From Vietnam to women's rights, from nuclear power to climate. The issues change, but Jane Fonda keeps protesting for progress. Let's look back together at some of the most important milestones in her activism.
Just as when she was 30 and was giving Richard Nixon — president of the United States from 1969 to 1974 — a hard time, today at 82 nobody is still able to stop her. Not even the police officers who, in recent days, led her away from the steps of Capitol Hill, the seat of Washington's municipal government, managed to arrest the media wave that Jane Fonda set in motion. The actress, a two-time Academy Award winner for best actress for the films Klute and Coming Home, is also celebrated for her acts of protest, particularly in the 1970s, which repeatedly put her in the crosshairs of the authorities.
The scene of her arrest went viral almost immediately and seems almost like it belongs in a film script: the actress, wearing a long red coat, is escorted away from the steps of Capitol Hill and loaded into police cars after being handcuffed by a squad of officers in black uniforms. "They were all arrested for obstruction," declared Washington's chief of police.
Jane Fonda moved to Washington four months ago to join the protest movements against the climate crisis. On several occasions the actress has stated that her action was inspired by two people: Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish activist who gave rise to the largest climate march in history, and Randall Robinson, the lawyer who in the 1980s protested outside the South African embassy against apartheid.
The actress decided to use her popularity to give visibility to activists. Her arrest was, in fact, part of an ongoing plan of actions that has seen her take part in a series of weekly protests outside Capitol Hill to pressure the government into taking action to cut CO2 emissions. "I'm not afraid of being arrested again, I have nothing to lose," she declared. "If the truth had been told 30 years ago, the transition to other forms of energy could have been gradual, but since they've been lying to us for so long, we're now forced to do something radical."
Many things can be said about Jane Fonda, but she is certainly someone who fights for what she believes in. Her career as an actress has been just as brilliant as her career as an activist. Her 1970 mugshot with her fist raised — taken when she was arrested on (unfounded) charges of drug smuggling — became iconic. Her actions even led to her being monitored by the National Security Agency, the United States' national security agency, for more than five years.
It all began in the late 1960s with the Vietnam War. The actress decided to travel to the northern part of the country, where over the years she gave various speeches denouncing American military policy, addressing US troops directly and imploring them to think deeply about the consequences of what they were doing.
During her travels she met prisoners of war, led marches and spoke out openly against the then US president Nixon.
Her position was seen as controversial from day one, and Fonda was repeatedly accused of lacking patriotism and of having tarnished America's image. These were accusations that never stuck, until a photograph went around the world earning her the nickname "Hanoi Jane." The image shows her seated on a Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun, laughing with soldiers. In her 2005 biography, Fonda stated that she had not even realised where she was sitting: "We were singing and laughing. It will have been two minutes that will haunt me forever."
The theme of war also featured in her work on the big screen, and indeed we find her in films such as Coming Home, in which she plays a nurse who tends to a courageous Vietnam veteran.
Today the actress supports various feminist movements that work to protect women's rights, she has founded medical centres to help young women in need, and she has appeared in productions such as 9 to 5, which addresses abuse, the importance of more flexible working hours and gender equality.
Environmental issues are no stranger to her either. Last Friday's arrest in Washington is just the latest in the countless environmental protests in which the actress has taken part.
In the 1970s she opposed nuclear energy, making very forceful statements at a historic moment when the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania had just occurred. She also addressed this issue in the celebrated film The China Syndrome, in which she plays a journalist who uncovers the cover-ups carried out by the management of a nuclear plant.
In 2015, the actress protested against then-president Barack Obama's proposal to authorise drilling in the Arctic, joining climate marches and taking part in expeditions with various NGOs, including Greenpeace. The actress has already stated that Friday's arrest is just part of a larger plan that will culminate next November. All that remains is to wait and see what will happen.
