

Published Sat, 27 Jan 2018 09:15:34 -0600

No longer content with being the go-to source for political opinions in the media, Hollywood actors Alyssa Milano and Mark Ruffalo plan to deliver their own State of the Union addresses this week, the same week President Donald Trump gives his official State of the Union speech. The two social media events will serve not only as "counterprogramming" to Trump's speech, but by happening on Monday and Tuesday Night, will also compete with the weekly wrestling shows of WWE, one of the President's former stomping grounds.

In order to compete with ratings juggernauts like Monday Night Raw and Smackdown Live, these events will need to pull out all the stops. After all, you never know who might show up on Monday Night Raw. Snoop Dogg is there a lot, for instance. At Rufallo's People's State of the Union event on Monday, live-streaming here, Ruffalo will be joined by Whoopi Goldberg, John Leguizamo, Michael Moore, Wanda Sykes, Zoe Kravitz, Cynthia Nixon, Kathy Najimy, Fisher Stevens, Rosie Perez, Andra Day, and Common, according to an interview with Ruffalo in People. That event will be hosted by political groups We Stand United, MoveOn.org, and Stand Up America.

Ruffalo explained the purpose of the event in that interview:

In essence it's a better reflection of our state of the union based on a more populist point of view, based on the people's point of view. I think it's important because we have a president who has a difficult time with the truth, who has a radical, divisive agenda, and spends an enormous amount of time focusing on the negative and hopelessness and despair.

We want to celebrate this moment that we're in of what is now probably one of the most influential and powerful and really beautiful movements to come into play in the United States since the civil rights movement.

Meanwhile, as noted by sandwich-themed Hollywood gossip blog The Wrap, Milano released a Google Doc online detailing plans for an event on Tuesday called "State of the Dream," which will run directly against Trump's State of the Union and Smackdown. The event is advertised as a "digital address," and will consist of everyone posting on Twitter at exactly 9PM Eastern. United We Dream is hosting this one. The Google Doc explains:

#StateOfTheDream Initiative

OVERVIEW: On Tuesday night (6pm PST/9pm EST), Donald Trump will deliver his SOTU address. #StateOfTheDream will highlight what truly makes America great: that we come from many places, races and creeds, and together work for a more perfect union.

Our digital #StateOfTheDream address will support our dreamers and immigrants, call for a DREAM Act, lean into the Senate, fundraise for United We Dream, and express our vision for a more inclusive, progressive America.

We will provide a social media toolkit closer to the 30th, but we also invite you create a brief (60 seconds or less) video describing your dream for America: What you hope for. What inspires YOU. (We especially encourage those running for office and those already serving to do so!). All videos should be posted simultaneously at 6pm PST/9pm EST with the hashtag #StateOfTheDream on all of your social channels. After the video blast, you can proceed to post tweets from the toolkit or your own messaging. We just ask that you continue the unifying tweetstorm with the #StateOfTheDream hashtag.

WHEN: Tuesday, January 30th at 6pm PST/9pm EST

WHAT: #StateOfTheDream initiative

WHO: Members of The Resistance, elected officials, those running for office, any and all Americans who want to use their voices for positive change! Love IS louder.

If you're wondering how we ended up living in this hellish nightmare world where the guy who played The Hulk and the daughter from Who's the Boss? are the leaders of the political opposition movement, remember that we elected a vulgar former pro wrestler and reality TV star to the highest office in the land and do the math yourself. In another universe, Milano and Ruffalo could easily end up being contestants on an upcoming season of never-been-president Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice, and we think we'd all probably prefer to still be living in that world, if given the choice.