There are few things in this world that make me proud of being from Pittsburgh. I just never really fit in there, so the few things I have, I cling to. One of those things is Michael Keaton. Michael Keaton is from a town that is nearby Pittsburgh (about 20 minutes outside) and as someone who grew up about 40 minutes away from the Steel City, I’ve always enjoyed the fact that I share a home base with Keaton.
Now, I’m even happier. The Batman star has been taking to his social media platforms to share his support of Joe Biden, and now, with our home state of Pennsylvania being a crucial state in the upcoming election, he’s doing his part to make sure his fellow Pennsylvanians vote for Biden/Harris!
— Michael Keaton (@MichaelKeaton) November 2, 2020
Here’s the thing: Pennsylvania was “blue,” in presidential elections, for my entire life up to 2016. I grew up thinking that my home state was filled with proud Democrats, because that’s all I knew. (Should have looked at who our governors were, but also I was 10 years old when we moved, so … forgive me.)
And the minute I saw Pennsylvania turn red for Donald Trump and went home to visit my grandmother and saw all the Trump signs and people openly supporting a racist/sexist/homophobic/xenophobic piece of garbage, I wasn’t proud to be from there. I didn’t want to talk about Pittsburgh anymore.
But then someone like Michael Keaton comes around and reminds me of how strong Pittsburghians (and Pennsylvanians) are. We have to be. Our state is literally gray for the majority of the year. What’s more important, though, is that Michael Keaton is using his platform the right way.
I know many celebrities do not want to talk about politics. I get it. I don’t really, either. I’d much rather do my research, vote when I’m supposed to, and then go on crying about movies and actors for the rest of the time. But that’s not the political climate we currently exist in and we all have to do our part, including celebrities—especially celebrities because they have these massive platforms that can help people decide to vote for the first time or get them excited about a candidate.
So seeing Michael Keaton use his to post wonderfully closeup selfie videos showing his support for Kamala Harris and Joe Biden? It warms my cold dead heart. It also helps (for me) that Michael Keaton is wearing his Pirates P hat and clearly still has a love for Pennsylvania and wants it to be the state that does the right thing, much like myself.
2020 is hard for so many reasons, and it is little things like Michael Keaton posting a video urging Pennsylvanians to vote Blue that gives me a little bit of hope for tomorrow. Will that hope be short-lived? I certainly hope not.
(image: Warner Bros.)
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