A month after Blake Lively’s Instagram message calling to attention her “Oakland booty” ignited a race row with SJWs, the actress is back in hot water. Lively stars in The Shallows as a surfer attacked by a great white shark. Owing to the theme of the movie — and the potential for backlash against our ferocious finned friends — more than 44,000 people have now signed a Care2 petition calling for her to donate 1% of her salary from the movie to shark conservation.
“With this film, Blake Lively has a major platform she can use to help educate about the devastating effects human activity has on sharks,” petition author Valerie Faye said.
“Movies like Jaws may have instilled a great fear of sharks in Americans, but the reality is that shark attacks are quite rare,” she continues. “Blake Lively can help Americans understand the difference between entertainment and the reality facing shark populations by donating some of her salary to shark conservation.”
.@BlakeLively: Humans kill sharks more than they hurt us! Donate 1% of “#TheShallows” salary to shark conservation? https://t.co/JaHNgesQHR
— Care2.com (@Care2) June 4, 2016
how could you justify saying a film fueled by the fear of sharks will help their conservation. @blakelively @Protagonistweet
— madie (@madsjo_) May 6, 2016
Whatever your opinion on whether humans pose a greater danger to sharks or vice versa, the petition is deluded.
To begin with, protesters are petitioning the converted. Blake Lively already does support shark conservation:
Join @blakelively and @PauldeGelder in helping protect our oceans! #ChangeTheTidehttps://t.co/aTSnQpMhNL
— Discovery (@Discovery) May 25, 2016
Then there’s the fact her antagonists have no idea what she is being paid for the film. She might be on a “
The more pressing shark conservation question concerning The Shallows is whether the film will make enough money when it is released on June 29 to justify a sequel.