From the comfort of his £17.5 million North London home, actor Tom Conti has complained that the word luvvie, as used to describe him and certain, but not all, other actors, is as offensive as the word nigger, used by either certain black folk or white racists to describe all black people. Conti is talking out of his arse.
If one is a white racist or a black person attempting to reclaim the word in the way that certain gay folk have attempted to "reclaim" queer, then all black folks are niggers. It is an offensive term and should not be used, it is a term from the era of slavery, a term that suggests that those with a different coloured skin are inferior to we white folk.
On the other hand not all actors would be described as luvvies. Can anyone remember the word being used in association with John Wayne? Or Ronald Reagan? Or closer to home would anyone describe wife beating thuggish Dennis Waterman or boring Ken Barlow (William Roache) as luvvies? Of course not.
Luvvies are certain sorts of actors. The sort who think that the rest of us, who don't live in £17.5 million houses, give a fuck about their - almost inevitably liberal - views on global warming, Brexit or whatever is the great issue of the day. The sort who fail to understand that being an actor is a job just like being an accountant or a lorry driver, it does not make you a special sort of human being or worthy of special treatment. You are not a better person simply because you are an actor not an accountant. You may well, however, get a more pampered life as a result.
And it is a hallmark of a luvvie that they say the silliest things like comparing the term luvvie to the word nigger and saying that they are both in the same genre of abuse and that they are equally offensive.
Today's luvvie in the woodpile is certainly Mr Tom Conti. Truly he is a LWA, a luvvie with attitude.