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Literally What Is Sean Penn Even Saying

Photo: The Today Show.

Sean Penn, an actor and allegedly other things, recently sat down for an interview with Natalie Morales on Today. It aired Monday morning. Topics covered in the interview, which Penn participated in with actor Natascha McElhone, include the new astronaut show they’re in, acting (which Penn says “sucks”), and, of course, the #MeToo movement.

Morales tells us, by way of introduction, that Sean Penn rarely agrees to be interviewed. While I admit that I am not an expert in Sean Penn’s willingness to be interviewed, I can see why this might be the case; his thoughts during the interview provoked a feeling reminiscent of the feeling one gets when the president speaks aloud, i.e., these words don’t go together and I can’t intuit their exact meaning, but I can absolutely tell that it is bad.

But can we parse what he said if we look at it very close? Let’s see.

Discussion of the #MeToo movement began when Morales asked about this new astronaut show, noting that most of its heroes and people in power are women. Was this shift, she wondered, related to the #MeToo movement? McElhone said yes; while she has always known women like this in reality, she is happy to see them finally getting a chance to be portrayed on screen.

Penn said:

“I’d like to think that none of it was influenced by what they call the movement of #MeToo. I think it’s influenced by the things that are developing in terms of the empowerment of women who’ve been acknowledging each other and being acknowledged by men. This is a movement that was largely shouldered by a kind of receptacle of the salacious.”


Hm. Okay. Let’s break it down, sentence by sentence:

“I’d like to think that none of it was influenced by what they call the movement of #MeToo.”

This part is easy. Though he is unable or unwilling to comment on its direct inspiration, it is Penn’s hope that none of the opportunities for women presented by this show were influenced by “the movement of #MeToo,” inverting the signifier to show distance.

This one I: UNDERSTAND.

“I think it’s influenced by the things that are developing in terms of the empowerment of women who’ve been acknowledging each other and being acknowledged by men.”

Women who have been acknowledging each other are now being empowered. And they are being acknowledged by men for their acknowledgment of the women they are acknowledging. They are the inspiration.

This one I: DO NOT UNDERSTAND. ❌

“This is a movement that was largely shouldered by a kind of receptacle of the salacious.”

Okay. I guess we should start with “shouldered.” Shouldered means “take on (a burden or responsibility),” like, “She shouldered the blame.” So the movement … was shouldered. So “a kind of receptacle of the salacious” took on the responsibility of the movement. A receptacle, like … a thing that holds “the salacious,” which are the enjoyably indecent, which is an interesting way to describe the #MeToo movement. Hm. Maybe it would help to see a receptacle of the salacious:

Illustration: Kelly Conaboy

Here you can see a receptacle of the salacious. (It has a shadow for increased authenticity.) This, a trash bin for the desirably naughty, is what has … shouldered … the #MeToo movement. So like …

Illustration: Kelly Conaboy

This one I still: DO NOT UNDERSTAND. ❌

Morales also DID NOT UNDERSTAND ❌ what Penn meant by this and asked for clarification, to which Sean Penn responded:

“Well, we don’t know what’s a fact in many of the cases. Salacious is as soon as you call something a movement that is really a series of many individual accusers, victims, accusations, some of which are unfounded. The spirit of much of what has been the #MeToo movement is to divide men and women.”

“Well, we don’t know what’s a fact in many of the cases.”

This means he does not believe many of the women who have spoken out about sexual assault, and likely means he wants to voice his skepticism now, in the general sense, perhaps before he has to voice it for himself more directly.

This one I: UNDERSTAND.

“Salacious is as soon as you call something a movement that is really a series of many individual accusers, victims, accusations, some of which are unfounded.”

Salacious is when you call the parts that add up to a movement “a movement.” Also please remember for the future that some women are lying.

This one I: DO NOT UNDERSTAND ❌ but then UNDERSTAND

“The spirit of much of what has been the #MeToo movement is to divide men and women.”

Uh-huh.

This one I: UNDERSTAND.

Morales points out that women would probably say #MeToo has, instead, united women, to which Sean Penn responded:

“I’m gonna say that women that I talk to, not in front of a camera, that I listen to, of all walks of life, that there’s a common sense that is not represented at all in the discussion when it comes to the media discussion of it, the discussion where if Sean Penn says this, so and so’s going to attack him for saying this, because of that.”

Hm.

I have: NO IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In summation, the astronauts who are going to Mars in this TV show set in the future are not portrayed by women because of #MeToo’s influence, but instead because of the discussion where if Sean Penn says this, so and so’s going to attack him — which is really a series of many individual accusers, victims, accusations, some of which are unfounded — and largely it’s shouldered by a kind of receptacle of the salacious, plus women who’ve been acknowledging each other.

Thank you.

Literally What Is Sean Penn Even Saying