Scarlett Johansson is urging America's Occupy protesters to alter their tactics, suggesting a march on the U.S. capital would put more pressure on the government. The politically-active actress campaigned for President Barack Obama ahead of the 2008 U.S. election, but Johansson admits she can understand why so many demonstrators have banded together in a bid to bring about change.
She supports the activists and their efforts, but is adamant the movement's leaders will have more success if they took their protests to the White House in Washington, D.C. and defined their goals more clearly. She tells Interview magazine, "You know, if Occupy Wall Street was actually a march, and people from all around the country could collect and march toward Washington, D.C., as part of this massive movement of people... I think that kind of pressure is more powerful than a sit-in that seems a little more unorganised.
"I do feel positive about what's happening. I think that with all these movements, and this growing collective voice that's emerging, people are starting to come out of the kind of dazed state they were in for so many years."
Johannson admits she has steered clear of joining the ranks of the celebrities who have shown their support for the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York - because she's not quite sure what the demonstrators want.
She adds, "I thought about going down there, and, obviously, it's important to shed light on something like that, but I'm... not exactly sure what the message is behind it all. It is sort of unclear. I mean, yes, people are fed up - and I think quite rightfully so - but what are they proposing as an alternative to just being upset or feeling disillusioned or abandoned?"
Stars like Kanye West, Russell Simmons, Anne Hathaway and Susan Sarandon have shown their support by visiting the anti-corporate greed protesters at their Zuccotti Park base in Manhattan. The Occupy Wall Street protest began in New York City in September (11) and has since spread around the world.