Fairy tales were born in times of trouble, in complicated times – when hope felt lost. I made The Shape of Water as an antidote to cynicism. For it seems to me that when we speak of love – when we believe in love – we do so in a hopeless way. We fear looking naive and even disingenuous. But Love is real – absolutely real – and, like water, it is the most gentle and most powerful force in the Universe. It is free and formless until it pours into its recipient, until we let it in. Our eyes are blind. But our soul is not. It recognizes love in whatever shape it comes to us.
Every NFL team who were on the field for the anthem linked arms in solidarity at minimum.
Also, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and Michael Strahan (Fox NFL Sunday, before the Eagles/Giants game) each gave speeches in support of the protests, and I was surprised at how passionate they were. I honestly didn’t expect them to speak against the president on the pregame show like that, and it wasn’t just a generic “freedom of speech” thing, they actually talked about race and injustice. The NFL made me proud today.