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 Entertainment | May 2006 
Geena Davis Honored for Role As President
 Edith M. Lederer - Associated Press
| | Prince George's County won't have "Commander in Chief" to be kicked around by anymore. Just days after county bigwigs went thermonuclear over an episode in which faux POTUS Geena Davis sends in the troops to quell crime in the county, ABC quietly pulled the plug on the White House drama for the rest of the season. While county big cheeses no doubt wish they could claim embarrassment caused ABC's decision, honestly, the series was done in by ABC's very tight race with Fox to finish the season in first place among young viewers. (Peter Stone/ABC) |
United Nations - To the strains of "Hail to the Chief," actress Geena Davis accepted an award night for her television portrayal of the first woman president of the United States from an organization which is seeking to turn fiction into reality.
When the star of the ABC television show "Commander in Chief" got to the podium Tuesday, she was given a red, white and blue sash to put on over her gown, similar to one worn by Chile's first woman president, Michelle Bachelet. "This is the coolest thing I ever got! Wow I love it!," she said.
"So many countries have had a female head of state before us," she told the 500 guests at a dinner in the U.N. Delegates Dining Room. "So it is certainly time."
The award was presented by The White House Project, a non-profit organization which works to promote women's voting, political participation and leadership, with a goal of putting a woman in the White House.
"Every interviewer eventually says, `Do you think we will see a female president in our lifetime?'," Davis said.
"I think it's appalling that we haven't yet. The crime is not that it's taken so long, but why haven't we done it yet?" she said to loud applause from the predominantly female audience that included Martha Stewart and former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.
Davis, who plays President Mackenzie Allen, said she was thrilled and honored to receive the award because she cares so much about empowering girls and women.
"Year in and year out there are real-life gains being made by women, but there is still a huge gender disparity," she said. "It really shows up in my industry. For every president Allen, there are a hundred never-rans. There are fewer (women) victors than victims. There are fewer (women) leaders than followers, fewer women than men, and fewer girls than boys."
But "if elected to another season un term," Davis said to more laughter, "... whatever I can do to make change happen quicker in the fake world, I promise to do."
Filmmaker Rod Lurie, the creater of "Commander in Chief" also received an award and called the question of whether the United States is ready for a female president "insulting."
"From now on, my answer is, `Are we ready for more of what we have got?,'" he said.
"Females represent 51 percent of the country and it's absurd that they're not represented in the highest level of power, and not even given that opportunity," Lurie said.
But he said things may be changing.
"There's a lot of firepower in the world ladies and gentelmen," Lurie said. "There's lots of it, but there's no weapon as powerful as an idea whose time has come."
Marie Wilson, president of the White House Project, said the EPIC Awards acknowledge the power of media and popular culture, and she thanked Davis and Lurie "for bringing the concept of a female president to life, and doing it so well."
Anita Hill, who accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during 1991 hearings on his nomination to the Supreme Court, presented another award to Jeff Skoll, founder of Participant Productions for making "North Country," a movie about courageous women who led a fight against sexual harassment in Minnesota mines,
"I for one am thankful that we live in an age where we have role models like Anita Hill to show us the way forward," Skoll said. "We're also grateful that the White House Project" is working to see that a woman becomes president. |
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